Touchstone Pictures
{{Short description|Former American film label of Walt Disney Studios}}
{{about|the feature film label|the television production company formerly named Touchstone Television|ABC Signature|the television production company formerly named Fox 21 Television Studios|Touchstone Television}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Touchstone Pictures
| logo = Touchstone Pictures logo.svg
| logo_caption =
| industry = Motion pictures
| former_name = Touchstone Films (1984–1986)
| founder = Ron W. Miller
| key_people = Sean Bailey (2010–2016)
| area_served = Worldwide
| products = Motion pictures
| owner =
| parent = Walt Disney Studios
| founded = {{Start date|1984|2|15}}
| fate = Dormancy
| defunct = {{End date|2016|9|2}}
| hq_location = 500 South Buena Vista Street
| hq_location_city = Burbank, California
| hq_location_country = U.S.
| divisions =
}}
Touchstone Pictures was an American film distribution label of Walt Disney Studios, founded and owned by The Walt Disney Company. Feature films released under the Touchstone label were produced and financed by Walt Disney Studios, and featured more mature themes targeted at adult audiences than typical Walt Disney Pictures films.{{cite news|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/will-steven-spielberg-drop-dreamworks-826201|title=Will Steven Spielberg Drop the DreamWorks Name?|last=McClintock|first=Pamela|date=September 24, 2015|work=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=October 4, 2015|archive-date=September 27, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150927003718/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/will-steven-spielberg-drop-dreamworks-826201|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://d23.com/touchstone-splash-30th-anniversary/|title=It's Been 30 Years Since Touchstone Pictures' Splash-y Debut|last=Deitchman|first=Beth|date=March 7, 2014|publisher=Disney D23|access-date=August 29, 2014|archive-date=January 28, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150128133224/https://d23.com/touchstone-splash-30th-anniversary/|url-status=live}} As such, Touchstone was merely a pseudonym label for the studio and did not exist as a distinct business operation.[https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1001039/000100103907000090/filename1.htm Letter signed by] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170801115329/https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1001039/000100103907000090/filename1.htm |date=August 1, 2017 }} Thomas O. Staggs (Senior Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer, The Walt Disney Company) to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, March 1, 2007. Retrieved on May 6, 2013.
Established on February 15, 1984,{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/02/16/movies/touchstone-label-to-replace-disney-name-on-some-films.html|title=Touchstone Label to Replace Disney Name on Some Films|last=Harmetz|first=Aljean|date=February 16, 1983|work=The New York Times|access-date=February 17, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=April 3, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403144539/http://www.nytimes.com/1984/02/16/movies/touchstone-label-to-replace-disney-name-on-some-films.html|url-status=live}} by then-Disney CEO Ron W. Miller as Touchstone Films, Touchstone operated as an active film production division of Disney during the mid 1980s through the early 2010s, releasing a majority of the studio's PG-13 and R-rated films. In 2009, Disney entered into a five-year, thirty-picture distribution deal with DreamWorks Pictures under which DreamWorks' productions would be released through the Touchstone banner; the label then distributed DreamWorks' films from 2011 to 2016.{{cite web|title=The Walt Disney Company: 2011 Annual Financial Report|url=http://cdn.media.ir.thewaltdisneycompany.com/2011/annual/WDC-10kwrap-2011.pdf|publisher=The Walt Disney Company|access-date=December 30, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120522224950/http://cdn.media.ir.thewaltdisneycompany.com/2011/annual/WDC-10kwrap-2011.pdf|archive-date=May 22, 2012|url-status=dead}} Page 12{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2009/film/features/disney-signs-deal-with-dreamworks-1117999836/|title=Disney signs deal with DreamWorks|last1=Graser|first1=Marc|last2=Siegel|first2=Tatiana|date=February 9, 2009|website=Variety|language=en|access-date=April 24, 2019|archive-date=October 8, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091008132321/http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117999836.html?categoryid=13&cs=1|url-status=live}} Following the release of DreamWorks' The Light Between Oceans (2016), the Touchstone label was retired.
History
= Background and conception =
Due to the increased public assumption that Disney films were aimed at children and families, films produced by Walt Disney Productions began to falter at the box office. This began in 1975 with the release of Escape to Witch Mountain and its 1978 sequel. In late 1979, Walt Disney Productions released The Black Hole, a science-fiction movie that was the studio's first production to receive a PG rating (the company, however, had already distributed via Buena Vista Distribution its first PG-rated film, Take Down, almost a year before the release of The Black Hole).{{cite web|title=Disney plans show for 'older' viewers|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1291&dat=19800728&id=3vROAAAAIBAJ&pg=3767,4089601&hl=en|date=July 28, 1980|access-date=February 21, 2016|archive-date=March 12, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312054642/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1291&dat=19800728&id=3vROAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Wo0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=3767,4089601&hl=en|url-status=live}}
Over the next few years, Disney experimented with more PG-rated fare, such as the horror-mystery The Watcher in the Woods, the spy-themed comedy Condorman,{{citation needed|date=March 2015}} and the Paramount Pictures co-produced fantasy epic Dragonslayer. With Disney's 1982 slate of PG-rated films, which included the thriller drama Night Crossing and the science-fiction film Tron, the company lost over $27 million. Tron was considered a potential Star Wars-level success by the production company.
In late 1982, Disney vice president of production Tom Wilhite announced that they would produce and release more mature films under a new brand. Wilhite elaborated to The New York Times: "We won't get into horror or exploitive sex, but using a non-Disney name will allow us wider latitude in the maturity of the subject matter and the edge we can add to the humor." He stated that one of the first films that would be released under this new brand was Trenchcoat, a comedy caper starring Margot Kidder and Robert Hays;{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/09/30/arts/reporter-s-notebook-disney-banking-on-tex-to-rewin-teen-agers.html|title=Reporter's Notebook; Disney Banking on 'Tex' to Rewin Teen-Agers|last=Harmetz|first=Aljean|date=September 30, 1982|work=The New York Times|access-date=February 17, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=June 25, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180625053641/https://www.nytimes.com/1982/09/30/arts/reporter-s-notebook-disney-banking-on-tex-to-rewin-teen-agers.html|url-status=live}} however, the new brand had not yet been created by the time of the film's release in March 1983, so it was instead released by Walt Disney Productions, but with no production company credited in the released prints.
Disney registered a loss of $33 million in 1983, resulting primarily from such films as the adaptation of Ray Bradbury's horror-fantasy novel Something Wicked This Way Comes, the horror-comedy The Devil and Max Devlin starring Elliott Gould and Bill Cosby, and the dramas Tex and Never Cry Wolf, the latter a PG release that featured male nudity, which did well as the studio downplayed the film's association with the Disney brand.
= Early years as Touchstone Films =
Touchstone Films was founded by then-Disney CEO Ron W. Miller on February 15, 1984, as a label for their PG films, with an expected three to four movies released under the label. Touchstone Films' first film was Splash, a huge hit that grossed $68 million at the domestic box office that year. Touchstone Films was a brand chosen from over 1,200 potential names; the runner-up name was "Silver Wind".{{cite web|title=The Walt Disney Company History|url=http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/the-walt-disney-company-history/|work=Company Profiles|publisher=fundinguniverse.com|access-date=November 6, 2012|archive-date=October 28, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121028212729/http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/the-walt-disney-company-history/|url-status=live}}[http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=1984&p=.htm 1984 Yearly Chart for Domestic Grosses at boxofficemojo.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103115555/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=1984&p=.htm |date=November 3, 2013 }}, Retrieved on May 25, 2007. Incoming Disney CEO Michael Eisner and film chief Jeffrey Katzenberg considered renaming the label to "Hollywood Pictures", which went on to become a separate Disney film label on February 1, 1989.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/02/business/company-news-disney-expansion-set-film-output-to-double.html|title=COMPANY NEWS; Disney Expansion Set; Film Output to Double|last=Harmetz|first=Aljean|date=December 2, 1988|work=The New York Times|access-date=February 17, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=April 2, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402144802/http://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/02/business/company-news-disney-expansion-set-film-output-to-double.html|url-status=live}} The logo is often mistaken as a thunderbolt within a blue sphere. The intent is that the blue ball is actually the "stone", while the yellow marking over it is the streak left behind by the stone's use.
In 1986, Down and Out in Beverly Hills was another early success for Touchstone and was Disney's first R-rated film. It was followed in 1987 by Disney's first PG-13-rated film, Adventures in Babysitting. Disney increased the momentum with additional PG-13 and R-rated films with Ruthless People (1986), Outrageous Fortune (1987), Tin Men (1987), and other top movies. In April 1986, Touchstone films were licensed to Showtime/The Movie Channel for five years, starting in 1987.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/04/25/arts/two-studios-announce-exclusive-cable-deals.html|title=Two Studios Announce Exclusive Cable Deals|date=April 25, 1986|work=The New York Times|access-date=February 17, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=March 28, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328203349/https://www.nytimes.com/1986/04/25/arts/two-studios-announce-exclusive-cable-deals.html|url-status=live}}
= Renomination =
Touchstone Films was renamed Touchstone Pictures after the release of Ruthless People in 1986. With Touchstone films, Disney moved to the top of box office receipts, beating out all the other major film studios by 1988. On April 13, 1988, Touchstone became a unit of Walt Disney Pictures under newly appointed president Ricardo Mestres.{{cite news|title=People: Los Angeles County|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-04-13-fi-800-story.html|access-date=March 17, 2015|work=Los Angeles Times|date=April 13, 1988|archive-date=June 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611063308/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-04-13-fi-800-story.html|url-status=live}} On October 23, 1990, Disney formed Touchwood Pacific Partners I to supplant the Silver Screen Partners partnership series as their movie studios' primary funding source.{{cite news|title=Disney, Japan Investors Join in Partnership : Movies: Group will become main source of finance for all live-action films at the company's three studios.|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-10-23-fi-3244-story.html|access-date=July 18, 2012|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=October 23, 1990|agency=Associated Press|archive-date=March 15, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315193515/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-10-23-fi-3244-story.html|url-status=live}}
With several production companies getting out of film production or closing shop by December 2, 1988, the Walt Disney Studios announced the formation of the Hollywood Pictures division, which would only share marketing and distribution with Touchstone, to fill the void. Mestres was appointed president of Hollywood. On July 27, 1992, Touchstone agreed to an exclusive, first-look production and distribution agreement with Merchant Ivory Productions for three years.{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-07-27-ca-4382-story.html|title=An Unlikely Trio: Merchant, Ivory and Disney : Movies: The 'Howards End' team agrees to a three-year deal that will give their artful fare wider distribution. The studio will also release 'Sarafina!'|last=Fox|first=David J.|date=July 27, 1992|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=February 17, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0458-3035|archive-date=March 15, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315193522/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-07-27-ca-4382-story.html|url-status=live}}
Following the success of the Disney-branded PG-13-rated Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl in 2003 and other films that in the 1980s and 1990s would have been released as Touchstone or Hollywood Pictures films, Disney weighed distribution of films more toward Disney-branded films and away from Touchstone, though (before 2016) not entirely disbanding them as it continued to use the Touchstone label for R and most PG-13-rated fare. In 2006, Disney limited Touchstone's output to two or three films in favor of Walt Disney Pictures titles due to an increase in film industry costs.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/10/technology/10iht-disney.1.20070342.html|title=Disney and DreamWorks form partnership|last1=Barnes|first1=Brooks|date=February 10, 2009|work=The New York Times|access-date=February 17, 2019|last2=Cieply|first2=Michael|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=February 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190218081956/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/10/technology/10iht-disney.1.20070342.html|url-status=live}} Disney indicated scaling back on using multiple brands in 2007 with the renaming of Touchstone Television to ABC Television Studio in February and the outright elimination of the Buena Vista brand in April.{{cite news |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a0MG17nO.PG8&refer=home |title=Disney to Drop Buena Vista Brand Name, People Say (Update1) |last=Fixmer |first=Andy |date=April 25, 2007 |publisher=Bloomberg News |access-date=November 28, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110918060836/http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a0MG17nO.PG8&refer=home |archive-date=September 18, 2011}} On January 14, 2010, Sean Bailey was appointed president of live-action production at Walt Disney Studios, overseeing all films produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Touchstone Pictures.{{Cite news|last=Graser|first=Marc|date=January 14, 2010|title=Disney names Sean Bailey production chief|work=Variety|url=https://variety.com/2010/film/markets-festivals/disney-names-sean-bailey-production-chief-1118013784/|access-date=July 12, 2020|archive-date=October 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027162132/https://variety.com/2010/film/markets-festivals/disney-names-sean-bailey-production-chief-1118013784/|url-status=live}}
= DreamWorks deal and dormancy=
In 2009, Disney entered into a distribution deal with DreamWorks Studios and repurposed Touchstone as a distribution label for DreamWorks films.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/10/business/media/10disney.html|title=DreamWorks and Disney Agree to a Distribution Deal|last1=Barnes|first1=Brooks|date=February 9, 2009|work=The New York Times|access-date=February 17, 2019|last2=Cieply|first2=Michael|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=July 26, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220726001740/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/10/business/media/10disney.html|url-status=live}} Disney provided $100 million in financing to DreamWorks productions and an additional $75 million credit line if DreamWorks could not get additional equity funding. In January 2012, Disney was reportedly in the early stages of considering Touchstone's fate, including a possible sale.{{cite news|url=https://nypost.com/2012/01/07/disney-mulls-future-of-sluggish-touchstone/|title=Disney mulls future of sluggish Touchstone|date=January 7, 2012|work=New York Post|last=Atkinson|first=Claire|access-date=January 7, 2012|archive-date=December 11, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171211213517/https://nypost.com/2012/01/07/disney-mulls-future-of-sluggish-touchstone/|url-status=live}}
Following Disney's decision not to renew their long-standing deal with Jerry Bruckheimer Films in 2013, producer Jerry Bruckheimer revealed that he insisted on revitalizing the Touchstone label for production. Disney was uninterested, with studio chairman Alan Horn admitting that Touchstone's output had been reduced to only distributing DreamWorks' films as those films were in the label's interest.{{cite news|last=Masters|first=Kim|title=Disney, Jerry Bruckheimer to Split in 2014|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/disney-jerry-bruckheimer-split-2014-632553|access-date=September 20, 2013|newspaper=The Hollywood Reporter|date=September 19, 2013|archive-date=January 5, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200105151125/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/disney-jerry-bruckheimer-split-2014-632553|url-status=live}} In addition to DreamWorks' films, Touchstone also released non-Disney-branded animated films such as Gnomeo & Juliet, The Wind Rises, and Strange Magic.{{cite news|last=Butler|first=Karen|title=Lucasfilm's animated 'Strange Magic' set for Jan. 23 release|url=https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/Movies/2014/11/11/Lucasfilms-animated-Strange-Magic-set-for-Jan-23-release/9601415732219/|access-date=March 17, 2015|work=UPI|date=November 11, 2014|archive-date=March 16, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150316193800/http://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/Movies/2014/11/11/Lucasfilms-animated-Strange-Magic-set-for-Jan-23-release/9601415732219/|url-status=live}}
By the end of the DreamWorks deal in August 2016, Disney had distributed 14 of DreamWorks' original 30-picture agreement, with thirteen through Touchstone.{{cite news|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/steven-spielberg-jeff-skoll-team-849249|title=Steven Spielberg, Jeff Skoll Team to Form Amblin Partners, Strike Distribution Deal With Universal|last1=McClintock|first1=Pamela|date=December 16, 2015|work=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=December 22, 2015|last2=Kilday|first2=Gregg|archive-date=December 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151223042439/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/steven-spielberg-jeff-skoll-team-849249|url-status=live}}{{cite news|title=DreamWorks Studios, Participant Media, Reliance Entertainment and Entertainment One Form Amblin Partners, a New Film, Television and Digital Content Creation Company|url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20151216006049/en/DreamWorks-Studios-Participant-Media-Reliance-Entertainment-Entertainment|access-date=December 23, 2015|work=Business Wire|date=December 16, 2015|location=Universal City, California|format=Press release|quote=Film projects in various stages of production include: “The BFG,” and “The Light Between Oceans,” scheduled for release by Disney in 2016.|archive-date=December 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151223140533/http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20151216006049/en/DreamWorks-Studios-Participant-Media-Reliance-Entertainment-Entertainment|url-status=live}} The deal ended with The Light Between Oceans being the final theatrical film released by Disney under the Touchstone banner. Universal Pictures then replaced Disney as DreamWorks' distributor.{{cite news|last=Masters|first=Kim|title=Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks to Split From Disney, in Talks With Universal (Exclusive)|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/steven-spielbergs-dreamworks-split-disney-819594|access-date=September 3, 2015|work=The Hollywood Reporter|date=September 2, 2015|archive-date=September 3, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150903233902/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/steven-spielbergs-dreamworks-split-disney-819594|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=McNary|first=Dave|title=Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks to Leave Disney, Possibly for Universal|url=https://variety.com/2015/film/news/steven-spielbergs-dreamworks-to-leave-disney-possibly-for-universal-1201583836/|access-date=September 3, 2015|work=Variety|date=September 2, 2015|archive-date=March 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305050706/http://variety.com/2015/film/news/steven-spielbergs-dreamworks-to-leave-disney-possibly-for-universal-1201583836/|url-status=live}} Disney retained the film rights to these DreamWorks films in perpetuity as compensation for the studio's outstanding loan.{{cite news|last=Rainey|first=James|title=Steven Spielberg Puts His Own Big Bucks Into the New Amblin Partners (EXCLUSIVE)|url=https://variety.com/2015/film/news/steven-spielberg-amblin-investment-1201669720/|access-date=January 1, 2016|work=Variety|date=December 30, 2015|archive-date=January 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101071239/http://variety.com/2015/film/news/steven-spielberg-amblin-investment-1201669720/|url-status=live}}
Following the release of The Light Between Oceans, the label became defunct. Since then, several other Disney divisions have produced or are developing television series and films based on previous Touchstone properties—such as Turner & Hooch, High Fidelity, Three Men and a Baby, Sister Act, and Real Steel—for Disney+ and Hulu.{{Cite news|last=Barnes|first=Brooks|date=August 5, 2018|title=Disney's Streaming Service Starts to Come Into Focus|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/05/business/media/disney-streaming-service-ricky-strauss.html|access-date=July 12, 2020|archive-date=June 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200622063809/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/05/business/media/disney-streaming-service-ricky-strauss.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|date=December 10, 2020|title=Every Disney+ Announcement and More From the Disney Investor Day|work=D23|url=https://d23.com/every-disney-announcement-and-more-from-the-disney-investor-day-2020/|access-date=December 15, 2020|archive-date=December 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201211024636/https://d23.com/every-disney-announcement-and-more-from-the-disney-investor-day-2020/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|last=Otterson|first=Joe|date=January 13, 2022|title='Real Steel' Series in Early Development at Disney Plus|work=Variety|url=https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/real-steel-series-disney-plus-1235148275/|access-date=February 12, 2022|archive-date=January 21, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121204202/https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/real-steel-series-disney-plus-1235148275/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|last=Jackson|first=Angelique|date=December 10, 2020|title=Whoopi Goldberg to Return for Disney Plus' 'Sister Act 3,' Produced With Tyler Perry|work=Variety|url=https://variety.com/2020/film/news/whoopi-goldberg-sister-act-3-disney-plus-1234851212/|access-date=February 12, 2022|archive-date=February 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225211953/https://variety.com/2020/film/news/whoopi-goldberg-sister-act-3-disney-plus-1234851212/|url-status=live}}
Film library
{{Main|List of Touchstone Pictures films}}
Some well-known Touchstone Pictures releases include Beaches, Turner & Hooch, Splash, The Color of Money, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Good Morning, Vietnam, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Dead Poets Society, Dick Tracy, Pretty Woman, Sister Act, Ed Wood, Up Close & Personal, The Waterboy, The Insider, The Royal Tenenbaums, Sweet Home Alabama, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Prestige, The Help, War Horse, Lincoln, and Bridge of Spies. Its highest-grossing film release is Armageddon, grossing $553.7 million worldwide. Although animated films produced by Walt Disney Studios are primarily released by Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone's animated releases include the original theatrical release of The Nightmare Before Christmas, Gnomeo & Juliet, The Wind Rises, and Strange Magic. Six Touchstone films have received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Picture: Dead Poets Society, The Insider, The Help, War Horse, Lincoln, and Bridge of Spies.{{cite news|last=Tribou|first=Richard|title=Not-so-golden year for Disney's chances at the Oscars|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/os-xpm-2014-01-16-os-disney-academy-awards-2014-011614-story.html|access-date=February 20, 2016|work=Orlando Sentinel|date=January 16, 2014|archive-date=July 3, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170703170039/http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2014-01-16/the-daily-disney/os-disney-academy-awards-2014-011614_1_saving-mr-p-l-travers-walt-disney|url-status=live}}
Through Touchstone, Disney's first R-rated film, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, was released on January 31, 1986, and was a box office success. Ruthless People followed on June 27, 1986, and was also very successful. Both of these pictures starred Bette Midler, who had signed a six-picture deal with Disney and became a major film star again with these hits as well as Beaches and Outrageous Fortune.
One of the most notable producers of Touchstone films was Jerry Bruckheimer, who had a production deal with Disney from 1993 to 2014.{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-disney-and-jerry-bruckheimer-to-end-longtime-partnership-20130919-story.html|title=Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer to end longtime partnership|last=Miller|first=Daniel|date=September 19, 2013|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=September 20, 2013|archive-date=March 15, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315193516/https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-disney-and-jerry-bruckheimer-to-end-longtime-partnership-20130919-story.html|url-status=live}}Lev, Michael (January 18, 1991). "2 Top Movie Producers Sign Disney Accord". The New York Times. Page D3. Touchstone films produced by Bruckheimer include The Ref, Con Air, Armageddon, Enemy of the State, Gone in 60 Seconds, Coyote Ugly, and Pearl Harbor. Bruckheimer also produced several other films released under the Disney and Hollywood Pictures labels.
Releases from Touchstone were distributed theatrically by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures and through home media platforms by Buena Vista Home Entertainment (branded as "Touchstone Home Entertainment") (now 20th Century Home Entertainment).{{Cite web|url=https://www.christiedigital.com/en-us/news-room/press-releases/the-walt-disney-studios-distribution-arm-buena-vista-pictures-commits-content-to-christie|title=The Walt Disney Studios' Distribution Arm Buena Vista Pictures Commits Content to Christie|website=Christie|language=en-US|access-date=October 18, 2017|archive-date=March 15, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315193548/https://www.christiedigital.com/press-releases|url-status=live}}
= Highest-grossing films =
{{Columns-start|num=2}}
| class="wikitable sortable"
|+Highest-grossing Touchstone films in North America{{cite web |title=Box Office by Studio – Disney All Time |url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/studio/chart/?studio=buenavista.htm |publisher=Box Office Mojo |access-date=August 29, 2016 |archive-date=June 28, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628223127/http://boxofficemojo.com/studio/chart/?studio=buenavista.htm |url-status=live }} |
| scope="col" | Rank
! scope="col" | Title ! scope="col" | Year ! scope="col" | Box office gross |
|---|
| 1
|2002 |$227,966,634 |
| 2
|1998 |$201,578,182 |
| 3
|2001 |$198,542,554 |
| 4
|2012 |$182,207,973 |
| 5
|1990 |$178,406,268 |
| 6
|2011 |$169,708,112 |
| 7
|2007 |$168,273,550 |
| 8
|1987 |$167,780,960 |
| 9
|2009 |$163,958,031 |
| 10
|1998 |$161,491,646 |
| 11
|1988 |$154,112,492 |
| 12
|1992 |$139,605,150 |
| 13
|1996 |$136,492,681 |
| 14
|2003 |$132,716,677 |
| 15
|2002 |$127,223,418 |
| 16
|1987 |$123,922,370 |
| 17
|2004 |$114,197,520 |
| 18
|1998 |$111,549,836 |
| 19
|1996 |$104,636,382 |
| 20
|1990 |$103,738,726 |
| 21
|2000 |$101,648,571 |
| 22
|1997 |$101,117,573 |
| 23
|2011 |$99,967,670 |
| 24
|1989 |$95,860,116 |
| 25
|2000 |$95,011,339 |
{{column}}
| class="wikitable sortable"
|+Highest-grossing Touchstone films worldwide |
| scope="col" | Rank
! scope="col" | Title ! scope="col" | Year ! scope="col" | Box office gross |
|---|
| 1
|1998 |$553,709,788 |
| 2
|1990 |$463,406,268 |
| 3
|2001 |$449,220,945 |
| 4
|2002 |$408,247,917 |
| 5
|1988 |$351,500,000 |
| 6
|2009 |$317,375,031 |
| 7
|1996 |$309,492,681 |
| 8
|2011 |$299,268,508 |
| 9
|2012 |$275,293,450 |
| 10
|2004 |$256,697,520 |
| 11
|2007 |$253,625,427 |
| 12
|1998 |$250,649,836 |
| 13
|2000 |$248,118,121 |
| 14
|2000 |$237,202,299 |
| 15
|1989 |$235,860,116 |
| 16
|1992 |$231,605,150 |
| 17
|1997 |$224,012,234 |
| 18
|2005 |$223,387,299 |
| 19
|2011 |$216,639,112 |
| 20
|2004 |$203,567,857 |
| 21
|2014 |$203,277,636 |
| 22
|2011 |$193,967,670 |
| 23
|1998 |$185,991,646 |
| 24
|2002 |$180,622,424 |
| 25
|2011 |$177,584,879 |
{{Columns-end}}
Related units
= Touchstone Television =
{{Main|ABC Signature|Touchstone Television}}
Touchstone Television served as Touchstone Pictures' counterpart label for television programming, producing television series including The Golden Girls, Blossom, Home Improvement, Ellen, My Wife and Kids, Scrubs, Monk, Lost, Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, and Criminal Minds. In 2007, the company was renamed ABC Studios as part of a move by Disney to re-align its studios around core brands such as ABC.
On August 10, 2020, Disney announced that it would revive the Touchstone Television brand as a renaming of Fox 21 Television Studios as part of its phase-out of the "Fox" brand from the studios it acquired from 21st Century Fox. At the same time, the existing ABC Studios merged with the previous iteration of ABC Signature Studios to form ABC Signature.{{Cite web|last=Andreeva|first=Nellie|date=August 10, 2020|title=Disney Television Studios Rebrands Its Three Units As 20th Television, ABC Signature & Touchstone Television|url=https://deadline.com/2020/08/disney-television-studios-rebrand-three-studios-20th-television-abc-signature-touchstone-television-1203008722/|access-date=August 10, 2020|website=Deadline|language=en|archive-date=September 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929074126/https://deadline.com/2020/08/disney-television-studios-rebrand-three-studios-20th-television-abc-signature-touchstone-television-1203008722/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|last=Low|first=Elaine|date=August 10, 2020|title=Disney Rebrands TV Studios, 20th Century Fox TV to Become 20th Television|work=Variety|url=https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/disney-rebrands-tv-studios-20th-television-abc-signature-touchstone-1234730574/|access-date=August 10, 2020|archive-date=February 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210217013703/https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/disney-rebrands-tv-studios-20th-television-abc-signature-touchstone-1234730574/|url-status=live}}
However, on December 1, 2020, Disney announced the revived Touchstone Television label would be folded into 20th Television.{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/dana-walden-disney-tv-karey-burke-craig-erwich-1234843308/|title=Dana Walden Reorganizes Disney TV Team; Karey Burke Moves to 20th as Craig Erwich Adds ABC Entertainment|first=Daniel|last=Holloway|work=Variety|date=December 1, 2020|access-date=June 2, 2023}} Subsequently, on October 1, 2024, Disney announced that ABC Signature would also be folded into 20th Television.{{cite web|title=ABC Signature Folding Into 20th TV Under Karey Burke, Hulu & ABC Scripted Teams Combining Under Simran Sethi In Major Reorganisation Resulting In Layoffs|first=Nellie|last=Andreeva|date=1 October 2024|access-date=1 November 2024|url=https://deadline.com/2024/10/abc-signature-sutdown-karey-burke-hulu-abc-simran-sethi-layoffs-1236104442/|website=Deadline}}
= Touchstone Interactive =
{{Main|Disney Interactive Studios}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Touchstone Interactive
| logo =
| industry = Video games
| founded = {{Start date and age|2007}}
| defunct = {{End date and age|2008}}
| parent = Disney Interactive Studios
}}
By the end of 2007, Disney's video game subsidiary Buena Vista Games had begun to produce material under its own short-lived Touchstone imprint. As is the case with its motion picture and television counterparts, Touchstone Interactive merely acted as a brand label of Disney Interactive and not its own entity. The only title it released was the Turok video game in 2008.{{cite web|url=https://gamerant.com/turok-2-canceled-game-images/|title=This is What 'Turok 2' Could Have Looked Like|date=September 18, 2013|website=GameRant|access-date=July 23, 2024}}
= Touchmark Comics =
In the early 1990s, after having pulled their comic licenses from Gladstone Publishing and begun to create comics based on Disney properties themselves through the Disney Comics label, the company additionally considered an expansion into the burgeoning adult comics market (the expansion also included Hollywood Comics, modeled after Hollywood Pictures, and Vista Comics, offering stories based on Disney's superhero and adventure films). Former DC Comics editor Art Young led the nascent effort, which was aided by his contacts within the British and American comic markets. The new label was dubbed Touchmark Comics, echoing the Touchstone brand used for films and television.{{Cite web |last=Klein |first=Todd |date=2008-09-12 |title=Logos That Never Were: TOUCHMARK |url=https://kleinletters.com/Blog/logos-that-never-were-touchmark/ |access-date=2023-05-28 |website=Todd's Blog |language=en-US}} Proposed titles included Enigma by Peter Milligan and Sebastian O by Grant Morrison. The brand got as far as a promotional booklet given out at the 1991 San Diego Comic-Con.{{Cite web |last=Dan |date=2014-02-17 |title=I Can Break Away: The Disney Comics Story (1990-1993): The Disney EXPLOSION!!! |url=http://icanbreakaway.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-disney-comics-story-1990-1993_5112.html |access-date=2023-05-28 |website=I Can Break Away}}
Before the idea could progress further, however, the so-called "Disney Implosion" (the result of poor sales and aggressive overexpansion) forced the company to cut back on its comic book ambitions, and Touchmark was scrapped.{{Cite web |last=Dan |date=2014-06-30 |title=I Can Break Away: The Disney Comics Story (1990-1993): The Disney Implosion |url=http://icanbreakaway.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-disney-comics-story-1990-1993.html |access-date=2023-05-28 |website=I Can Break Away}} Young subsequently returned to DC and helped launch the Vertigo imprint in 1993, using many of the intended projects from Touchmark.{{cite journal |last=Boney |first=Alex |date=July 2012 |title=From Such great Heights: The Birth of Vertigo Comics |journal=Back Issue! |publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing |issue=57 |pages=68–69}} Now as Marvel Comics.
References
{{reflist}}
Further reading
- {{Cite book|title=The Disney Films|last=Maltin|first=Leonard|publisher=Disney Editions|year=2000|isbn=0786885270|edition=4th|location=New York|oclc=43903571|author-link=Leonard Maltin}}
- {{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780786863914|title=Disney A to Z: The Official Encyclopedia|last=Smith|first=Dave|publisher=Hyperion|year=1998|isbn=0786863919|edition=Updated|location=New York|oclc=39736062|author-link=Dave Smith (archivist)|url-access=registration}}
{{Walt Disney Studios|state=autocollapse}}
{{Disney}}
{{Authority control}}
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Category:2016 disestablishments in California
Category:American companies established in 1984
Category:American companies disestablished in 2016
Category:Disney production studios
Category:Film production companies of the United States
Category:Entertainment companies based in California
Category:Companies based in Burbank, California
Category:Mass media companies established in 1984
Category:Mass media companies disestablished in 2016
Category:Walt Disney Studios (division)
Category:The Walt Disney Company subsidiaries
Category:Defunct film and television production companies of the United States