<P> This list of theatrical animated feature films consists of animated films produced or released by The Walt Disney Studios, the film division of The Walt Disney Company . </P> <P> The Walt Disney Studios releases films from Disney - owned and non-Disney owned animation studios . Most films listed below are from Walt Disney Animation Studios which began as the feature animation department of Walt Disney Productions, producing its first feature - length animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 and as of 2016 has produced a total of 56 feature films . Beginning with Toy Story in 1995, The Walt Disney Studios also released animated films by Pixar Animation Studios, which became a wholly owned subsidiary in 2006 . </P> <P> Other studio units have also released films theatrically, namely Walt Disney Television Animation's Disney MovieToons / Video Premiere unit (now DisneyToon Studios) and the studio's distribution unit, which acquires film rights from outside animation studios to release films under the Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, or previously owned Miramax film labels . In 1996, The Walt Disney Studios signed a deal with Tokuma Shoten for distribution rights to the theatrical works of Studio Ghibli worldwide (excluding Asia except for Japan and Taiwan and excluding Grave of the Fireflies which was not published by Tokuma), including what then was the most recent film, Princess Mononoke . The deal later grew to include DVD rights and newer Ghibli movies; the English language Disney release of Spirited Away won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature . Studio Ghibli remains wholly independent of Disney and maintains strict creative control over the handling of the foreign language localization Disney produces . All of the theatrical Ghibli back catalog originally included in the deal have since been released to DVD in North America and several other countries . Other studios globally have released films through Walt Disney Pictures which maintains distribution rights in certain territories . </P>

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