Touchstone Pictures was an American

film distribution Film distribution, also called film exhibition or film distribution and exhibition, is the process of making a film available for viewing to an audience. This is normally the task of a professional film distributor, who would determine the marketin ...

label of Walt Disney Studios, founded and owned by

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

. 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 Walt Disney Pictures is an American film Film production company, production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios (division), the Walt Disney Studios, a division of Disney Entertainment, which is owned by the Walt Disney Company. The st ...

films. As such, Touchstone was merely a

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

label for the studio and did not exist as a distinct business operation.Letter signed by

Thomas O. Staggs Thomas Owen Staggs (born 1961) is an American businessman. He is the co-founder and co-CEO of Candle Media as well as a Partner at Smash Capital. He formerly worked at The Walt Disney Company for nearly 27 years, beginning in 1990, working ...

(Senior Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer, The Walt Disney Company) to the

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street crash of 1929. Its primary purpose is to enforce laws against market m ...

, March 1, 2007. Retrieved on May 6, 2013. Established on February 15, 1984, by then-Disney CEO

Ron W. Miller Ronald William Miller (April 17, 1933 – February 9, 2019) was an American businessman and professional American football player. He was president and CEO of The Walt Disney Company from 1980 to 1984 and was president of the board of directors ...

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 DreamWorks Pictures (also known as DreamWorks SKG and commonly referred to as DreamWorks) is an American film studio and Film distribution, distribution label of Amblin Partners. It was originally founded on October 12, 1994, as a live-action a ...

under which DreamWorks' productions would be released through the Touchstone banner; the label then distributed DreamWorks' films from 2011 to 2016. 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 ''Escape to Witch Mountain'' is a science fiction novel written by Alexander Key in 1968. It was adapted for film by Disney as '' Escape to Witch Mountain'' in 1975 which spawned the ''Witch Mountain'' franchise. The novel was illustrated by L ...

'' and its 1978 sequel. In late 1979, Walt Disney Productions released ''

The Black Hole A black hole is a region of extreme gravitational pull. Black hole or blackhole may also refer to: Computing *Black hole (networking), in computer networking, a place where traffic is silently discarded * Blackhole server, a DNS server that han ...

'', 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''). 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 ''Condorman'' is a 1981 American superhero comedy film directed by Charles Jarrott, produced by Walt Disney Productions, and starring Michael Crawford, Barbara Carrera and Oliver Reed. The film follows comic book illustrator Woodrow Wilkins's a ...

'', and the

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

co-produced fantasy epic ''

Dragonslayer A dragonslayer is a person or being that slays dragons. Dragonslayers and the creatures they hunt have been popular in traditional stories from around the world: they are a type of story classified as type 300 in the Aarne–Thompson classifica ...

''. With Disney's 1982 slate of PG-rated films, which included the thriller drama ''

Night Crossing ''Night Crossing'' is a 1982 thriller drama film starring John Hurt, Jane Alexander and Beau Bridges. The film is based on the true story of the Strelzyk and Wetzel families who, on September 16, 1979, escaped from East Germany to West Germany ...

'' and the science-fiction film ''

Tron ''Tron'' (stylized as ''TRON'') is a 1982 American science fiction action adventure film written and directed by Steven Lisberger from a story by Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird. The film stars Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn, a computer programmer ...

'', the company lost over $27 million. ''Tron'' was considered a potential ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

''-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 ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'': "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 trench coat is a variety of coat made of waterproof heavy-duty fabric, originally developed for British Army officers before the First World War, and becoming popular while used in the trenches, hence the name ''trench coat.'' Originally made ...

'', a comedy caper starring

Margot Kidder Margaret Ruth Kidder (October 17, 1948 – May 13, 2018) was a Canadian and American actress and activist. She amassed List of Margot Kidder performances, several film and television credits in her career spanning five decades, including her bes ...

and

Robert Hays Robert Blakely Hays (born July 24, 1947) is an American actor, known for a variety of television and film roles since the 1970s. He came to prominence around 1980, co-starring in the two-season domestic sitcom ''Angie (TV series), Angie'', and ...

; 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 Ray Douglas Bradbury ( ; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of genres, including fantasy, science fiction, Horror fiction, horr ...

's horror-fantasy novel '' Something Wicked This Way Comes'', the horror-comedy ''

The Devil and Max Devlin ''The Devil and Max Devlin'' is a 1981 American fantasy–comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions, directed by Steven Hilliard Stern and starring Elliott Gould, Bill Cosby and Susan Anspach. The film was considered to be controversial ...

'' starring

Elliott Gould Elliott Gould (; né Goldstein; born August 29, 1938) is an American actor. Gould's breakthrough role was in the film ''Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice'' (1969), for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The ...

and

Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American retired comedian, actor, and media personality. Often cited as a trailblazer for African Americans in the entertainment industry, Cosby was a film, television, and stand-up comedy ...

, and the dramas ''

Tex Tex, TeX, TEX, may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tex (nickname), a list of people and fictional characters with the nickname * Tex Earnhardt (1930–2020), U.S. businessman * Joe Tex (1933–1982), stage name of American soul singer ...

'' and ''

Never Cry Wolf ''Never Cry Wolf'' is a fictional account of author Farley Mowat's subjective experience observing wolves in subarctic Canada, first published in 1963 by McClelland and Stewart. It was adapted into a film of the same name in 1983. It has been cr ...

'', the latter a PG release that featured

male nudity Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. While estimates vary, for the first 90,000 years of pre-history, anatomically modern humans were naked, having lost their body hair, living in hospitable climates, and not ...

, 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

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". Incoming Disney CEO

Michael Eisner Michael Dammann Eisner ( ; born March 7, 1942) is an American businessman and former chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Walt Disney Company from September 1984 to September 2005. Prior to Disney, Eisner was president of rival film ...

and film chief

Jeffrey Katzenberg Jeffrey Katzenberg ( ; born December 21, 1950) is an American media proprietor and film producer. He served as chairman of Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1994, a position in which he oversaw production and busin ...

considered renaming the label to "Hollywood Pictures", which went on to become a separate Disney film label on February 1, 1989. 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 ''Down and Out in Beverly Hills'' is a 1986 American comedy film co-written and directed by Paul Mazursky, based on the 1919 French play ''Boudu sauvé des eaux'', which was later adapted into the 1932 film '' Boudu sauvé des eaux'' by Jean ...

'' 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 ''Adventures in Babysitting'' (also known as ''A Night on the Town'' in certain countries) is a 1987 American teen comedy film written by David Simkins and directed by Chris Columbus in his directorial debut. It stars Elisabeth Shue, Keith C ...

''. Disney increased the momentum with additional PG-13 and R-rated films with ''

Ruthless People ''Ruthless People'' is a 1986 American black comedy film directed by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker and written by Dale Launer. It stars Danny DeVito, Bette Midler, Judge Reinhold, Anita Morris, and Helen Slater, with Bill Pull ...

'' (1986), '' Outrageous Fortune'' (1987), ''

Tin Men ''Tin Men'' is a 1987 American comedy film written and directed by Barry Levinson, produced by Mark Johnson, and starring Richard Dreyfuss, Danny DeVito, and Barbara Hershey. It is the second of Levinson's tetralogy of films set in his hometow ...

'' (1987), and other top movies. In April 1986, Touchstone films were licensed to Showtime/The Movie Channel for five years, starting in 1987.

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 Major film studios are filmmaking, production and film distributor, distribution companies that release a substantial number of films annually and consistently command a significant share of box office revenue in a given market. In the American ...

by 1988. On April 13, 1988, Touchstone became a unit of Walt Disney Pictures under newly appointed president Ricardo Mestres. On October 23, 1990, Disney formed

Touchwood Pacific Partners Touchwood Pacific Partners I is an American film financing limited partnership formed by The Walt Disney Company in 1990 for its then three production companies, Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures and Hollywood Pictures, but owned by Yamai ...

I to supplant the

Silver Screen Partners Silver Screen Partners refers to four limited partnerships organized as an alternative funding source for film production originally formed by American investor Roland W. Betts as a collaboration with cable television network HBO in 1983. The ma ...

partnership series as their movie studios' primary funding source. 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 Merchant Ivory Productions is a film company founded in 1961 by producer Ismail Merchant (1936–2005) and director James Ivory (b. 1928). Merchant and Ivory were life and business partners from 1961 until Merchant's death in 2005. During the ...

for three years. 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 Hollywood Pictures Company was an American film production label of Walt Disney Studios, founded and owned by The Walt Disney Company. Established in 1989, by Disney CEO Michael Eisner and studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg, Hollywood Pictures was ...

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. Disney indicated scaling back on using multiple brands in 2007 with the renaming of Touchstone Television to

ABC Television Studio ABC Signature was a production arm of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), which is a subsidiary of Disney Television Studios, a sub-division of the Disney Entertainment business segment and division of The Walt Disney Company. The studio ...

in February and the outright elimination of the Buena Vista brand in April. On January 14, 2010,

Sean Bailey Sean Bailey is an American film and television producer. He served as president of Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production from 2010 to 2024. Career Early career As a co-founder and executive of LivePlanet, Bailey served as executive ...

was appointed president of live-action production at Walt Disney Studios, overseeing all films produced by

and Touchstone Pictures.

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. 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. Following Disney's decision not to renew their long-standing deal with

Jerry Bruckheimer Films Jerry Bruckheimer Films Inc. (JBF) is an American independent film production company formed by Jerry Bruckheimer in 1995, after cutting his ties with film producer Don Simpson before his death in 1996. It produces blockbuster films such as ...

in 2013, producer

Jerry Bruckheimer Jerome Leonard Bruckheimer (born September 21, 1943) is an American film and television producer. He has been active in the genres of action, drama, comedy, fantasy, horror and science fiction. After working in advertising out of college, Bruck ...

revealed that he insisted on revitalizing the Touchstone label for production. Disney was uninterested, with studio chairman

Alan Horn Alan Frederick Horn (born February 28, 1943) is an American entertainment industry executive. Horn became president and COO of Warner Bros. from 1999 to 2012. Horn next served as the chairman of Walt Disney Studios from 2012 to 2020. During his ...

admitting that Touchstone's output had been reduced to only distributing DreamWorks' films as those films were in the label's interest. In addition to DreamWorks' films, Touchstone also released non-Disney-branded animated films such as ''

Gnomeo & Juliet ''Gnomeo & Juliet'' is a 2011 animated romantic comedy film directed by Kelly Asbury from a screenplay by Rob Sprackling and John Smith. It is loosely based on the play ''Romeo and Juliet'' by William Shakespeare and features the voices of James ...

'', ''

The Wind Rises is a 2013 Japanese animated historical drama film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki based on his 2009 manga of the same name. Produced by Studio Ghibli and distributed by Toho, the film stars the voices of Hideaki Anno, Miori Takimoto, ...

'', and '' Strange Magic''. By the end of the DreamWorks deal in August 2016, Disney had distributed 14 of DreamWorks' original 30-picture agreement, with thirteen through Touchstone. The deal ended with '' The Light Between Oceans'' being the final theatrical film released by Disney under the Touchstone banner.

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

then replaced Disney as DreamWorks' distributor. Disney retained the

film rights Film rights are rights under copyright law to produce a film as a derivative work of a given item of intellectual property. In US law, these rights belong to the holder of the copyright, who may sell (or " option") them to someone in the film indus ...

to these DreamWorks films in perpetuity as compensation for the studio's outstanding loan. 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 ''Turner & Hooch'' is a 1989 American buddy cop comedy film starring Tom Hanks and Beasley the Dog (among others) as the eponymous characters respectively. The film also co-stars Mare Winningham, Craig T. Nelson and Reginald VelJohnson. It w ...

High Fidelity High fidelity (hi-fi or, rarely, HiFi) is the high-quality reproduction of sound. It is popular with audiophiles and home audio enthusiasts. Ideally, high-fidelity equipment has inaudible noise and distortion, and a flat (neutral, uncolored) ...

,'' ''

Three Men and a Baby ''Three Men and a Baby'' is a 1987 American comedy film directed by Leonard Nimoy. It stars Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg, and Ted Danson as three bachelors as they attempt to adapt their lives to de facto fatherhood with the arrival of the ...

'', ''

Sister Act ''Sister Act'' is a 1992 American musical crime comedy film directed by Emile Ardolino and written by Paul Rudnick (billed as Joseph Howard). It stars Whoopi Goldberg as a lounge singer forced to hide in a convent after being placed in a witn ...

'', and ''

Real Steel ''Real Steel'' is a 2011 American science fiction sports film starring Hugh Jackman and Dakota Goyo and co-produced and directed by Shawn Levy for DreamWorks Pictures. The film is based on the short story "Steel", written by Richard Mathes ...

—''for

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

and

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

Film library

Some well-known Touchstone Pictures releases include ''

Beaches A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from Rock (geology), rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle beach, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological s ...

'', ''

'', '' Splash'', ''

The Color of Money ''The Color of Money'' is a 1986 American Sports film, sports Drama (film and television), drama film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is the sequel to the 1961 film ''The Hustler''. Like the previous film, ''The Color of Money'' is based on a ...

'', ''

Good Morning, Vietnam ''Good Morning, Vietnam'' is a 1987 American war comedy film written by Mitch Markowitz and directed by Barry Levinson. Set in Saigon in 1965, during the Vietnam War, the film stars Robin Williams as an Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS) D ...

'', ''

Who Framed Roger Rabbit ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American fantasy comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay written by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman. It is loosely based on the 1981 novel ''Who Censored Roger Rabbit?'' by Gary K. Wol ...

'', ''

Dead Poets Society ''Dead Poets Society'' is a 1989 American coming-of-age drama film directed by Peter Weir and written by Tom Schulman. The film, starring Robin Williams, is set in 1959 at a fictional elite boarding school called Welton Academy, and tells ...

'', ''

Dick Tracy ''Dick Tracy'' is an American comic strip featuring Dick Tracy, a tough and intelligent police detective created by Chester Gould. It made its debut on Sunday, October 4, 1931, in the '' Detroit Mirror'', and was distributed by the Chicago T ...

'', ''

Pretty Woman ''Pretty Woman'' is a 1990 American romantic comedy film directed by Garry Marshall and written by J. F. Lawton. The film stars Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, and features Héctor Elizondo, Ralph Bellamy (in his final performance), ...

'', ''

Ed Wood Edward Davis Wood Jr. (October 10, 1924 – December 10, 1978) was an American filmmaker, actor, and pulp novelist. In the 1950s, Wood directed several B movie, low-budget science fiction, crime and horror films that later became cult c ...

'', '' Up Close & Personal'', ''

The Waterboy ''The Waterboy'' is a 1998 American sports comedy film directed by Frank Coraci. It was written by Adam Sandler as well as Tim Herlihy and produced by Robert Simonds and Jack Giarraputo. Sandler also stars as the title character while Kathy Ba ...

'', '' The Insider'', ''

The Royal Tenenbaums ''The Royal Tenenbaums'' is a 2001 American tragicomedy film directed by Wes Anderson and co-written with Owen Wilson. It stars Danny Glover, Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Bill Murray, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Stiller, Luke Wilson, and Owen Wilson. ...

'', ''

Sweet Home Alabama "Sweet Home Alabama" is a song by American rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, released on the band's second album '' Second Helping'' (1974). It was written in response to Neil Young's songs " Southern Man" and "Alabama", which the band felt blamed t ...

'', ''

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' is a Science fiction comedy, comedy science fiction franchise created by Douglas Adams. Originally a The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (radio series), radio sitcom broadcast over two series on BBC ...

'', ''

The Prestige ''The Prestige'' is a 1995 epistolary science fantasy mystery novel by Christopher Priest. It tells the story of a prolonged feud between two stage magicians in late 1800s England. Its main structure is that of a collection of diaries that ...

'', ''

The Help ''The Help'' is a historical fiction novel by American author Kathryn Stockett published by Penguin Books in 2009. The story is about African Americans working in white households in Jackson, Mississippi, during the early 1960s. A ''USA Today' ...

'', ''

War Horse The first evidence of horses in warfare dates from Eurasia between 4000 and 3000 BC. A Sumerian illustration of warfare from 2500 BC depicts some type of equine pulling wagons. By 1600 BC, improved harness and chariot design ...

'', ''

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...

'', and '' Bridge of Spies''. Its highest-grossing film release is ''

Armageddon Armageddon ( ; ; ; from ) is the prophesied gathering of armies for a battle during the end times, according to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. Armageddon is variously interpreted as either a literal or a ...

'', 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 ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (formerly known as ''Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas'') is a 1993 American stop motion Animation, animated Gothic film, gothic musical film, musical fantasy film directed by Henry Selick in his f ...

'', ''

'', and '' Strange Magic''. Six Touchstone films have received nominations for the

Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards (also known as Oscars) presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film a ...

: ''Dead Poets Society'', ''The Insider'', ''The Help'', ''War Horse'', ''Lincoln'', and ''Bridge of Spies''. 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 Bette Midler ( ;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and author. Throughout her five-decade career Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Bette Midler, numero ...

, 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

, who had a production deal with Disney from 1993 to 2014. Touchstone films produced by Bruckheimer include ''

The Ref ''The Ref'' (''Hostile Hostages'' in some countries) is a 1994 American Christmas film, Christmas black comedy crime film directed by Ted Demme, written by Richard LaGravenese and Marie Weiss, and starring Denis Leary, Judy Davis, and Kevin Spa ...

'', ''

Con Air ''Con Air'' is a 1997 American action thriller film directed by Simon West and starring Nicolas Cage, John Cusack and John Malkovich in the lead roles. Written by Scott Rosenberg and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, the film centers on a pr ...

'', ''

'', '' Enemy of the State'', '' Gone in 60 Seconds'', ''

Coyote Ugly ''Coyote Ugly'' is a 2000 American comedy-drama film based on the Coyote Ugly Saloon chain. It was directed by David McNally, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Chad Oman, and written by Gina Wendkos. Set at the titular drinking establishment i ...

'', and ''

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...

''. 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 Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is an American film distributor within the Disney Entertainment division of the Walt Disney Company. It handles theatrical and occasional digital distribution, marketing, and promotion for films produced and ...

and through home media platforms by

Buena Vista Home Entertainment Buena ( ) is a borough in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The borough, and all of Atlantic County, is part of South Jersey and the Atlantic City- Hammonton metropolitan statistical area, which in turn is included in the Ph ...

(branded as "Touchstone Home Entertainment").

Highest-grossing films

Related units

Touchstone Television

Touchstone Television served as Touchstone Pictures' counterpart label for television programming, producing television series including ''

The Golden Girls ''The Golden Girls'' is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris that aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning seven seasons. The show's ensemble cast stars Beatrice Arthur, Betty ...

'', ''Blossom'', ''Home Improvement'', ''Ellen'', ''

My Wife and Kids ''My Wife and Kids'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from March 28, 2001, to May 17, 2005, with a total of 123 half-hour episodes spanning five seasons. The series, produced by Touchstone Television in association with Wayan ...

'', ''

Scrubs Scrub(s) may refer to: * Scrub, low shrub and grass characteristic of scrubland * Scrubs (clothing), worn by medical staff * ''Scrubs'' (TV series), an American television program * Scrubs (occupation), also called "scrub tech," "scrub nurse," ...

'', ''

Monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

'', '' Lost'', ''

Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American mystery comedy-drama television series created by Marc Cherry, and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on ABC from October 3, 2004, until May 13, 2012, for a tota ...

'', ''

Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series focusing on the personal and professional lives of surgical internship (medicine), interns, residency (medicine), residents, and attending physician, attendings at the fictional ...

'', and ''

Criminal Minds ''Criminal Minds'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created by Jeff Davis that premiered on CBS on September 22, 2005. It follows a group of criminal profilers who work for the FBI as members of its Behavioral ...

''. 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 The second incarnation of Touchstone Television, formerly known as Fox 21 Television Studios, was an American television production company and a subsidiary of the Disney Television Studios, a subsidiary of the Disney Media Networks business se ...

as part of its phase-out of the "Fox" brand from the studios it

acquired ''Acquired'' is a podcast by Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal about business history and strategy. As of 2024, the podcast has more than 600,000 monthly listeners. History Gilbert and Rosenthal worked together at Madrona Venture Group and ini ...

from

21st Century Fox Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., which did business as 21st Century Fox, was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was formed on June 28, 2013, as the legal successor ...

. At the same time, the existing ABC Studios merged with the previous iteration of ABC Signature Studios to form

ABC Signature ABC Signature was a production arm of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), which is a subsidiary of Disney Television Studios, a sub-division of the Disney Entertainment business segment and division of The Walt Disney Company. The studio ...

. However, on December 1, 2020, Disney announced the revived Touchstone Television label would be folded into

20th Television 20th Television, Inc. (formerly known as TCF Television Productions, Inc., 20th Century-Fox Television and 20th Century Fox Television) is the television studio arm of 20th Century Studios, owned by Disney Television Studios, a division of the Di ...

. Subsequently, on October 1, 2024, Disney announced that ABC Signature would also be folded into 20th Television.

Touchstone Interactive

By the end of 2007, Disney's

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

subsidiary

Buena Vista Games Disney Interactive Studios, Inc. was an American video game developer and publisher owned by The Walt Disney Company through Disney Interactive. Prior to its closure in 2016, it developed and distributed multi-platform video games and interacti ...

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 Disney Interactive is an American video game and internet company that oversees various websites and interactive media owned by The Walt Disney Company. History 1995–1996: Formation and beginnings In December 1994, Disney announced that it w ...

and not its own entity. The only title it released was the ''Turok'' video game in 2008.

Touchmark Comics

In the early 1990s, after having pulled their comic licenses from

Gladstone Publishing Gladstone Publishing was an American company that published Disney comics from 1986 to 1990 and from 1993 to 1998. The company had its origins as a subsidiary of Another Rainbow Publishing, a company formed by Bruce Hamilton and Russ Cochran ...

and begun to create comics based on Disney properties themselves through the

Disney Comics Disney comics are comic books and comic strips featuring characters created by the Walt Disney Company, including Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Scrooge McDuck. The first Disney comics were newspaper strips appearing from 1930 on, starting with t ...

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 DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

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. Proposed titles included ''

Enigma Enigma may refer to: *Riddle, someone or something that is mysterious or puzzling Biology *ENIGMA, a class of gene in the LIM domain Computing and technology * Enigma (company), a New York–based data-technology startup *Enigma machine, a famil ...

'' by

Peter Milligan Peter Milligan (born 24 June 1961) is a British comic book writer who has written extensively for both British and American comic book industries. In the UK, Milligan has contributed to numerous anthology titles including '' 2000 AD'', ''Revol ...

and '' Sebastian O'' by

Grant Morrison Grant Morrison (born 31 January 1960) is a Scottish comic book writer, screenwriter, and producer. Their work is known for its nonlinear narratives, Humanism, humanist philosophy and counterculture, countercultural leanings. Morrison has writt ...

. The brand got as far as a promotional booklet given out at the 1991

San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con is a comic book convention and multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California, at the San Diego Convention Center. Founded in 1970, originally showcasing primarily comic books and science fiction/fant ...

. 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. Young subsequently returned to DC and helped launch the

Vertigo Vertigo is a condition in which a person has the sensation that they are moving, or that objects around them are moving, when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. It may be associated with nausea, vomiting, perspira ...

imprint in 1993, using many of the intended projects from Touchmark. Now as Marvel Comics.

History

Background and conception

Early years as Touchstone Films

Renomination

DreamWorks deal and dormancy

Film library

Highest-grossing films

Related units

Touchstone Television

Touchstone Interactive

Touchmark Comics

References

Further reading