2002 was another successful year for Walt Disney Pictures. With movies that appealed to the entire family, the Disney brand proved strong throughout the year.

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January brought Snow Dogs. A surprise hit that froze the competition at the box office, the film introduced audiences to Miami dentist Ted and the mischievous team of sled dogs who have it in for him. The family comedy, starring Academy Award®-winners Cuba Gooding, Jr. and James Coburn, started off the new year right, grossing more than $80 million domestically.

In March, Disney released The Rookie, based on the true story of Jim Morris, a middle-aged teacher who finally lived his dream of pitching in the major leagues. Directed by John Lee Hancock, the film grossed more than $75 million domestically.

And in November, the holidays came early with the successful release of The Santa Clause 2, a sequel to the 1994 smash. With Tim Allen reprising the title role, we discover that there’s another clause in the Santa Claus contract – Santa has to find a Mrs. Claus.

In 2003, several Disney films will make their big-screen debuts. In the spring comes The Lizzie McGuire Movie. Based on the most popular series in Disney Channel history, the film finds Lizzie, Gordo, Kate and Ethan living “la dolce vita” as they pack their bags for a school-sponsored summer in Italy.

Then, in summer – from producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski: a cursed treasure leads to the adventure of a lifetime as one of Disney’s most-loved theme park attractions sails to the big screen in The Pirates of the Caribbean. The scene is set when Captain Barbossa and the pirates of The Black Pearl attack the town of Port Royal and kidnap the governor’s daughter, Elizabeth. Will, a local blacksmith, and Jack Sparrow, a pirate, team up to rescue Elizabeth, but quickly find themselves face-to-face with the captain and his evil crew.

And at Thanksgiving, one of Disney’s most frightfully funny attractions comes to the big screen in Disney’s The Haunted Mansion. Real-estate agent Jim Evers (Eddie Murphy) drags his family to the creepy mansion on the hill in hopes of turning it into a condo development. Once there, the family finds that they’re not alone… not when 999 grim-grinning ghosts come out to socialize. With all these happy haunts who won’t leave until their unfinished business is completed, it’s up to Jim to solve the problem – and rediscover his family.

In the fall comes Hidalgo, an epic based on the true story of the greatest horse race ever run. Held yearly for centuries, the “Ocean of Fire” – a 3,000 mile race across the Arabian Desert – was a challenge for only the finest Arabian horses. In 1890, for the first time, a wealthy sheik invited an American to enter his horse in the race. Frank T. Hopkins (Viggo Mortensen), a dispatch rider for the U.S. Cavalry, was once known as the greatest rider in the West. The sheik (Omar Sharif) challenges him, pitting the American and his mustang, Hidalgo, against the Arabian horses and riders.