Walt Disney
Walt Disney was an American animator, film producer, and entrepreneur who founded the Walt Disney Company. He created the character of Mickey Mouse and transformed the animated film into a major artistic and commercial form.
Early Life and Education
Disney was born in Chicago in 1901 and grew up on a farm in Missouri. He showed an early talent for drawing and took classes at the Kansas City Art Institute.
He served in the ambulance service in France during the First World War. He returned to Kansas City and founded a small animation company with his brother Roy.
The company failed and the brothers moved to Hollywood in 1923. They founded the Disney Brothers Studio, which later became the Walt Disney Company.
The Animation and the Creation of Mickey Mouse
Disney created a series of animated short films based on the character of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. He lost the rights to the character and then created a new one.
He created the character of Mickey Mouse in 1928. The first sound cartoon, Steamboat Willie, was a great success and established the reputation of the studio.
He produced the Silly Symphonies series, which experimented with the music and the colour. The short film Flowers and Trees was the first cartoon in full colour.
He produced the first full-length animated feature film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, in 1937. The film was a great risk and a great success.
The Feature Films and the Studio
Disney produced a series of animated classics, including Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, and Bambi. He also produced the live-action films and the nature documentaries.
He developed the multi-plane camera, which gave the animated films a sense of depth. He invested in the training of the artists and in the development of the techniques.
He expanded the studio into the production of the television programmes and of the theme parks. The Disneyland theme park opened in Anaheim, California, in 1955.
He planned the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, or EPCOT, as a model city of the future. The project was realised in a modified form after his death.
The Legacy
Disney received many honours for his work, including twenty-two Academy Awards. He holds the record for the most awards and the most nominations of any individual.
He was a heavy smoker and was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1966. He died in Los Angeles in December of that year, shortly after his sixty-fifth birthday.
The company that he founded became one of the largest media and entertainment corporations in the world. It produced the theme parks, the film studios, and the television networks.
His name is associated with the imaginative entertainment for the whole family. The character of Mickey Mouse has become a symbol of the company and of the American culture.
The Early Career
Disney founded a small animation company with his brother Roy in Kansas City. The company failed and the brothers moved to Hollywood in 1923.
They founded the Disney Brothers Studio, which later became the Walt Disney Company. The studio produced the Alice Comedies and the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit series.
He lost the rights to Oswald and then created Mickey Mouse. The first sound cartoon, Steamboat Willie, was a great success.
The Theme Parks
Disney conceived of the theme park as a place where the children and the parents could have fun together. The Disneyland park opened in Anaheim, California, in 1955.
The park was a great success and became a model for the theme parks throughout the world. The Walt Disney World opened in Florida in 1971.
He planned the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow as a model city of the future. The project was realised in a modified form after his death.
The Education and the Family
Disney studied at the Kansas City Art Institute and at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. He served in the ambulance service in France during the First World War.
He married Lillian Bounds in 1925 and the couple had two daughters. The family life was private and the marriage lasted until his death.
He received twenty-two Academy Awards in his lifetime. He holds the record for the most awards and the most nominations of any individual.
The Products and the Innovation
Disney produced the first full-length animated feature film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, in 1937. The film was a great risk and a great success.
He produced a series of animated classics, including Pinocchio and Fantasia. He also produced the live-action films and the nature documentaries.
He developed the multi-plane camera and invested in the training of the artists. He expanded the studio into the television and the theme parks.
The Leadership and the Strategy
Disney founded the Walt Disney Company with his brother Roy. He created the character of Mickey Mouse and the other characters.
He conceived of the theme park as the place where the families could have fun together. The Disneyland park opened in 1955.
He received twenty-two Academy Awards in his lifetime. He died in 1966 in Los Angeles.
See also
- The Walt Disney Company
- Animation
- Mickey Mouse
- Theme park
References
- ↑ Gabler, Neal. Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006.
- ↑ Thomas, Bob. Walt Disney: An American Original. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1976.
- ↑ Watts, Steven. The Magic Kingdom: Walt Disney and the American Way of Life. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997.
- ↑ Barrier, Michael. Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in Its Golden Age. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.