Early Life
Walt Disney was born on December 5th, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois. He had three older brothers at the time and, two years later, his younger sister was born. His family moved several times and due to that he went to grammar school in Kansas City, high school in Chicago, and eventually are classes at the Kansas City Art Institute as well as the Chicago Institute of art. In 1918 he worked as an ambulance driver in France during the end of World War 1, he was only 16 when this happened and in order to join the American Red Cross he had to lie about his age.
ANIMATING Career
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In the upper left is a poster for the first full length movie, both animated and in color: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. In the upper right is the title sequence for Disney’s Laugh-O-Grams, which were produced specifically for the Newman Theater. In the bottom left is a poster for Disney’s Sleeping Beauty. Financially the movie was a wreck, but it had amazing animated effects, and in the bottom right is a photo of the statue at Disneyland in Anaheim, California of Walt Disney holding the hand of his beloved and famous character Mickey Mouse.
Disney’s Career in Animation and film started in 1920 when he was hired by the Kansas City Film Ad Company. Once he learned enough there he set up a studio where he made Laugh-O-Grams, which were short fairy tales produced for the Newman Theatre. However in 1923, two years after it started, organization went bankrupt. Disney then moved to Hollywood and, with the help of his brother and other colleague, made the Alice Comedies, which were inspired by Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. In 1927 Disney made a character named Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, for Universal Studios. After losing his rights to the character he swore never to work for someone else again. He then made up Mickey Mouse and in 1928 Steamboat Willie came out to the public. This was the first cartoon to have sound which was in sync with the pictures. In 1929 the first of Disney’s Silly Symphonies was created, which was a different kind of cartoon where music was used to tell the story. In 1932 he made an Oscar winning short cartoon Flowers and Trees, which was the first cartoon in color. On December 21st 1937, Snow White and the seven dwarfs was released. This movie was the first full-length movie that had sound and was animated in color. It was an instant hit. Some of his most famous works were then created including: Pinocchio which was released in 1940, later in 1940 Fantasia was released, In 1941 Dumbo, Bambi in 1942, Cinderella in 1950, Alice in Wonderland in 1951, Peter Pan in 1953, and eventually in 1959 Sleeping Beauty. Also during that time Disney made many movies, short films, and comic books which had to do with World War two. In 1964 Mary Poppins came out. It won five of the thirteen Academy Awards which it was nominated for. In October of 1954 Disney Studios made their first television show, Disneyland. Then in 1955 The Mickey Mouse Club aired, and then in 1961 Zorro and The Wonderful World of Color started as well. In 1955 the first of his two theme parks opened, it was Disneyland which is in Anaheim, California. Later, in 1971, Walt Disney World opened in Orland Florida. Now versions of these appear around the world such as in Tokyo, Paris, and Hong Kong. Sadly Disneyland was the only one that Walt got to see created, because he died on December 15th, 1966 from his Lung Cancer. After his death the studio made several live-action films, such as Splash, in 1984, and the Color of Money in 1987. Then in 1988 Who Framed Roger Rabbit was released. Animated films started up again in 1989 with The Little Mermaid, after that followed Beauty and the Beast in 1991, Aladdin in 1992, The Lion King in 1994, Pocahontas in 1995, the Hunchback of Notre Dame in 1996, Hercules in 1997, and Mulan in 1998. After teaming up with Pixar they made Toy Story in 1995, A Bug’s Life in 1998, and Toy Story 2 in 1999, since that time many Disney movies and many Disney Pixar movies as well. In fact in 2006 Pixar wanted to go on its own path, but Disney Studios decided to purchase Pixar instead of losing them.