The childhood of many people from all over the world passed on the cartoons of Walt Disney. He is a talented American animator, successful entrepreneur and eventually the founder of Walt Disney Studio, which turned into a huge multimedia empire The Walt Disney Company. Disney was the first to introduce cartoons with sound to the world. During his career, he was a director of 100 films, for which he was awarded the Oscar 26 times. Find out more how Walt managed to succeed in business at chicago1.one.
Childhood and teenage years
Disney was born in December 1901 in Chicago. The boy was not the only child of his parents. Besides him, they raised 4 more children. It was very difficult for the family to live in the metropolis, so Elias and Flora decided to move to Marceline farm in Kansas.
At the age of 4, Walt began to show interest in drawing. However, the family lived so poorly that they could not afford buying pencils or paints for their son. His father’s farm brought a meager income, which was enough only for livelihood. One day, at the age of 6, the boy painted the wall of the house with resin. For this trick, his dad and mom punished Walt. However, this did not affect his thirst for drawing in any way.
In his school years, the boy was distinguished from other children by his entrepreneurship and ability to earn money. Every day, he delivered newspapers, and was hired and performed various jobs with neighbors. Part of the accumulated funds Walt gave to parents, thereby helping them to feed a large family. Soon, the young man completely abandoned school, purchased himself paints and paper and began to draw on request. Then the guy went to Chicago, where he enrolled and began to attend courses at the Art Institute of Chicago.
In the First World War, Walt was called up for service in the Red Cross, where he took the post of truck driver. A year later, having come from the front, he got a job as an artist in the Kansas film studio. His duties included the creation of commercials. Having earned enough money, the young man opened the first Laugh-O-Gram Studio. However, very soon the company went bankrupt.
As it turned out, the difficulties did not become an obstacle in the way of the talented man. Soon, he moved to Los Angeles and invited his brother into the business. In the city, where there were a lot of wonderful opportunities for development, they founded a new studio The Walt Disney Company. At first, it was a small office in which several people worked. However, later, it became the leader of the film industry.
Business on cartoons
The development of the studio began with a series of cartoons called Alice Comedies. Walt drew 50 short silent stories about Alice, the protagonist of the works of Lewis Carroll. Many believe that the first Disney character was Mickey Mouse. However, this is not the case. In 1927, Walt painted Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Everyone’s favorite mouse appeared in 1928, in the film Plane Crazy. Mickey Mouse made a splash with the audience from around the world. The same situation is with Steamboat Willie, which became the first sound cartoon in the history of cinema. Then Walt Disney himself gave his voice to the mouse.
The next work of the entrepreneur was a huge cycle consisting of more than 70 musical stories called Silly Symphony. In them, the audience firstly saw Donald Fauntleroy Duck, dogs Goofy as well as Pluto and many others. Soon, the business began to develop. The circle of acquaintances of the talented multiplier expanded. Thus, Walt gained fame and respect among Hollywood stars.
Quite spontaneously, he came up with the idea to create the world’s first full-length cartoon Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Everything turned out to be perfect. Moreover, Disney began to be called the king of animation. No less successful and popular were the following animated cartoons: Pinocchio, Bambi, Cinderella and many others.
At the end of 1940, The Walt Disney Company occupied a leading niche not only in the United States but also far beyond its borders. It actively expanded its capabilities, which had previously been limited. Now it began to shoot interesting feature films aimed at a children’s audience. Teenagers were presented with documentaries about wildlife – The Living Desert, The Vanishing Prairie and others. Walt himself produced adventure films: Treasure Planet, Mary Poppins and others.
Disney was worried not only about the quality of the picture but also about the sound. He selected musical accompaniment, which perfectly emphasized and enhanced the effect of perception of events. Walt was the first to create a cartoon with sound, a full-length animated film and used shooting to 3 film strips at once.
No less important project by Walt was Disneyland. One day, while walking with his daughters, the man thought about creating a special place for children, where they could spend time with their parents surrounded by their favorite cartoon characters. In 1953, he purchased land 50 kilometers away from Los Angeles and built on it a large amusement park with beautiful technical opportunities.
Personal life
Disney was married once in his life. The woman to whom he devoted the best years of his life was Lillian Bounds. They married in 1925. For a long time, Lillian could not get pregnant. However, in 1933, fate gave them a daughter. Four years later, they adopted a girl from an orphanage, whom they named Sharon. Walt was an exemplary husband and father. He devoted all his free time to his family.
In 1966, Disney passed away from lung cancer. Since then, in all films and cartoons of The Walt Disney Company, smoking characters are never shown because of that. All acquired property of Walt passed to his wife and then to his daughters.