Walt Disney

Dec. 5, 1901-Dec 15, 1966

 Childhood
 Born on December 5, 1901- Chicago, Illinois
 Walt Disney was born to Elias Disney (Irish-Canadian) and his mother, Flora Call Disney
(German-American decent)
 At age four (1906), Walt and his family moved to a farm in Marceline, Missouri.
 While in Marceline, Walt developed his love for drawing.
 One of his neighbors, a retired doctor, paid Walt to draw pictures of their horse, Rupert
 Teenage
 Disney began his freshman year of high school at McKinley High School and also began
taking night courses at the Chicago Art Institute.
 Disney became the Cartoonist for the school newspaper.
 Disney dropped out of high school at the age of 16 to join the Army, but was rejected
because he was underage.
 Walt and his friends then decided to join the Red Cross and they were sent to France for a year,
where he drove an ambulance.
 In January 1920, Disney and Iwerks made a company called, “Iwerks-Disney Commercial Artist”
 Disney then took up an interest in the field of animation.
 Alice Comedies
 Virginia Davis (actress who played Alice in Alice in Wonderland) and her family were
relocated from Kansas to Hollywood at Disney’s request.
 This was the beginning of the Disney’s Brother’s Studio.
 In 1925, Disney hired a young women named Lillian Bounds to ink and paint celluloid.
 They dated for for a while and then got married that same year.
 The series, Alice Comedies, was successful.
 The series ended in 1927, and Walt focused more on the animated characters, like Julius
who resembled Felix the cat, rather than the live action Alice.
 Mickey Mouse

 The character Mickey Mouse was based on a pet mouse that he had adopted while working
at a Kansas City ad Company.
 Ub Iwerks reworked the sketches made by Disney so that it was easier to animate.
 However, Mickey’s voice and personality was provided by Disney
 Ub Iwerks designed Mickey’s physical appearance, but many say that “Walt gave him his
soul.”
 The mouse was was originally med “Mortimer”
 Lillian Disney thought that the name Mortimer did not fit.
 Mortimer later became the name of Mickey’s rival for Minnie, who was taller and had a
Brooklyn accent.
 Disney himself provided the vocal effects for the earliest cartoons and performed as the
voice of Mickey until 1946.
 First Academy Award
 Disney received a special Academy Award in 1932 for the creation of Mickey Mouse
 The Mickey Mouse Series was made into color in 1935
 “Mickey Mouse” soon launched spin-off series supporting characters like Donald Duck,
Goofy, and Pluto.
 Pluto and Donald would then immediately get their own cartoons in 1937 and Goofy in
1939
 Children
 Disney and Lilly’s first attempt at having children ended up in Lilly having a miscarriage.
 Lilly then became pregnant again and gave birth to a daughter, Diane Marie Disney on
December 18,1933
 A few years later, the Disney’s adopted Sharon Mae Disney who was born on December 21,
1934
 Planning Disneyland
 Disney began drawing sketches of his ideas for an amusement park on a business trip to
Chicago in the late 1940’s
 He envisioned his employees spending time with their children
 He got this idea after visiting Children’s Fairyland in Oakland, California
 Disney spent five years developing Disneyland and created a new subsidiary of his
company, called WED Enterprises
 1960’s successes
 By early 1960, Disney empire was a major success
 Walt Disney productions established itself as the “world’s leading producer of family
entertainment.”
 Walt Disney was the Head of Pageantry for the 1960 Winter Olympics.
 Mary Poppins was released in 1964 and was the most successful Disney film of he 1960s
 Plans for Disney World
 The plans for Disney World included a larger, more elaborate version of Disneyland
 It was to be called the Magic Kingdom
 It would feature golf courses and resort hotels.
 Death
 Died on December 15, 1966
 After many years of smoking he was diagnosed with lung cancer
 On November 2, 1966, during pre-surfer X-rays, doctors at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Los
Angeles discovered that Disney had an enormous tumor on his left lung
 Days later, Disney went back for surgery, but tumor had spread to a great extent that
doctors had to remove his left lung.
 On November 30, 1966, Disney collapsed in his home but was revived by paramedics.
 He died in the hospital on December 15, 1966
 He was cremated on December 17, 1966
 His ashes reside at the forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California
 The Vision
 Roy Disney took full control of Walt Disney Productions and WED Enterprises after Walt’s
death
 Roy died from a cerebral hemorrhage on December 20, 1971
 Today, Walt Disney’s animation/motion picture studios nd theme parks have developed into
a multi-billion dollar company to carry his name.
 As of 2007, the company has an annual revenue of over $35 billion.