Walt Disney Biography

Throughout history, there have been many notable American figures that had enormous impacts on almost everyone's daily lives. Although, one figure stands out among many, and that man worked his hardest to make his dreams come true, Walt Disney. Disney made a reputation of brilliance and "[t]he combination of Disney's desire to try new techniques and his striving to make a better product set him apart from most other animators" (Nardo 25). How could anyone forget classics like Mickey Mouse, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Fox and the Hound, the Little Mermaid, and many more all created by Disney? "He created a cast of memorable animated and live-action characters that have been forever associated with the Disney name" (Nardo 10). Though many do not know Disney was forced into bankruptcy many times to create these characters. To fulfill his childhood dreams, Walt Disney revolutionized the entertainment industry by adding realistic elements to his numerous cartoons, movies, and vacation spots.

Walter Elias Disney was born on December 5, 1901, in a house in Chicago. A few years later, in 1906, Disney's father decided to move the family to a less populated farmland in Marceline, Missouri:

His family made the move to Marceline when Walt was quite young, and the boy got acquainted with the animals on the farm and took to drawing them along the margins of his schoolbooks, flipping the pages so rapidly the figures seemed to move. ("Disney," Current: 1940 246)

Life on the farm began to influence Disney's life greatly. "As Walt grew up, he remembered his youthful days spent observing, working with, and playing with barnyard animals" (Nardo 13). The animals Disney encountered were soon drawn into his art works where they were later drawn into his cartoons through memories with different personalities. Continuing his passions, "he became more serious about drawing, and he enrolled in a class at the Kansas City Art Institute when he was fourteen" (Maltin 1).

When Disney was 16, his brother Roy decided to fight in World War I. He was too young to also join, but he still wanted to be close to his brother. "So when he heard that ambulance drivers for the Red Cross needed to be only seventeen, he changed his birth date on his birth certificate and managed to enlist" (Nardo 18). He spent most of his time in France, where he would draw all over his ambulance and draw fake medals on his friends' jackets. In 1919, with the war over, he returned back to the United States, as he now knew what his true passion in life was, art.

Disney searched for a job with the love of art on his mind. He landed a job as an apprentice illustrator for an agency and while there he met Ub Iwerks. Disney quickly mastered simple techniques and was soon bored with the basics. "With the goal of making his own cartoon shorts and attempting to get local theaters to show them, he borrowed a camera, and he and Iwerks began doing their own animation at night" (Nardo 20). Disney and Iwerks put in long hours on their cartoons and precision. "Most young aspiring animators usually tried to play it safe with uncomplicated, familiar material, but ambitious Disney wanted to attempt something more challenging" (Nardo 20).

On his own, Disney set up and opened his own studio. His business began to grow and along with it so did the amount of employees. Holliss and Sibley argue:

that without the talents of those he employed, none of his company's accomplishments would have been achieved; but without his vision and stimulation and, above all, his courage in taking risks, none of them would have been imitated or sustained. (7)

Disney's company and work quickly became well known and he was forced to make many key choices. "Perhaps the most important decision Walt Disney ever took was in 1925, when he changed the name of his company from Disney Brothers Studio to the Walt Disney Studio" (Holliss and Sibley 6).

Walt Disney became well known through his cartoons. One in particular was Mickey Mouse. "Mickey Mouse is the best known and most popular international figure of his day" (Nardo 33). When Walt was a young artist, he befriended a family of mice that lived in a waste-paper basket. One of these mice would climb up onto Walt's drawing table and Walt would feed it scraps of food. This is where he came up with the idea of a mouse. Walt originally wanted to call Mickey Mouse, "Mortimer Mouse," but his wife objected so they agreed on Mickey. The Mickey Mouse character and cartoons quickly advanced Disney up the ladder of success. "As the creator of Mickey Mouse, his remarks-both casual and considered- were translated into dozens of languages and his likeness could be found on the pages of countless newspapers and magazines" (Finch 15).

Disney transformed the field of animated film and took it to a new and higher level. Steamboat Willie premiered in 1928 and was designed around music and sound effects, which was hardly seen in that time. It was extremely difficult for Disney and his employees to complete, but in the end it turned out to be a success. To step it up again, Disney produced Flowers and Trees in 1932. "Flowers and Trees (1932) used 149 Technicolor process for the first time in the animated cartoon field" ("Disney," Current: 1952 149). It was the first successful full color cartoon and it ended up winning the first Academy Award for an animated film. Throughout the 1930's, Disney desired to create more realistic cartoons. He spent great deals of money on his operation, but the results were increases in realistic shading, lighting, detailing, and character movements. The characters in Disney's cartoons were soon as believable as flesh