Background

Ethnicity: Disney was born to Irish-Canadian father and German-American mother. Disney’s family is descended from the Normans who settled in Ireland in the 11th century. His family’s original name was D’Isigny before being anglicised to Disney.

Walter Disney was born on December 5, 1901, in Illinois, Chicago, the United States, in the family of Elias and Flora (Call) Disney. His early childhood was passed on a farm near Marceline, Missouri, where his uncle Robert had just purchased land. In Marceline, Disney developed his interest in drawing when he was paid to draw the horse of a retired neighborhood doctor. He lived near the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway line and became enamored with trains.

Education

At first, Walt studied at Park School, then at Benton Grammar School. In 1917 the Disneys moved back to Chicago, and Walt entered McKinley High School, where he took photographs, made drawings for the school paper, and studied cartooning on the side, for he was hopeful of eventually achieving a job as a newspaper cartoonist. Disney dropped out of high school at age 16 in hopes of joining the Army. He was rejected for being underage.

Then he studied at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, where he took night courses. Disney attended Saturday courses at the Kansas City Art Institute and also took a correspondence course in cartooning in 1919.

Career

In 1911, the Disneys moved to Kansas City, Missouri, where he learned the basics of animation as they created one-minute animated cartoon commercials. They also created the concept of Laugh-O-Grams, which were short cartoons that combined a gag and a commercial announcement. After doing advertising drawing in Kansas City, Disney went to Hollywood, and they created several cartoon characters, the first popular one being Oswald the Rabbit. Disney and his partner Iwerks left to form Laugh-O-Gram Films in 1922, and the popularity of these Laugh-O-Grams caused them to be prosperous for a while. While at Laugh-O-Gram Films, they also produced several seven-minute animated cartoons based on fairy tales. The initial failure sent Disney to Hollywood in 1923, where in partnership with his loyal elder brother Roy, he managed to resume cartoon production.

Because they had no experience in distribution, this company failed; however, Disney was determined to succeed, and he persuaded his brother Roy to invest in his third company, which would produce a series known as “Alice in Cartoonland." In this series, a live young girl appeared on adventures along with animated creatures and backgrounds. This company failed, too, and Disney and Iwerks declared bankruptcy.

By 1923, Disney was still determined to produce animated films. He moved to Hollywood and revived Laugh-O-Grams and the “Alice” series. Then, he convinced his brother Roy and Iwerks to join him in Hollywood and he formed Disney Brothers Studios. It was here that Disney began to demonstrate a remarkable ability to delegate responsibility to his staff. He became the main idea man behind stories, characterization, and film development.

Iwerks took over the art department, and Roy Disney became the business manager. Iwerks was later replaced by a large staff of artists, but Roy and Walt Disney stayed in these respective positions throughout their careers. After this time, Disney never performed the actual tasks involved in cartooning and animation again; he found that he had a gift for creating visionary master plans and for directing others into seeing them through.

The early years of Disney Brothers Studio were busy ones, as the company produced fifty-six “Alice in Cartoonland” shorts. By 1927, Disney began collaborating with Universal Studios to produce cartoons featuring the character “Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.” Using new techniques for producing these films, the company created ten Oswald shorts in 1927 and six-teen in 1928. The humor was slapstick and the plots were simplistic, but the Oswald series was a popular one. When Disney attempted to negotiate a new contract with Universal Studios, he discovered that they actually owned the Oswald character. At this point, Disney vowed never to work on a property that he did not own again.

Next, Disney created his own star, which would become the most famous of all his characters. There are many myths about how the character of Mickey Mouse was created: some say that Disney dreamed up die character when he was working on the drawing board in Kansas City, and others say that the character was created by Disney on the train ride home after the Oswald dispute with Universal. The truth is that the development of the character was a collaboration between Disney, who developed the idea, and Iwerks, who drew the character and created his form. Disney wanted to call him Mortimer Mouse, but his wife thought that the name Mickey would be better. In 1928, the studio produced three animated shorts using their new character Mickey. He was soon joined by a number of supporting characters, including Minnie Mouse, Pluto, Horace Horsecollar, and Donald Duck.

Mickey Mouse and friends became popular around the world, but Disney Brothers Studios was still experiencing financial problems. After his first six Mickey Mouse shorts were produced, Disney began working on his next project, a film known as "The Skeleton Dance", which was produced in 1929. In this film, which is the first in the “Silly Symphony” series, the bony residents of a graveyard dance to “The Dance of the Dwarfs.” In the next of the “Silly Symphonies”, "Flowers & Trees", Disney added color to the film. By 1933, Disney had released his thirty-sixth film in the “Silly Symphony” series. This film was a popular one, primarily because of its upbeat message during the Depression and the memorable theme song “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?”

Disney decided to produce a feature-length animated film. This project was an ambitious one that would involve creating seven reels of action in Technicolor. To create this film, Disney introduced the multiplane camera, a machine that was able to photograph characters and settings through several planes, giving the animated cartoon a multidimensional effect. Encouraged by the financial and critical success of his first feature-length animated film, Disney and his staff began working on "Pinocchio", another full-length animated film. "Pinocchio" was still in production when Disney Studios began working on "Fantasia", a revolutionary integration of imaginative visuals and some of the great works of classical music. The film was released in 1940, nine months after "Pinocchio", but "Fantasia" was not as popular as Disney had hoped and only came into its own as it was re-released over the years.

At the same time, Disney Studios was also hard at work producing a number of live-action films. In a sixteen-year period, Disney oversaw the production of sixty-three live-action films.

Other feature-length cartoon pictures included The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949), Cinderella (1950), Alice in Wonderland (1951), Peter Pan (1953), and Sleeping Beauty (1959).

In addition to Treasure Island (1950) and Mary Poppins (1964), utilizing live actors, Disney did a series of nature films, such as Nature's Half Acre, The Living Desert, and The Vanishing Prairie. One-reel cartoons continued to appear along with the full-length features, notably Ferdinand the Bull (1938).

A cartoon short requires up to 15, 000 drawings.

For Snow White 2,000,000 drawings were made, 250,000 being photographed, and 600 artists were employed.

Disney decided to build a park where the entire family could have fun together. The idea for the park came to him after taking his children to other amusement parks and watching them have fun on amusement rides. In 1955 Disneyland, a 300-acre (120-hectare) amusement park devoted to Disney subjects, was opened in Anaheim, California. A similar park, Disney World, was opened in Orlando in 1971. Since then, Disney theme parks have opened in Tokyo and Paris.

The two principal areas of EPCOT are Future World and World Showcase, both of which were designed to appeal to adults rather than children.

Disney's parks continue to grow with the creation of the Disney-MGM Studios, Animal Kingdom, and an extensive sports complex in Orlando.

The Disney Corporation has also branched out into other types of films with the creation of Touchstone Films, into music with Hollywood Records, and even vacationing with its Disney Cruise Lines.

In all, the Disney name now lends itself to a multi-billion dollar enterprise, with multiple undertakings all over the world.

Achievements

• 

  Disney is a man known for lifting America’s spirits through the Great Depression, a World War, and the post-war baby-boom, and he is still present in spirit today as his company, Walt Disney Productions, continues to lead in defining family entertainment in the United States. The legacy of Walt Disney strongly impacts the movie industry, toys, children’s clothing and accessories like backpacks and toothbrushes, books and music, and vacation plans.
  
  Although his accomplishments are many, Disney is best known as the creator of the character Mickey Mouse, as the producer of a myriad of films for children and adults, and as the creator of the theme parks Disneyland and Disney World. In 1939, Disney received an honorary Academy Award and in 1954 he received four Academy Awards. One of Disney’s proudest achievements was Disneyland, the amusement park that he built in Anaheim, California, in 1955.
  
  Between 1932 and 1969, Walt Disney won 22 Academy awards and was nominated 59 times. This is more than any other person has ever received in the history of the awards.
  
  In 1980, Soviet astronomer Lyudmila Karachkina discovered a minor planet and named it after Walt Disney. The planet is called 4017-Disneya.
  
  In 1968, the United States Postal Service released a commemorative Walt Disney stamp. C. Robert Moore based the stamp on a portrait drawn by one of Disney’s animators. 120 million stamps were printed, and the stamp was worth six cents.
  
  In 2000, Walt Disney was inducted into the National Inventor’s Hall of Fame for his creation of the multiplane camera. Disney used the camera to film Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, and it was developed in order to produce more realistic and emotionally affecting animations.

Works

More photos

• movie

  • Peter Pan

    (Bid your cares goodbye as Wendy and her brothers embark o...)

    1955
  • Bambi

    (Now in the Walt Disney Signature Collection, Bambi sets o...)

    1942
  • Cinderella

    (Beloved by generations of fans, Disney's timeless classic...)

    1950
  • Lady and the Tramp

    (Fall in love with Disney’s Classic, Lady And The Tramp! E...)

    1955
  • 101 Dalmatians

    (Now part of The Walt Disney Signature Collection, the bel...)

    1961
  • Sleeping Beauty

    (Fall under the spell of Sleeping Beauty, the ultimate fai...)

    1959
  • Yellowstone Cubs

    (A pair of overly curious bear cubs conduct their own misc...)

    1963
  • Pinocchio

    (The Walt Disney Signature Collection presents a timeless ...)

    1940
  • Pollyanna

    (Pollyanna is an orphan who brings sunshine into the lives...)

    1960
  • The Jungle Book

    (Join Mowgli on an adventure to learn "The Bare Necessitie...)

    1967
  • Mary Poppins

    (An English nanny reconnects a father and mother with thei...)

    1964
  • The Sword in the Stone

    (Merlin trains a young lad destined to be the King of Engl...)

    1963
  • Dumbo

    (Baby Dumbo soars to fame as the world's only flying eleph...)

    1941
  • The Parent Trap

    (Twins switch places to reunite their parents.)

    1961

Religion

Walt was a very devoted Congregationalist Christian, his family’s religion.

Politics

Although he has been called politically conservative, Disney actually voted mainly for Democrats until the 1940 presidential election, when he switched allegiance to the Republican Party. He also supported Ronald Reagan's run for governor of California in 1966.

Views

Disney has been regarded as a paradigm of American imperialism and intolerance, as well as a debaser of culture. Disney has been accused of anti-Semitism. Disney has also been accused of other forms of racism because some of his productions released between the 1930s and 1950s contain racially insensitive materials.

Disney did not allow women to apply for spots in his animation training school. He firmly believed that "women do not do creative work."

Quotations: "A man should never neglect his family for business."

"All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them."

"Disneyland is a work of love. We didn't go into Disneyland just with the idea of making money."

"I love Mickey Mouse more than any woman I have ever known."

Disney once commented: "It's the principle thing I hope to leave when I move on to greener pastures."

Membership

• American Society of the French Legion of Honor

• 

  Order de Molay

• Variety Clubs International

• Riviera Club of Santa Monica

• 

  American Guild of Variety Artists

• 

  American Institute of Cinematography

• 

  Art Workers Guild of London

• Association of Cinematographers of Argentina

• 

  California State Park Rangers Association

• 

  Izaak Walton League of America

• National Association of Children of American Colonists

• National Congress of Parents and Teachers

• Screen Directors Guild

• 

  Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers

• 

  Southern California Academy of Sciences

• 

  Sierra Club

Personality

Walt was described as almost painfully shy, diffident, and self-deprecating. Disney hid his shy and insecure personality behind his public identity.

He became interested in personalizing animals' characters after carelessly killing a small owl as a young boy. He felt deeply remorseful and guilty and vowed never again to kill a living creature. Disney’s imagination and energy, his whimsical humor, and his gift for being attuned to the vagaries of popular taste inspired him to develop well-loved amusements for "children of all ages" throughout the world.

Walt had very simple tastes in food. He preferred hamburger to steak, and chili (with beans) to just about everything else. When he traveled overseas he brought along a suitcase full of canned chili and ordered the horrified chefs of the posh hotels where he stayed to heat the stuff up for him. Among his favorite desserts were lemon meringue pie and chocolate ice cream soda.

Walt Disney smoked three packs of unfiltered cigarettes a day throughout his adult life, a habit he never tried to quit. His favorite brands were the now-defunct Sweet Caporal, Camels, and Lucky Strikes. He also acquired a fondness for Gitanes (a French import) following a visit to Europe. When the United States Surgeon General issued the landmark 1964 report that first linked tobacco-use with ill health, Walt's daughter Diane Disney bought him cartons of filtered cigarettes and made him promise to smoke them. He did - but only after tearing off the filters. His rationale was, "I promised her I'd use them, but I didn't tell her how I would use them." Walt died from lung cancer two years later.

Walt greatly disliked being called ''Mr. Disney'' and would insist on being referred to by his first name by employees. Occasionally when he was referred to as ''Mr. Disney,'' he'd say something along the lines of "Please, call me Walt. The only Mr. at Disney Studios is our lawyer, Mr. Lessing."

Although he wore a mustache all his life, he forbade his employees to wear them, not wanting to compromise on the "clean-cut image" that the Disney company had. In the early 1940s, he made exceptions for two favored staff members, Ub Iwerks and animator Bill Tytla.

Walt was fond of animals but had reservations about cats because, as he put it, "You can't tell them what to do."

Quotes from others about the person

• "Nearly three decades after his death, "Disney" is no longer a name, but a conjuring word, summoning collective memories of poisoned apples, pumpkined carriages, and raucous blue genies." - Anita Silvey

Interests

• drawing

• Politicians

  Ronald Reagan

• Sport & Clubs

  polo, lawn bowling

Connections

In 1925, Disney hired an ink-and-paint artist named Lillian Bounds. After a brief courtship, the couple married. Disney and Lillian Bounds had two children. Diane Disney Miller, born in 1933, was the couple’s only biological daughter. They adopted Sharon Disney Lund shortly after her birth in 1936.

Father:

Elias Disney

Walt’s father did not exactly encourage his dreams. In Disney's biography, the author describes a conversation between father and son when Walt was in his late teens and just getting started on his career:

"That evening after dinner, Walt’s father called him into the living room for a serious discussion. "Walter," Elias said, "I have a job for you at the jelly factory. It pays twenty-five dollars a week."

"Dad," Walt replied, "I don’t want to work at the jelly factory. I want to be an artist."

"You can’t make a living drawing pictures," Elias said. "You need a real job."

Mother:

Flora Call Disney

When the Disney's lived in Kansas City, Missouri, Flora always made sure each child had a good sack lunch for school and when Walt and Roy delivered newspapers for Elias early each morning and again after school, Flora saw to it that the boys were dressed properly with extra layers of clothes in the cold bitter winters and that they had good food to eat.

Spouse:

Lillian Bounds

Lillian Bounds was a secretary working for Walt Disney shortly after the start of the Disney company when he became enthralled with her, and although he vowed he would not marry before he was at least 25 years old with $10,000 saved, he couldn’t resist.

In 1925, the two married at Lillian’s brother’s home in Lewiston, Idaho. Thirty years later, in 1955, just four days before the opening of Walt’s new theme park, the couple invited 300 guests to celebrate their anniversary with them - according to their invitation, "by cruising down the Mississippi on the Mark Twain’s maiden voyage followed by dinner at Slue Foot Sue’s Golden Horseshoe!"

The invitation continued, "Hope you can make it - we especially want you and, by the way, no gifts, please - we have everything, including a grandson!"

Brother:

Herbert Arthur Disney

Brother:

Raymond Arnold Disney

When brothers Walt and Roy moved to California, Raymond also went to Los Angeles. He formed his own insurance business and his largest clients were brothers Walt and Roy Disney at their Disney Brothers Animation Studio.

Sister:

Ruth Flora Disney

Ruth was the only girl that Elias and Flora produced and she was the childhood companion of Walt, attending Benton Grammar School with him. When Walt was 9 years old, Ruth became ill with the measles and Walt entertained her by drawing a series of figures on paper and then flipping them to make them appear to move. This was the first recorded attempt at animation by Walt.

son-in-law:

Ronald William Miller

Ron served in the Army and then played professional football for the Los Angeles Rams before his father-in-law recruited him to work at The Walt Disney Studios. There, he ascended from motion picture and television production roles to CEO of what is now The Walt Disney Company.

Son-in Law:

Robert Borgfeldt Brown

Brother:

Roy Disney

While Walt was the creative man, Roy was the one who made sure the company was financially stable. Roy and Walt both founded Disney Studios as brothers, but Walt would buy out most of Roy's share in 1929 so, unlike Max and Dave Fleischer of rival Fleischer Studios, Roy was not a co-producer. However, Roy would be an equal partner in all facets of the production company.

Daughter:

Diane Marie Disney

Philanthropist, Diane Disney Miller, was the eldest daughter of a well-known entertainer, Walt Disney and his wife Lillian Bounds Disney.

Prior to her death, she was president of the board of directors of the Walt Disney Family Foundation. This organization owns and operates the Walt Disney Family Museum located in San Francisco. She also was instrumental in the conception and completion of the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. She and her husband Ron co-owned the Silverado Vineyards Winery in Napa.

Daughter:

Sharon Mae Disney

Sharon went on to be elected to the board of directors of The Walt Disney Company. Additionally, Sharon was a trustee of the California Institute of the Arts, the Marianne Frostig Center of Educational Therapy, and the Curtis School Foundation. She was also quite active with the Los Angeles County Music Center. A few years after her death, the Sharon D. Lund Foundation made a large donation to the California Institute of the Arts, an organization that her father, Walt, also generously supported, and the school of dance was renamed to the Sharon Disney Lund School of Dance.

Partner:

Ub Iwerks

Walt decided to use his artistic talent to get a job, and he soon found work in advertising as an apprentice at a commercial art studio. It was there that he met a Dutch cartoonist named Ub Iwerks. Together, they left to form their own art studio, but it soon failed.

Friend:

Ward Kimball

In 1949, Disney and his family moved to a new home in the Holmby Hills district of Los Angeles. With the help of his friends Ward and Betty Kimball, who already had their own backyard railroad, Disney developed blueprints and immediately set to work on creating a miniature live steam railroad for his backyard.

Friend:

Charlie Chaplin

Walt became friends with Charlie Chaplin during their respective days at United Artists in the 1930s; Disney credited Chaplin for helping him correctly pace his feature films.

References

• Young Walt Disney: A Biography of Walt Disney's Younger Years eBook: Jennifer Warner, LifeCaps: Books
  2014
• Walt Disney: An American Original
  1994
• Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination
  2007