https://padlet.com/annalee_cardiff/walt_disney_entrepreneur "If you can dream it, you can do it." en-us 2017-05-02 15:23:47 UTC 2023-02-23 03:31:29 UTC hello@padlet.com http://i0.wp.com/offbeathome.com/files/2015/10/mickey-mouse-logo.png?resize=624625 annalee_cardiff https://padlet.com/annalee_cardiff/walt_disney_entrepreneur/wish/169456750 Disney was born December 5, 1901 in Hermosa, Chicago, Illinois. He was the youngest son in his family, and shortly after his younger sister was born, his family moved to a farm in Missouri. This is where he developed an interest in drawing. Then, when he was only ten years old, his family moved to Kansas City, Missouri. He met a friend at the school he attended who introduced him to the magic of motion pictures. He also had a paper route, that started early in the morning before school and after school. It is said that he often received poor grades because he fell asleep in class! However, he kept that paper route for six years. On the weekends, he would attend classes at an art institute for cartooning.
In 1917, his family moved back to Chicago. Later that year, Walt Disney attempted to enlist in the war to help the United States fight against the Germans in World War I, however he was rejected for being too young. But, he was determined to help in anyway - so he faked his birth certificate and join the Red Cross Ambulance Corps! He was shipped out to France for a year, and returned to Chicago 1919. After working a variety of jobs in the field of art and animation, he experienced highs and lows. Disney moved to Hollywood in 1923, the year of which his company, The Walt Disney Company, was founded!  ]]> 2017-05-02 15:33:25 UTC https://padlet.com/annalee_cardiff/walt_disney_entrepreneur/wish/169456750 annalee_cardiff https://padlet.com/annalee_cardiff/walt_disney_entrepreneur/wish/169495005

He was born in Chicago, Illinois. 

His family moved around a lot. 

He worked odd-jobs before opening his own company. 

He married Lillian Bounds in July of 1925. 

He and his wife had two daughters,  Diane and Sharon. Sharon was adopted by the Disney's at only 6 weeks old. 

]]> 2017-05-02 17:28:39 UTC https://padlet.com/annalee_cardiff/walt_disney_entrepreneur/wish/169495005 annalee_cardiff https://padlet.com/annalee_cardiff/walt_disney_entrepreneur/wish/169497834 Very few individuals had as much impact on the entertainment industry and pop culture of his time than Walter Elias Disney.
After the war, Disney returned home in hopes of following his passion - drawing and animation. He got a job at Film Ad Co, which specialized in advertisements. With borrowed equipment, he turned his garage into a studio and created his own animated shorts called Laugh-O-Grams, but found that no local theaters wanted to show them. It wasn't until 1923, when he moved out to Hollywood, that he found his big break.
Disney teamed up with his older brother, Roy, and created Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. This short film took you through Oswald and all of his friend's funny adventures. It was a huge hit. Unfortunately, the company he worked through stole the copyright to this animation when they wanted to pull out. Unwilling to be duped by a company again, Disney created The Walt Disney Company. This allowed him to have full control of all of his animations. While thinking of a new character to become as popular as Oswald, he spent many nights creating the now iconic Mickey Mouse. With a team of animators and artists, Mickey Mouse hadn't actually taken off until the release of Steamboat Willie, in 1928. It was a huge hit in Manhattan, where Variety gave it a rave review and The New York Times called it "ingenious". After this, Mickey Mouse films rolled out of the studio with incredible speed. While the Great Depression had gripped the rest of the country, The Walt Disney Company flourished.
Walt Disney wasn't satisfied there. While it was risky, with the amount of time it took to animate and not to mention the costs - he was determined to release a full-length animated movie. However, when Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) was released, it proved itself to be no risk at all given the box office success! This movie was followed by Pinocchio (1940) and Fantasia (1940). Unfortunately, neither film was quite as successful as Snow White, partly because Europe had been consumed by World War II. Because the studio had made such a loss on both filmed, and due to heavy debt followed by big salary cuts, several animators either went on strike or left the company all together.
Soon after the production and release of Dumbo (1941), the U.S. entered World War II. This formed the Walt Disney Training Films Unit, where Disney produced instructional films for the military like Four Methods of Flushing and Riveting and Aircraft Production Methods. Disney also produced short films featuring his iconic characters to promote war bonds.
Feature film, Bambi, was released in 1942 and lost $200,000 due to the war. On top of the low box office generated from Pinocchio and Fantasia, Disney was deep in debt. Disney actually had to make a deal with Bank of America, basically to promise that he'd do better!
Finally, in 1950, the studio released Cinderella, it's first motion picture in eight years. It was a huge success, earning nearly 8 million dollars in box office in it's first year. Followed by the first live-action movie from the studio, Treasure Island (1950), Alice in Wonderland (1951), and Peter Pan (1953). All of these films were successful, and all without the heavy involvement of Disney himself! He started to hand over his trust to making the films to his team of animators, fondly dubbed "The Nine Old Men". ]]> 2017-05-02 17:38:17 UTC https://padlet.com/annalee_cardiff/walt_disney_entrepreneur/wish/169497834 annalee_cardiff https://padlet.com/annalee_cardiff/walt_disney_entrepreneur/wish/169499382 2017-05-02 17:43:50 UTC https://padlet.com/annalee_cardiff/walt_disney_entrepreneur/wish/169499382 annalee_cardiff https://padlet.com/annalee_cardiff/walt_disney_entrepreneur/wish/169501349 2017-05-02 17:50:20 UTC https://padlet.com/annalee_cardiff/walt_disney_entrepreneur/wish/169501349 annalee_cardiff https://padlet.com/annalee_cardiff/walt_disney_entrepreneur/wish/169793273 2017-05-03 20:25:26 UTC https://padlet.com/annalee_cardiff/walt_disney_entrepreneur/wish/169793273 annalee_cardiff https://padlet.com/annalee_cardiff/walt_disney_entrepreneur/wish/169793485 For years, Disney dreamed of creating a theme park based off of his iconic characters, however he never had the funding to do it. But finally, in the early 1950's, Disney actually mortgaged his life insurance, stock holdings, house and furniture to purchase and finance the building of a 185-acre amusement park, which we have now come to know as Disneyland. Before starting construction, Disney hired several "Imagineers" to visit every theme park in America, and even a few in other countries, to investigate what worked and what didn't in a theme park. After opening in 1955, it was dubbed The Happiest Place on Earth, and became the fantasy world that Disney always dreamed of. It was attracting over 22,000 visitors a day, and by the end of it's first year, it received 3.6 million guests.
In the 1960's, Disney decided it was time to open a second magic kingdom theme park! He bought over 27,000 acres in Orlando, Florida to begin the construction on his second fantasy world. Disney had many dreams and ideas to be applied to Disney World, including a larger and more elaborate version of the Magic Kingdom, and EPCOT, which was supposed to be a "futuristic and functional" city. Disney World was also planned to have hotels, and golf courses, and fun for the whole family. ]]> 2017-05-03 20:26:28 UTC https://padlet.com/annalee_cardiff/walt_disney_entrepreneur/wish/169793485 annalee_cardiff https://padlet.com/annalee_cardiff/walt_disney_entrepreneur/wish/169795836 2017-05-03 20:41:02 UTC https://padlet.com/annalee_cardiff/walt_disney_entrepreneur/wish/169795836 annalee_cardiff https://padlet.com/annalee_cardiff/walt_disney_entrepreneur/wish/169801032 Sadly, Disney never got to see the end of construction to his second theme park, as he lost the battle to lung cancer only days after is 65th birthday on December 15th, 1966. His older brother, Roy, took over the company after his death and finished the construction of Disney World. Many of Disney's ideas were taken into consideration when building the theme park, but EPCOT was reduced more to an attraction than an actual town. 
Half of Disney's estate went to his family, while the other half went to charities and schools. ]]> 2017-05-03 21:19:47 UTC https://padlet.com/annalee_cardiff/walt_disney_entrepreneur/wish/169801032 annalee_cardiff https://padlet.com/annalee_cardiff/walt_disney_entrepreneur/wish/169804233 In the American Dictionary of National Biography, Mark Langer writes about Walt Disney the following.
"Disney remains the central figure in the history of animation. Through technological innovations and alliances with governments and corporations, he tranformed a minor studio in a marginal form of communication into a multinational leisure industry giant. Despite his critics, his vision of a modern, corporate utopia as an extension of traditional American values has possibly gained greater currency in the years after his death."
'Nuff said. ]]> 2017-05-03 21:49:44 UTC https://padlet.com/annalee_cardiff/walt_disney_entrepreneur/wish/169804233 annalee_cardiff https://padlet.com/annalee_cardiff/walt_disney_entrepreneur/wish/169804849 2017-05-03 21:56:38 UTC https://padlet.com/annalee_cardiff/walt_disney_entrepreneur/wish/169804849