Walt Disney By Scott Thomson Background Developed interest

Walt Disney By: Scott Thomson

Background • Developed interest in drawings after he was paid to draw the horse of his Retired Neighbor • Became the Cartoonist of his school’s newspaper in High School • Took night courses at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts

Early Career • Disney worked at Pesmen-Rubin Commercial Art Studio as an apprentice before he was laid off for “lacking imagination” and having “no good ideas” • Himself and a fellow worker started a new company where they made “Laugh-O-Grams” • They produced a 12 minute long animated film called “Alice’s Wonderland” unfortunately it was too late and the company went bankrupt

Career Continued • After this he moved to Hollywood cause his brother had TB • Luckily a woman named Margaret Winkler needed a new series and the brothers quickly started Disney Brothers Studios--- which became The Walt Disney Company and began making a series to go with Alice’s Wonderland • Soon Winkler’s husband took over the Alice Series and he demanded new material after the series end • Leading to the creation of “Oswald the Lucky Rabbit”

The Start of it All • Disney wanted more money but Winkler wanted a reduction in pay • Ultimately leading to the two dividing ways and Winkler taking all of Disney’s staff beside except Ikler (a friend who was with Disney since the Laugh-O-Grams) • To replace Oswald they developed Mickey Mouse • “Ikler designed Mickey's physical appearance, but Walt gave him his soul. ” • From there “Steamboat Willie” was made, which was the first sound cartoon, leading to a contract with Pat Powers so Walt could use “Powers Cinephone” sound system

More Struggles • Walt hired a composer and some local artists and they created a “Silly Sympathy” series and called themselves the “Nine Old Men” • The Disney Brothers felt they were being underpaid and again were denied a raise. Powers hired Ikers to work for him leading to the composer also quitting. Causing Walt to have a nervous breakdown

The Turn Around • The Disney Brothers signed a contract with Columbia Pictures and Mickey Mouse’s popularity sky rocketed • Together the Brothers and Columbia Pictures produced “Flowers and Trees” which won an Academy Award for Short Subject (Cartoon) • He received an Honorary Award for Mickey Mouse and then another Academy Award for “The Three Little Pigs” described as the most successful short animation of all time • The success of these films lead to the Brothers having a staff of almost 200 people now • Disney realized the importance of telling emotionally gripping stories that would interest the audience, and he invested in a "story department" separate from the animators, with storyboard artists who would detail the plots of Disney's films

The Golden Age • Disney became tired with Short Films and began making “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” the industry thought it would be a bust and named it Disney’s Folly • The film was the first to have full color and sound, this “folly” ended up grossing 6. 5 million dollars • Shortly after the development of Snow White the films Dumbo, Pinocchio, and Fantasia were developed • Historians call this era the Golden Age of Animation

The Development of Disney World • After animations like Donald Duck and Bambi Walt released Cinderella, earning nearly 8 million in its first year • Soon after Peter Pan and Treasure Island Walt began to focus less attention on Films, leaving that to the key animators, and explored the idea of an Amusement Park • He sent “Imagineers” to every Amusement Park in the U. S to get an idea of what to make • After a year of construction Disney Land opened in July 1955 • The park was described as one that "tastefully combined some of the pleasant things of yesterday with fantasy and dreams of tomorrow” • It attracted 3. 6 million guests that year

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