Walt Disney

1. Walt Disney PowerPoint By Elizabeth Benson

2. Introduction • Born on December 5th, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois. • Died of lung cancer on December 15th,1966. Disney, the empire we know today, the world, the land, Disney entertainment, Disney cruises, Disney Stores, toys, movies, cartoons, was all started by one man and his love for animation. Walter Elias Disney.

3. Childhood Walter Elias Disney was born December 5th, 1901 in Chicago to Elias and Flora Disney. He was the youngest of four boys (Herbert, Raymond, and Roy). When Walt’s little sister Ruth was born, they moved to a farm in Marceline, Missouri. While in Marceline, the two eldest boys, Herbert and Raymond, ran away from home, fleeing their abusive and demanding father. Shortly after, Elias got too sick to run the farm. The farm was auctioned off and the Disney’s moved to Kansas City. In Kansas City, Elias made Walt and Roy work as unpaid paperboys. They got up as early as 3:30am and to deliver about 50 papers each. Nineteen year old Roy had had enough, he left home one night and fled to his uncle’s house. Walt was the only boy left in the house, and often was beaten by his father. In the year 1917, Elias had got a job working at a jelly factory and had to move to Chicago. Walt stayed behind and spent the summer with Roy and Herbert. Walt started to notice his talent as drawing and became determined to be an artist.

4. Adolescence Walt moved back with his parents and attended McKinley High School. He published his drawings and cartoons for the school news paper and studied at the Chicago Institute of Art three days a week. During World War I, Roy had joined the navy and Raymond was in the army. Walt wanted to be a part of it too, but he was too young to join the army. As the war was ending, Walt joined a Red Cross volunteer unit. He was sent to France to work on clean-up operations and drove ambulances. He made many friends in his unit, including a puppy named Carey. He entrusted his friend Russell to take Carey back home overseas. When he returned, Walt found that his beloved dog had died, and his steady girlfriend had married another without telling him. In 1919, Walt took his drawings to the Kansas City newspapers; he wanted to be a political cartoonist, but there were no available jobs. He soon got a job as a commercial artist’s apprentice. He became friends with another young artist, Ubbe Iwwerks, and they later went into business together after they were both laid off. But Walt soon got a job at Kansas City Film Ad Company and the they went separate ways. Walt became fascinated by their moving cartoon commercials and changed his plans of being a political cartoonist and now wanted to be in animation.

5. Adulthood In February 1924, Walt and Roy established the very first cartoon studio in Hollywood and hired Ubbe Iwwerks. A year later, Walt Disney married Lillian Bounds on July 13. The little studio produced animated comedies such as Alice’s Wonderland, and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Later, he made a cartoon inspired by his pet mouse, Mortimer. Mickey Mouse was a huge success, the third Mickey cartoon, Steamboat Willie, was the first sound cartoon. In 1954, Walt announced that he would build an amusement park where people young and old can have fun and relax. Disneyland opened in Anaheim, California on July 17, 1955, over 33,000 guests arrived. Within seven weeks about 1,000,000 people visited Disneyland. Only three years later, Walt considered making another theme park, Disney World, at Orlando, Florida. Sadly, Walt died of lung cancer on December 15, 1966. Roy continued to work on his brothers dream and Walt Disney World opened on October 1, 1971. Roy died three months later on December 20.

6. Timeline 1919- First real job as an artist at Kansas City Slide 1937- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the first full length animation film. 1901- Walt Disney born Dec. 5 in Chicago 1925- Marries Lillian Bounds 1966- Walt Disney dies of lung cancer 1924- Established first cartoon studio in Hollywood 1918- Volunteered to go overseas France during World War I 1928- Introduced Mickey Mouse in Steamboat Willie, first synchronized sound cartoon 1955- “Disneyland” theme park opens in Anaheim, California 1971- “Walt Disney World” opens in Orlando, Florida. Roy Disney dies.

7. Positive Contributions Walt Disney was a bit of a perfectionist, he spent much of his time experimenting with forms of animation to get it to look exactly as he imagined it. His “experiments” helped bring soundless, colorless cartoons to what they are today. The Walt Disney theme parks, based on his well-known cartoons, allow children and adults alike to come together to relax and have fun. There are now five Disney theme parks worldwide (Disneyland in California, Walt Disney World in Florida, Disneyland Paris, Disneyland Hong Kong, and Tokyo Disney). The name “Disney” is known all around the world.

8. Most Interesting The most interesting thing I read about Walt Disney is that no matter what people said, he was always determined to follow his dream. He wanted to become an artist; his family thought that was ridiculous. He wanted to make Snow Whiteand the Seven Dwarfs a full-length animated feature; they told him it wouldn’t work. He wanted to build a his own theme park; they said it was impossible. But Walt proved them wrong . I also learned that Walt Disney had an obsession with trains, he even made his own personal railroad in his backyard. He enjoyed giving people rides on his little train, which later led to the idea of building an amusement park.

9. 3 Questions • When did you first realize that you were good at drawing and knew that you wanted to be an artist? • In your quest to be an artist, most of your family disagreed with your decision, was there anyone that supported and inspired you? • If you could watch the Disney channel today, would you be proud of how far your cartoons have come? 1928 2009

10. Bibliography Fanning, Jim. Walt Disney. New York: Chelsea House, 1994. The End