By: Jenna Hinckley
Basic Facts
Born- December 5, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois
Died- December 15, 1966 in Burbank, California from lung cancer
Occupation- Film producer, co-founder of The Walt Disney Company,
formerly known as Walt Disney Productions
Spouse- Lillian Bounds Disney (1925- 1966)
Children- Diane Disney (b. 1933) Sharon Disney (1936-1993)
Was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor,
animator, entrepreneur, and philanthropist
Became one of the best known motion picture producers in the world
Awards
Received 64 Academy Award nominations
out of which he won on 26 occasions
Won 7 Emmy Awards
1932, the film Flowers and Trees won Walt
the first of his 32 personal Academy Awards
Childhood
Born to Elias Disney, an Irish-Canadian, and his
mother, Flora Call Disney, coming from a
German-American descent
While living in Marceline, MO Walt developed
his love for drawing
One of his neighbors, a retired doctor Doc
Sherwood, paid him to draw pictures of his
horse, Rupert
His family remained in Marceline for four years,
moving to Kansas City in 1910
Teenage Years
In 1917, Walts dad acquired shares in the O-Zell jelly factory in Chicago
and moved his family there
During Disneys freshman year at McKinley High School, he began taking
night courses at Chicago Art Institute
Became cartoonist for school newspaper
Cartoons were very patriotic, focusing on World War 1
Dropped out of high school at 16 to join the Army but was rejected
because he was underage
After the rejection Walt and a friend joined the Red Cross
Following this he was sent to France for a year where he drove an
ambulance
He moved to Kansas City when he got back to begin his artistic career
Brother Roy worked at a bank in the area, and got him a job through a
friend at Pesmen-Rubin Art Studio
Created ads for newspapers, magazines, and movie theatres
It was here that he met cartoonist, Ubbe Iwerks, and became close
friends and decided to start their own art business
January 1920 Disney and Iwerks formed company called Iwerks-Disney
Commercial Artist
Following a rough start, Iwerks left temporarily to earn money at Kansas
City Film Ad Company.
Hollywood
With his brother, Disney pooled in
money to set up the first Hollywood
cartoon studio in his uncles garage
He sent an unfinished print to New
York distributor Margaret Winkler,
who promptly wrote back to him
She was keen on a distribution deal
with Disney for more live-
action/animated shorts based on
Alice in Wonderland
Mickey Mouse
Was based on a mouse adopted as a pet,
working in a Kansas City studio
Ubbe Iwerks reworked sketches made by
Disney so it was easier to animate it
However, Mickeys voice and personality was
provided by Disney
1
st
animated short with Mickey in it titled, Plane
Crazy, was a silent movie
Soon after appearing in his second film
Steamboat Willie
Silly Symphonies
Following Mickey Mouse series, musical short series Silly Symphonies
came along in 1929
The first short was called The Skeleton Dance and was drawn and
animated only by Iwerks, who was responsible for drawing most of the
cartoons for Disney in 1928 and 1929
In 1930, Disney signed a new distribution deal with Columbia Pictures,
because they thought they werent getting enough profits from Pat Powers
Iwerks was pulled into opening his own studio by Pat Powers
He launched his own series Flip the Frog
He also made two other series Willie Whopper and Comicolor
In 1936 Iwerks shut down his studio to work on various projects
In 1940 he returned to Disney Studios
By 1932 Mickey Mouse was successful but Silly Symphonies was not
In that same year, Disney got competition with Max Fleischers cartoon
Betty Boop
Silly Symphonies had gotten stronger plots
Through this, Disney created the cartoon The Three Little Pigs in 1933
Featured a hit song, which became the anthem of the Great Depression,
Whos Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf
Snow White and the seven Dwarfs
On Decemebr 21, 1937, Snow White
and the Seven Dwarfs, the first full
length animated musical feature,
premeired at the Carthay Circle
Theatre in Los Angeles
It produced at unheard cost of
$1,499,000 during the depths of the
Depression
1. Walt Disney Ed. D Merrill
Jan 24, 2008
Wikimedia Foundation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney
2. Walt Disney: A Short Biography Ed. Chris Wingert
2003
Just Disney.com
http://justdisney.com
3. Fanning, Jim. Walt Disney, Pop Culture Legends.
New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1994
4. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Dir. David Hand.
Videocassette. Buena Vista Home Video, Dec. 21, 1937
