Walt Disney Early Life Essay

In the 1930s, animation was forever changed by the work of Walt Disney and his partners. Walt Disney not only improved the methods of creating animation, he also raised the expectations people have toward animation. Without his influence, the movie industry would not be the same.

Early Life Walt Disney was born Walter Elias Disney on December 5, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois, to Elias Disney and Flora Call. When only four years old, Walt moved to Marceline, Missouri, with his family because his father wanted to own a farm. This is where Walt began school, and eventually started to draw. Struggling to farm, the Disney family moved again. Kansas City, Missouri is the next place the Disney’s lived. Elias decided to buy a newspaper route, where Walt and his three brothers worked. While still in Kansas City, Walt took a few classes at the Kansas City Art Institute and School of Design. Finally, in 1917, the family returned to Chicago, which is where Walt and his siblings started to go to
McKinley High School. At McKinley, Walt took photos and drew for the school newspaper. From then on, Walt knew he wanted to be a newspaper cartoonist, but he had to put this dream on hold, during World War I. During this time, Walt was an ambulance driver for the American Red Cross in Germany and France. Following the war, Walt once again moved to Kansas City, which is when he met Ub Iwerks, another young artist.

Career In 1922, Ub and Walt opened their own studio.
They worked together to create series of animated sketches, Laugh-O-Grams. Growing in popularity, Walt and Ub began another series that included both live action and animation, Alice in Cartoonland. Realizing the quality of these productions, a New York film company ripped off the men, causing them to file for bankruptcy in 1923. After their Kansas City company failed, Walt decided to try again, but this time in California. Walt and Ub began creating more characters, the most popular being Mickey Mouse. Walt featured Mickey in three cartoons, to introduce the new character, the most popular of these was Steamboat Willie. Because Mickey and Minnie became very popular very fast, the partners created even more animal characters, including Donald Duck, Goofy, and Pluto. Continuing to increase the length and perfect the storylines, Disney’s company finally began creating the movie everyone knows and loves, Snow White and The Seven
Dwarfs.

His Struggles Despite his huge success, Walt had to overcome many hardships over the years. In the 1940s, for example, he almost had to file for bankruptcy for the second time. World War II not only hurt Disney’s overseas business, but also the business in the states. Two of the newest productions, Fantasia and The Reluctant Dragon, completely failed. This failure, along with the stress of war, caused a large labor union strike, breaking up the family of cartoonists working for Disney. However, these struggles did not stunt the growth of Disney’s influence for long. The company quickly moved passed their problems and created two movies still popular today, Dumbo and Bambi.

Biggest Successes
The 1950s were a very successful time for Disney and his company. Not only did they release Cinderella, but Disneyland also opened. Disneyland, located in Anaheim, California, was built to be Walt’s personal amusement park. He believed that all other amusement parks were boring, and insisted on opening his own, despite the disapproval of others. Walt had even said that Disneyland was his biggest accomplishment. Disneyland is still huge success today as well and Disney World, located in Orlando, Florida. Sadly, Walt died from a relapse of lung cancer before Disney World was completed. Walt’s company continues on today, making Academy Award winning movies, continuing to make improvements, and carrying on his legacy. Walt Disney changed the lives of many through his movies and their influences.