Walt Disney

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00Walt Disney (1901-1966), American cartoon artist and producer of animated films. Disney founded entertainment giant The Walt Disney Company and is considered the father of the animation industry. During his long career he was nominated for 64 Academy Awards and won 26 Oscars, both records.02br
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00Walter Elias Disney was born in 00. When Disney was a toddler, the family moved to a farm near 00. He became interested in art at a young age, selling his sketches and drawings to neighbors to earn spending money. During his grammar school years, the family moved to 00. In addition to his regular schoolwork, Disney attended Saturday classes at the Kansas City Art Institute. 02br
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00When Disney was a teenager the family returned to 00, where he studied art and photography at 00 and attended night classes at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. Disney left high school at the age of 16, hoping to fight in World War I (1914-1918). Too young to enlist in any service, he lied about his age and managed to join the Red Cross. After a short stint as an ambulance driver in 010200, Disney returned to 00 where he met commercial artist Ub Iwerks. Disney and Iwerks started their own business, drawing advertisements and illustrations, then launched an animation studio. The business went bankrupt in the early 1920s, however.02br
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00In 1923 Disney moved to 00. He, his brother Roy O. Disney, and Iwerks began producing short animated films. In 1927 Disney created the cartoon character Oswald the Rabbit. A year later he produced another character, a mouse called Mortimer, but shortly after changed the name to Mickey. In 1928 Mickey Mouse starred in the first cartoon featuring synchronized sound, 01i00Steamboat Willie, 02i00with Disney providing Mickey’s voice.02br
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00In 1929 Disney began making the Silly Symphony cartoon series, beginning with 01i00Skeleton Dance02i00. The studio became a pioneer in color animation with 01i00Flowers and Trees02i00 (1932), which earned an Academy Award for best short cartoon.02br
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00Disney decided to devote the company’s resources to producing the first full-length animated feature. In 1937 01i00Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs02i00 was released to great acclaim, earning a special Academy Award. The movie was followed by other successful feature-length films, including 01i00Fantasia 02i00(1940), which combined classical music with animation; 01i00Pinocchio02i00 (1940), further establishing the Disney pattern of turning classic fairy tales into animated features; and 01i00Bambi02i00 (1942). The studio also produced films for the 010200 military during World War II (1939-1945).02br
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00By the 1950s Walt Disney Productions, Ltd., had become one of the major producers of live-action and animated films for theaters and television. Disney animated features of this period included 01i00Peter Pan02i00 (1953), 01i00Lady and the Tramp 02i00(1955), 01i00Sleeping Beauty 02i00(1959), 01i00One Hundred and One Dalmatians 02i00(1961), and 01i00The Sword in the Stone02i00 (1963). The studio also made live-action movies such as 00 (1950), 01i00Robin Hood02i00 (1951), 01i00Old Yeller 02i00(1957),01i00 The Shaggy Dog02i00 (1959), and 01i00The Absent-Minded Professor02i00 (1961). The film 01i00Mary Poppins02i00 (1964) innovatively combined live action with animation. Disney television shows of this era included 01i00Davy Crockett,02i00 01i00The Mickey Mouse Club,02i00 and 01i00Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color.02i02br
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00As the scope of the company’s enterprises grew, Disney retained as much artistic control as possible. The company expanded into other areas, such as publishing children’s books and comics. Most of these efforts starred familiar Disney characters such as Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, and Pluto the dog.02br
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00In 1955 the company opened 00, a huge amusement park in 00. Featuring historical reconstructions, displays, and rides—many based on characters and themes from Disney films—it became a successful, well-known tourist attraction. The company expanded this concept with Disney World, which opened in 1971 near Orlando, Florida; Tokyo Disneyland, introduced in Japan in 1983; and Euro Disneyland (now Disneyland Paris), debuting in France in 1992. 02br
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00Disney died in 1966. The company he founded, however, has continued to be a leader in animation (including computer animation), live motion pictures, and many other aspects of the entertainment industry.02br
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