биография уолта диснея на английском
Английский текст с переводом: Уолт Дисней
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Опубликовано: 06.03.2016
Уолт Дисней родился 5 декабря 1901 года. Дисней стал одним из самых известных продюсеров мультфильмов в мире. Он особенно знаменит как кинопродюсер и популярный шоумен, а также как новатор в мультипликации и проектировании тематических парков.
Дисней известен своим вкладом в сферу развлечений в 20 веке. Первый успех пришел к нему благодаря серии «Освальд – счастливый кролик», которая была создана студией Диснея для Чарльза Минца из «Юниверсал Студиоз». Когда Дисней попросил большего бюджета для его популярных серий об Освальде, Минц отказал, и Диснею пришлось уйти. Позже Дисней и его брат Рой. О. Дисней начали с нуля и совместно основали «Уолт Дисней Продакшнз», в настоящее время известную как «Компания Уолта Диснея». Сегодня эта компания имеет ежегодный доход, приблизительно, 35 миллиардов долларов США. Этот успех пришел, в основном, благодаря ряду наиболее известных в мире вымышленных персонажей, созданных им и его штатом, включая Микки Мауса, – персонажа, которого первоначально озвучил сам Дисней.
Дисней получил 26 наград «Оскар» из 59 номинаций, включая рекордные четыре за один год. Он получил больше наград и номинаций, чем любой другой человек. В его честь также названы тематические парки Диснейленд и Всемирный курорт Уолта Диснея в Соединенных Штатах, а также международные курорты (Диснейленды) в Японии, Франции и Китае.
Дисней умер от рака легких в городе Бербанк, штат Калифорния, 15 декабря 1966 года. На следующий год началось строительство Всемирного курорта Уолта Диснея во Флориде. Его брат Рой Дисней открыл «Волшебное королевство» 1 октября 1971 года.
Walt Disney
Walt Disney was born on December 5, 1901. Disney became one of the best-known motion picture producers in the world. He is particularly noted for being a film producer and a popular showman, as well as an innovator in animation and theme park design.
Disney won 26 Academy Awards out of 59 nominations, including a record four in one year, giving him more awards and nominations than any other individual. He is also the namesake for Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resort theme parks in the United States, as well as the international resorts in Japan, France, and China.
Disney died of lung cancer in Burbank, California, on December 15, 1966. The following year, construction began on Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. His brother Roy Disney inaugurated The Magic Kingdom on October 1, 1971.
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Walt Disney Biography: The Man Who Believed in Dreams
In this success story, we are going to share Walt Disney biography and his path to success. It wasn’t easy, but Walt believed in his dreams and did all his best to make the world happy. Enjoy reading a great life story about one of the greatest persons in history.
Walt Disney is a famous American artist, director, producer and creator of a series of full-length animated films that won him worldwide fame. He is a Doctor of Fine Arts, a winner of 7 Emmy Awards, 22 Academy Awards (Oscars), and Cecil B. DeMille Award. Additionally, he was awarded the highest civilian award of the U.S. government – The Presidential Medal of Freedom. Walt Disney is the co-founder of an entertainment conglomerate, The Walt Disney Company, and creator of the world’s first large amusement park, Disneyland. He and his team members created a number of famous fictional characters such as Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, and Goofy.
It is believed that anyone in the United States of America can become a millionaire or president. Those who wish to attain the goals is better to start a career as an advertising agent, shoe shiner or courier. These creative professions do not require specialized training, but won’t let you miss the successful event after which the fate will help you conquer the well-being.
Walt Disney must have been familiar with the mythological stamp. By the way, his success can be compared to the model of a typical American who is self-made. In other words, the path to success Walt Disney began being a newsboy.
Early Life
Walter Elias “Walt” Disney was born on December 05, 1901 in Chicago, to a large family of an Irish immigrant, Elias Charles Disney, and Flora Call Disney, who was of German and English descent. His father, Elias Charles Disney, was engaged in a small construction business, but his family was stricken for finances. In 1878, Elias Charles Disney, moved from Huron County, Ontario, Canada to the United States during the gold rush, seeking gold in California before settling down to farm with his parents near Ellis, Kansas until 1884. Elias Charles Disney and Flora Call got married on January 01, 1888 in Acron, Florida. In 1890, they moved to Chicago, Illinois, a hometown of Elias’ brother Robert, who financially supported Elias for most of Walter’s childhood. In 1906, Elias and Flora Disney set off to Marceline, Missouri, where his elder brother Roy had recently bought farmland.
Elias Charles Disney and Flora Call Disney, Walt Disney’s parents.
Elias struggled at work, and when he came home, he took out his anger on his children and wife. Walter Disney had a younger sister, Ruth Disney, and elder brothers, Herbert Disney, Ray Disney, Roy O. Disney, the latter would co-found The Walt Disney Company together with Walt Disney. His elder brothers, Herbert and Ray, ran away from home in 1906 because they had been fed up with the endless work and little money to spend.
In the fall of 1909, Walt and his sister, Ruth, enrolled at the new Park School of Marceline. The Disney family stayed in Marceline for four years. On November 28, 1910, they had to sell their farm and in 1911, the family decided to move to Kansas City following the example of many neighbors who were migrating across the America without the end. In Kansas City, Walt and Ruth enrolled at the Benton Grammar School. There he met Walter Pfeiffer, who introduced Walt vaudeville and motion pictures. But to learn the art of drawing Walt Disney had only about a year and the first thing he did was to start to attend Saturday courses at Kansas City Art Institute.
On July 01, 1911, his father acquired a newspaper delivery route for The Kansas City Star. Walt and Roy were asked to distribute newspapers and advertisements of the father’s firm. They delivered the morning newspaper Kansas City Times to about 700 readers. Additionally, they had to distribute the evening and Sunday Star to over 600 readers. In any weather, early morning or late at night, Walt Disney ran from Twenty-seventh Street to Thirty-first Street, and from Prospect Avenue to Indiana Avenue in his worn-out shoes, hurrying to deliver the newspapers on time. Elias always took away all the money his son earned. But Walt did not complain and once finding a new subscriber, he concealed the received money from his father. Additionally, the boy bought newspapers directly in editorial and thus got his little income that he spent on favorite sweets that were forbidden at home. Thus, Walter began his career as an entrepreneur.
Teenage Years
In 1917, Elias became a shareholder of O-Zell jelly factory in Chicago. Therefore, he moved his family back to the city. In the fall the same year, Walter Disney started to attend McKinley High School as a freshman. Also, he attended night courses at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts under the guidance of Louis Frederick Grell (1887–1960), an American figure composition and portrait artist. Later he started drawing patriotic topics for the school newspaper on World War I.
In the fall of 1918, Walter attempted to be enlisted in the army forces to participate in World War I, following the example of his brother Roy, whom he admired much. Having been refused because of being under-aged, he volunteered for the Red Cross and was sent to France, where he had been working for a year as an ambulance driver. This car became a local landmark, as it was decorated with an amusing cartoonish character of the future animator.
Walt Disney drew a cartoonish character on the ambulance car that he used to drove while working as an ambulance driver.
After returning home, Walt Disney started working for his father’s company, O-Zell factory, as an assistant and then as a night watchman. The latter particularly suited him because it gave him an opportunity to study drawing to which he was drawn from an early age. He notably succeeded in drawing of animals sketches. He had even earned a nickel icon for one of his drawings at the age of seven.
The dream to become a professional artist prevailed and in 1919, Walt relocated to Kansas City to start his career as an artist. However, despite having the talent of a graphic designer, he lacked some bitterness and anger that were so necessary to create satirical newspaper cartoons. Therefore, an attempt to settle in the art department of a provincial newspaper in Kansas City was not successful.
Beginning of Animation Career
To enrich his knowledge, Disney read Edwin G. Lutz’s book Animated Cartoons: How They Are Made, Their Origin and Development. He learned that celluloid animation to be much reliable technique than the cutout animation. Disney quickly became a star among the animators. The original work carried out in his spare time became the basis for creating his company Laugh-O-Gram Studio.
Laugh-O-Gram Studio
On May 18, 1922, Walt Disney established Laugh-O-Gram Studio and hired his Kansas City Film Ad Company teammate, Fred Harman (February 09, 1902 – January 02, 1982). Also, he invited to join his company his close friend Ubbe Iwerks, Fred Harman’s brother, Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising.
Laugh-O-Gram Studio Building, the first animation studio of Walt Disney.
Hollywood and Alice Comedies
After several attempts, Walt Disney was convinced of the futility of exploring the studios hoping to find a job. “If there is no work, – he said to himself – I have to do something on my own!” Walt and Roy rent a small garage from their Uncle Robert Disney. Walt invited Virginia Davis, an American child actor, who was already a live-action star of Alice’s Wonderland. They hired two employees who ink and painted the celluloid. Walt rented a shabby shooting camera and installed it in the garage. Roy operated the camera, and Disney was responsible for animation. On October 16, 1923, Walt Disney and Roy O. Disney founded “Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio.”
The new series, Alice Comedies, proved reasonably successful.
Walt enthusiastically started working on live-action/animation, Alice in Wonderland. In February 1924, they relocated to a new office located in a former real estate agency at 4651 Kingswell Avenue. Walt hired the first animator, Rollin Hamilton, and invited his old friend, Ubbe Iwerks, and his family to relocate to California to join “The Disney Bros. Cartoon Studio”. His key focus became the film scenarios, so he delegated primary responsibilities of animation to Ubbe Iwerks. That was the end of Walt’s career as an animator.
In December 1924, Walt Disney hired Hugh Harman and Rudolf “Rudy” Carl Ising (who later would establish Warner Bros. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer animation studios). Walt personally hired an inker, Lillian Bounds. On July 13, 1925, Walt Disney and Lillian Bounds got married.
Walt Disney and Lillian Bounds after the wedding ceremony, July 13, 1925.
Soon, Virginia Davis no longer played Alice. Therefore, they invited both Dawn O’Day and Margie Gay to play the role. However, the series Alice Comedies lost popularity and by 1927 ended. The primary focus of the series was done more on the animated characters (Julius the Cat) than on the live-action, Alice, that is why Alice Comedies lost their popularity among the audience.
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit
The story of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was not smooth for Walt Disney. In 1926, the Walt Disney Studio received an order from a producer, Charles Mintz, to develop an animated character and all animated cartoon series for Universal Pictures. Ubbe Iwerks created and drew the Oswald Rabbit. In total, they produced twenty-six animated Oswald Rabbit’s features. The project was very successful: it became quite popular and highly demanded.
In 2006, the Walt Disney Company purchased the rights to the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit from NBC Universal.
However, in February 1928, when Walt Disney flew to New York to discuss a higher fee to produce the Oswald Rabbit cartoon series, Charles Mintz offered Disney to cut expenses by 20 percent and proposed to reduce the fee. Walt Disney could not agree to such conditions and declined Mintz’s requirement.
Walt Disney’s hands were tied because the Oswald Rabbit trademark belonged to Universal Pictures and such animators as Friz Freleng, Carman Maxwell, Hugh Harman, and Rudy Ising were performing under the terms of the contracts signed with Universal Pictures.
Declining to agree on reductions, most of their animators were hired away except Iwerks, who later would help Disney to create a new character, Mickey Mouse, that would become a triumph for Walt Disney and his studio.
Mickey Mouse
After losing the rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Walt Disney was understandably disappointed. In the spring of 1928, Walt Disney asked Ub Iwerks to develop a new character. Ubbe tried many sketches of animals including dogs, cats, a female cow, a male horse, a male frog; however, Walt Disney did not like none of the ideas. Mickey Mouse inspired the team from a tame mouse that had been drawn by Hugh Harman at Laugh-O-Gram Studio yet in 1925. Therefore, Ub started working on improving the original sketches of Mickey Mouse.
Ubbe Iwerks, the creator of Mickey Mouse.
It is interesting to know that the original name of the character was “Mortimer Mouse” before his wife, Lillian Disney, convinced him to change it to Mickey Mouse. Thus, Ub Iwerks animated Mickey Mouse, and Walt Disney gave it a soul being the Mickey’s voice until 1947.
On May 15, 1928, the Disney team first featured Mickey Mouse in a test screening of a short cartoon, Plane Crazy. However, the audience was not impressed by the new character. Walt gave another try and featured the Mickey in another short cartoon, The Gallopin’ Gaucho. Unable to find a distributor the cartoon was not released either.
However, Walt Disney did not give up and on November 18, 1928, Mickey appeared in Steamboat Willie, a short animated film with sound co-directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. This time, Walt managed to find a distributor. Pat Powers (1870 –1948), an entrepreneur involved in the movie and animation industry, became Steamboat Willie distributor and sold Disney Cinephone sound system that allowed to release Steamboat Willie with soundtracks that led Walt Disney to success. Furthermore, The Plane Crazy, The Galloping Gaucho were re-released with soundtracks and all subsequent Mickey Mouse animated cartoons were released with soundtracks as well.
Mickey Mouse appearance in Steamboat Willie (1928). The running time of the short film was 7 minutes 42 seconds.
Silly Symphonies
Followed in the footsteps of Mickey Mouse series, a series of 75 animated short films called, Silly Symphony, had been released by Walt Disney team from 1929 to 1939.
By the end of 1932, an American scientist and engineer, Herbert Thomas Kalmus (November 9, 1881 – July 11, 1963), completed his first three-strip Technicolor camera. He met with Walt Disney and proposed him to re-release the black and white Flowers and Trees through Technicolor camera. In 1932, The colored Flowers and Trees brought Walt Disney remarkable success and the first Academy Award (Oscar) for Best Short Subject: Cartoons. After releasing Flowers and Trees illustrated in color, all next Silly Symphony series were illustrated in color as well.
Three Little Pigs animated film gained popularity thanks to the strength and wisdom of its story. It led Walt Disney to open a Story Department that was responsible for story development and scenario.
In 1935, when Disney production was rapidly growing, he announced a competitive recruitment contest for artists. The company received 6,000 applications and eliminated most candidates during the preview of their submitted drawings. As a result of hard work, Walt Disney managed to select 30 potential employees, and only 10 of them were able to handle their duties at the studio. Since there were few animators with professional skills, Walt Disney had to educate them himself.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Walt Disney holds an album with sketches of dwarfs from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
World War II and Postwar Period
In 1940, the Walt Disney Studios released full-length features Pinocchio, an American animated musical fantasy film, and continued to work on Fantasia (1940), Bambi (1942), Peter Pen (1953). The shorts teammates were working on Donald Duck, Goofy, Mickey Mouse, and Pluto animated short series.
When the United States entered World War II, most of the Disney studio’s facilities were involved in cooperation with the US Army and Navy Bureau of Aeronautics. The Disney team was responsible for creating training and instruction motion pictures such as Victory Through Air Power, Aircraft Carrier Landing Signals and animated propaganda short film, Der Fuehrer’s Face, featuring Donald Duck in a nightmare working at a factory in Nazi Germany in horrible conditions. The latter one won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film on March 04, 1943.
In a postwar period, the Walt Disney Studio started working on Cinderella (1950), that became the most popular full-length animated film since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
Theme Park: Disneyland
Along with the complex real world, an imaginary world of fairy tales were living in the Walt Disney’s mind. Being tired of the long-term film production industry, he found himself at the mercy of a new idea in building a theme park, which he called, Disneyland.
The idea of Disneyland came into Walt Disney’s mind when he was attending Griffith Park in Los Angeles with his daughters Diane and Sharon. To get inspiration, he started to visit other play parks including Tivoli Gardens in Denmark, Children’s Fairyland in the United States, and Efteling in the Netherlands.
However, the story of its creation from concept to realization was not easy. Investors were sympathetically sighing talking about hard times and advised Walt to go somewhere to relax when Disney was trying to make them interested in his new venture. His brother, Roy, did not support him either. He believed that the project would not bring revenue.
An aerial view over the park in Anaheim, California in the late 1950s.
Disneyland quickly became an American landmark. As of 2014, 16.77 million people visited Disneyland in Anaheim. Therefore, another concept of the artist that seemed just a fantasy turned into a big business venture. The Walt Disney Company has four Disneyland parks in California, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Paris, and one Walt Disney World in Ontario, Florida. Also, the entertainment conglomerate has in its assets 320 Disney stores located throughout the world, hockey and baseball teams, a number of newspapers and magazines and diversified television networks.
Family
Lillian’s first pregnancy ended in miscarriage. She became pregnant again and on December 18, 1933, gave a birth to daughter Diane Marie Disney. Later, the parents adopted Sharon Mae Disney (December 31, 1936 – February 16, 1993) due to Lillian’s birth complications.
At the age of 20, Diane married Ron Miller. They had seven children: Christopher, Joanna, Tamara, Jennifer, Walter, Ronald, and Patrick. The Miller family founded a winery in California called Silverado Vineyards. Later, Diane Disney Miller became the co-founder of The Walt Disney Family Museum. She died on November 19, 2013.
Sharon Mae Disney was born December 31, 1936 in Los Angeles, California. On May 10, 1959, she married Robert Brown. Their marriage lasted until Robert’s death in 1967. They had one child. In 1969, Sharon Disney and William Lund got married. They had two children, but in 1975, they got divorced.
This photo captured Walt Disney, his wife (standing between two daughters) their daughters, Diane (right) and Sharon (left), June 1949.
Walt Disney not only had a strong creative will but also was an influential leader and organizer. He paid great attention to recruitment and organization processes. The working process of the Disney Studio was as perfect and accurate as his drawings and cartoons. He always required from the animators and artists to work according to high professional standards. However to hire a sufficient number of experts was tough.
All his life Walt Disney considered himself as a good manager. However, many workers were disgruntled by the system of management. They believed that they had made a significant contribution to the filmmaking and demanded the recognition of copyrights while Walt thought the original authorship belonged to the Walt Disney Company. The animators’ strike broke out at the studio. The U.S. Department of State helped to defuse the situation by organizing a business trip for Disney in South America. The conflict gradually subsided, but the question was not resolved until the end.
The path traversed by Disney is the road in a length of forty years, during of which he became a major industrialist in the field of cinema and television. Here is what one might achieve endowed with talent, perseverance, imagination and determination. Walt Disney made the general public love the animation. We identify the emergence of his cartoon characters on the screen with the joy of life. And for that, he deserves the greatest glory.
We hope you have enjoyed reading Walt Disney biography, his success story and history of the Walt Disney Company, and we hope it’s inspired you to new discoveries.
Biography Online
Walt Disney Biography
Walt Disney (1901 – 1966) was a film producer, media magnate and co-founder of the Walt Disney Company. He was an iconic figure in the Twentieth Century media and entertainment industry, helping to produce many films. With his staff, he created famous cartoon characters, such as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck; his name was also used for the successful Disney Theme Parks. During his lifetime, he received a record 59 Nominations for the Academy Awards, winning 22 Awards.
Early Life – Walt Disney
Walt Disney was born on 5 December 1901, in Chicago. His parents were of German/English and Irish descent. As a child, the Disney family moved between Marceline in Missouri, Kansas City and back to Chicago. The young Walt Disney developed an interest in art and took lessons at the Kansas City Institute and later Chicago Art Institute. He became the cartoonist for the school magazine.
When America joined the First World War, Walt dropped out of school and tried to enlist in the army. He was rejected for being underage, but he was later able to join in the Red Cross and in late 1918 was sent to France to drive an ambulance.
In 1919, he moved back to Kansas City where he got a series of jobs, before finding employment in his area of greatest interest – the film industry. It was working for the Kansas City Film Ad company that he gained the opportunity to begin working in the relatively new field of animation. Walt used his talent as a cartoonist to start his first work.
The success of his early cartoons enabled him to set up his own studio called Laugh-O-Gram. However, the popularity of his cartoons was not matched by his ability to run a profitable business. With high labour costs, the firm went bankrupt. After his first failure, he decided to move to Hollywood, California which was home to the growing film industry in America. This ability to overcome adversity was a standard feature of Disney’s career.
“All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me… You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.”
– The Story of Walt Disney (1957)
With his brother, Roy, Walt set up another company and sought to find a distributor for his new film – Alice Comedies – based on the adventures of Alice in Wonderland.
Mickey Mouse
In 1927, the Disney studio was involved in the successful production of ‘Oswald the Lucky Rabbit’, distributed by Universal Pictures. However, with Universal Pictures controlling the rights to ‘Oswald the Lucky Rabbit’, Walt was not able to profit from this success. He rejected an offer from Universal and went back to working on his own.
It was at this point that he created the character – Mickey Mouse (originally called Mortimer Mouse). Ub Iwerks drew Mickey Mouse, and Walt gave a voice to the character.
The Mickey Mouse cartoons with soundtracks became very popular and cemented the growing reputation and strength of Disney Productions. The skill of Walt Disney was to give his cartoons believable real-life characteristics. They were skillfully depicted and captured the imagination of the audience through his pioneering use of uplifting stories and moral characteristics.
In 1932, he received his first Academy Award for the Best Short Subject: Cartoons for the three coloured ‘Flowers and Trees’ He also won a special Academy Award for Mickey Mouse.
In 1933, he developed his most successful cartoon of all time ‘The Three Little Pigs’ (1933) with the famous song ‘Whose Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf.”
“All right. I’m corny. But I think there’s just about a-hundred-and-forty-million people in this country that are just as corny as I am.” – Walt Disney
Disney always had a great ability to know what the public loved to see.
After the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the studio produced several other successful animations, such as ‘Pinocchio’, ‘Peter Pan’, ‘Bambi’ and ‘The Wind in the Willows’. After America’s entry into the Second World War in 1941, this ‘golden age’ of animation faded and the studio struggled as it made unprofitable propaganda films.
Political and religious views
In 1941, Disney also had to deal with a major strike by his writers and animators. This strike left a strong impression on Disney. He would later become a leading member of the anti-Communist organisation ‘Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals’ (the right-wing organisation was also considered to be anti-semitic.) At one point, he (unsuccessfully) tried to brand his labour union organisers as Communist agitators.
However, in the 1950s, Disney distanced himself from the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals. However, by associating with the organisation, he was often associated with the anti-labour and anti-semitic philosophy it expressed. Disney was a Republican, though was not particularly involved in politics. It is often asked whether Walt Disney was anti-semitic.
His biographer, Neal Gabler stated:
“…And though Walt himself, in my estimation, was not anti-semitic, nevertheless, he willingly allied himself with people who were anti-semitic, and that reputation stuck. He was never really able to expunge it throughout his life.”
Walt Disney believed in the benefits of a religious approach to life, though he never went to church and disliked sanctimonious teachers.
“I believe firmly in the efficacy of religion, in its powerful influence on a person’s whole life. It helps immeasurably to meet the storms and stress of life and keep you attuned to the Divine inspiration. Without inspiration, we would perish.”
Ch. 15: Walt Lives!, p. 379
He respected other religions and retained a firm faith in God.
Post-war success
During the war, there was much less demand for cartoon animation. It took until the late 1940s, for Disney to recover some of its lustre and success. Disney finished production of Cinderella and also Peter Pan (which had been shelved during the war) In the 1950s, Walt Disney Productions also began expanding its operations into popular action films. They produced several successful films, such as ‘Treasure Island’ (1950), ‘20,000 Leagues Under the Sea’ (1954) and ‘Pollyanna’ (1960)
In another innovation, the studio created one of the first specifically children’s shows – The Mickey Mouse Club. Walt Disney even returned to the studio to provide the voice. In the 1960s, the Disney Empire continued to successfully expand. In 1964, they produced their most successful ever film ‘Mary Poppins.’
Disneyland
In the late 1940s, Walt Disney began building up plans for a massive Theme Park. Walt Disney wished the Theme Park to be like nothing ever created on earth. In particular, he wanted it to be a magical world for children and surrounded by a train. Disney had a great love of trains since his childhood when he regularly saw trains pass near his home. It was characteristic of Walt Disney that he was willing to take risks in trying something new.
“Courage is the main quality of leadership, in my opinion, no matter where it is exercised. Usually, it implies some risk, especially in new undertakings. Courage to initiate something and to keep it going, pioneering and adventurous spirit to blaze new ways, often, in our land of opportunity.”
– The Disney Way Fieldbook (2000) by Bill Capodagli
After several years in the planning and building, Disneyland opened on July 17, 1955. Disney spoke at the address.
“To all who come to this happy place; welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past …. and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams and the hard facts that have created America … with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world.”
The success of Disneyland encouraged Walt to consider another park in Orlando, Florida. In 1965, another theme park was planned.
Walt Disney died of lung cancer on December 15, 1966. He had been a chain smoker all his life. An internet myth suggested Walt Disney had his body cryonically frozen, but this is untrue. It seems to have been spread by his employers, looking for one last joke at the expense of their boss.
After his death, his brother Roy returned to lead The Disney Company, but the company missed the direction and genius of Walt Disney. The 1970s were a relatively fallow period for the company, before a renaissance in the 1980s, with a new generation of films, such as ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’ (1988) and ‘The Lion King’ (1994)
Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination
Related Pages
Famous Americans – Great Americans from the Founding Fathers to modern civil rights activists. Including presidents, authors, musicians, entrepreneurs and businesspeople.
Famous Film Directors – Influential film directors, including Alfred Hitchcock, Charlie Chaplin, Frank Capra, Walt Disney and Orson Wells.