Walt Disney the Biography

For more than nine decades, the name Walt Disney has been preeminent in the field of family
entertainment. From humble beginnings as a cartoon studio in the 1920s to today's global
corporation, The Walt Disney Company continues to proudly provide quality entertainment for
every member of the family, across America and around the world. To learn more about the
history of The Walt Disney Company, click through the timeline below.

The Walt Disney Company started in 1923 in the rear of a small office occupied by Holly-
Vermont Realty in Los Angeles. It was there that Walt Disney, and his brother Roy, produced a
series of short live-action/animated films collectively called the ALICE COMEDIES. The rent
was a mere $10 a month. Within four months, the ever-growing staff moved next door to larger
facilities, where the sign on the window read "Disney Bros. Studio." A year later, in 1925, the
Disneys made a deposit on a Hyperion Avenue lot in the Silver Lake district of Los Angeles.
Construction began on the new studio shortly thereafter. During the next 14 years, many changes
took place at the Disney studio: Mickey Mouse was "born" in 1928, followed by Pluto, Goofy,
Donald Duck, and the rest of the Disney gang.
In 1937, Disney's innovative first full length animated feature, SNOW WHITE AND THE
SEVEN DWARFS, was released to critical acclaim and worldwide success. In order to expand
and meet the expectations of his audience, Walt saw a need to increase the size of his studio.
With profits from SNOW WHITE, he made a deposit on 51 acres of land in Burbank and began
designing a modern studio specifically for the purpose of making animated films.

Walt was personally involved with all aspects of designing the studio. From the layout of the
buildings to design of the animators' chairs, nothing was left to chance. His main concern was to
produce a self-sufficient, state-of-the-art production factory that provided all the essential
facilities for the entire production process.
The Animation Building, housing the Disney Artists and animators, was planned in the center of
the lot. Across a small street were built the Inking and Painting and the Camera buildings, where
the artwork was completed and photographed.

Next to Camera, in the Cutting building, the post production process occurred. Sound facilities
included dubbing, scoring, effects, and voice recording studios. Many of the buildings were
linked together by an underground tunnel, so even in bad weather, the process of making
animated films was not disrupted. To enhance the campus-like setting, all of the utilities were
placed underground which was an innovation for 1940.

During the 1940s and 1950s many prominent animated features were produced in Burbank,
including FANTASIA, BAMBI, CINDERELLA, ALICE IN WONDERLAND, and PETER
PAN.
Corporate history
In 1928, to recover from the loss of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Disney came up with the idea of a
mouse character named Mortimer while on a train headed to California drawing up a few simple
drawings. The mouse was later renamed Mickey Mouse and starred in several Disney produced
films. Ub Iwerks refined Disney's initial design of Mickey Mouse.[5] Disney's first sound film
Steamboat Willie, a cartoon starring Mickey, was released on November 18, 1928[ChWDC 3]
through Pat Powers' distribution company.[5] It was the first Mickey Mouse sound cartoon
released, but the third to be created, behind Plane Crazy and The Gallopin' Gaucho.[ChWDC 3]
Steamboat Willie was an immediate smash hit, and its initial success was attributed not just to
Mickey's appeal as a character but to the fact that it was the first cartoon to feature synchronized
sound.[5] Disney used Pat Powers' Cinephone system, created by Powers using Lee De Forest's
Phonofilm system.[ChWDC 3] Steamboat Willie premiered at B. S. Moss's Colony Theater in
New York City, now The Broadway Theatre.[6] Plane Crazy and The Galloping Gaucho were
then retrofitted with synchronized sound tracks and re-released successfully in 1929
In 1954, Walt Disney used his Disneyland series to unveil what would become Disneyland, an
idea conceived out of a desire for a place where parents and children could both have fun at the
same time. On July 18, 1955, Walt Disney opened Disneyland to the general public. On July 17,
1955, Disneyland was previewed with a live television broadcast hosted by Art Linkletter and
Ronald Reagan. After a shaky start, Disneyland continued to grow and attract visitors from
across the country and around the world. A major expansion in 1959 included the addition of
America's first monorail system.

For the 1964 New York World's Fair, Disney prepared four separate attractions for various
sponsors, each of which would find its way to Disneyland in one form or another. During this
time, Walt Disney was also secretly scouting out new sites for a second Disney theme park. In
November 1965, "Disney World" was announced, with plans for theme parks, hotels, and even a
model city on thousands of acres of land purchased outside of Orlando, Florida.
Company divisions and subsidiaries
The Walt Disney Company operates as five primary units and segments: The Walt Disney
Studios, which includes the company's film, recording label, and theatrical divisions; Parks and
Resorts, featuring the company's theme parks, cruise line, and other travel-related assets; Disney
Consumer Products, which produces toys, clothing, and other merchandising based upon Disney-
owned properties; Media Networks, which includes the company's television properties; and
Disney Interactive, which includes Disney's Internet, mobile, social media, virtual worlds, and
computer games operations.

Its main entertainment features and holdings include Walt Disney Studios, Disney Music Group,
Disney Theatrical Group, Disney-ABC Television Group, Radio Disney, ESPN Inc., Disney
Interactive Media Group, Disney Consumer Products, Disney India Ltd., The Muppets Studio,
Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Entertainment, UTV Software Communications, Lucasfilm and
Maker Studios.

Its resorts and diversified holdings include Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, Disneyland Resort,
Walt Disney World Resort, Tokyo Disney Resort, Disneyland Paris, Euro Disney S.C.A., Hong
Kong Disneyland Resort, Disney Vacation Club and Disney Cruise Line.

Disney Media Networks

Disney Media Networks is a reporting segment and primary unit of The Walt Disney Company
that contains the company's various television networks, cable channels, associated production
and distribution companies and owned and operated television stations. Media Networks also
manages Disney's interest in its joint venture with Hearst Corporation, A+E Networks and ESPN
Inc..

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At age 16, during World War I, he lied about his age to join the American Red Cross. He soon
returned home, where he won a scholarship to the Kansas City Art Institute. There, he met a
fellow animator, Ub Iwerks. The two soon set up their own company. In the early 20s, they made
a series of animated shorts for the Newman theater chain, entitled "Newman's Laugh-O-Grams".
Their company soon went bankrupt, however. The two then went to Hollywood in 1923. They
started work on a new series, about a live-action little girl who journeys to a world of animated
characters. Entitled the "Alice Comedies", they were distributed by M.J. Winkler (Margaret).
Walt was backed up financially only by Winkler and his brother Roy O. Disney, who remained
his business partner for the rest of his life. Hundreds of "Alice Comedies" were produced
between 1923 and 1927, before they lost popularity. Walt then started work on a series around a
new animated character, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. This series was successful, but in 1928, Walt
discovered that M.J. Winkler and her husband, Charles Mintz, had stolen the rights to the
character away from him. They had also stolen all his animators, except for Ub Iwerks. While
taking the train home, Walt started doodling on a piece of paper. The result of these doodles was
a mouse named Mickey. With only Walt and Ub to animate, and Walt's wife Lillian Disney
(Lilly) and Roy's wife Edna Disney to ink in the animation cells, three Mickey Mouse cartoons
were quickly produced. The first two didn't sell, so Walt added synchronized sound to the last
one, Steamboat Willie (1928), and it was immediately picked up. It became the first cartoon to
use synchronized sound. With Walt as the voice of Mickey, it premiered to great success. Many
more cartoons followed. Walt was now in the big time, but he didn't stop creating new ideas. In
1929, he created the 'Silly Symphonies', a cartoon series that didn't have a continuous character.
They were another success. One of them, Flowers and Trees (1932), was the first cartoon to be
produced in color and the first cartoon to win an Oscar; another, Three Little Pigs (1933), was so
popular it was often billed above the feature films it accompanied. The Silly Symphonies
stopped coming out in 1939, but Mickey and friends, (including Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck,
Goofy, Pluto, and plenty more), were still going strong and still very popular. In 1934, Walt
started work on another new idea: a cartoon that ran the length of a feature film. Everyone in
Hollywood was calling it "Disney's Folly", but Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) was
anything but, winning critical raves, the adoration of the public, and one big and seven little
special Oscars for Walt. Now Walt listed animated features among his ever-growing list of
accomplishments. While continuing to produce cartoon shorts, he also started producing more of
the animated features. Pinocchio (1940), Dumbo (1941), and Bambi (1942) were all successes;
not even a flop like Fantasia (1940) and a studio animators' strike in 1941 could stop Disney
now. In the mid- 40s, he began producing "packaged features", essentially a group of shorts put
together to run feature length, but by 1950 he was back with animated features that stuck to one
story, with Cinderella (1950), Alice in Wonderland (1951), and Peter Pan (1953). In 1950, he
also started producing live-action films, with Treasure Island (1950). These began taking on
greater importance throughout the 50s and 60s, but Walt continued to produce animated features,
including Lady and the Tramp (1955), Sleeping Beauty (1959), and 101 Dalmatians (1961). In
1955, he even opened a theme park in southern California: Disneyland. It was a place where
children and their parents could take rides, just explore, and meet the familiar animated
characters, all in a clean, safe environment. It was another great success.

Walt also became one of the first producers of films to venture into television, with his series
Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color (1954) which he began in 1954 to promote his theme
park. He also produced The Mickey Mouse Club (1955) and Zorro (1957). To top it all off, Walt
came out with the lavish musical fantasy Mary Poppins (1964), which mixed live-action with
animation. It is considered by many to be his magnum opus. Even after that, Walt continued to
forge onward, with plans to build a new theme park and an experimental prototype city in
Florida. He never did finish those plans, however; in 1966, he contracted lung cancer. He died in
December at age 65. But not even his death, it seemed, could stop him. Roy carried on plans to
build the Florida theme park, and it premiered in 1971 under the name Walt Disney World.
What's more, his company continues to flourish, still producing animated and live-action films
and overseeing the still- growing empire started by one man: Walt Disney, who will never be
forgotten.

References:
http://thewaltdisneycompany.com/about-disney/disney-history
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000370/bio
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Walt_Disney_Company
http://studioservices.go.com/disneystudios/history.html
http://www.themeparkinsider.com/news/response.cfm?ID=945506057
http://www.justdisney.com/walt_disney/biography/w_bio_short.html