princessmj
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2007
I am sad to know that Bawb will not be able to read my paper. He was the one that read my email two weeks ago and it made me so happy that the one and only BAWB read my email. It definitely made "making" it on the DIS that much more special. Here is my paper for all to read, if you wish.
Walter Elias Disney was born December 5, 1901, in Chicago, Illinois. His father, Elias Disney was Irish-Canadian and his mother, Flora Call Disney, was German-American. Soon after Walts birth the family, consisting of three other boys and a girl, moved to Marceline, Missouri. When Walt was around the age of seven he sold small drawings of animals and other nature figures to his neighbors; he often worked on these instead of doing his school work. The Disney family farm was close to the Santé Fe Railroad. Mike Martin, one of Walts uncles worked as an engineer between Fort Madison, Iowa and Marceline. With this connection Walt got a summer job working with the railroad selling popcorn, soda and newspapers to passengers. Then the Disney family moved to Kansas City where Walt started acting and performing. At school he began to entertain his friends by imitating his silent screen hero, Charlie Chaplin. At his teachers invitation, Walt would tell his classmates stories, while illustrating on the chalkboard (justdisney.com). Some days Walt would sneak out of the house to perform comical skits at Vaudeville Theatre in town. At the age of 14, Walt attended the Kansas City Art Institute. One year later, Walt went back to Chicago to attend one year of high school at McKinley High. While there Disney worked on his drawing and photography skills and contributed to his school newspaper. At night he attended the Academy of Fine Arts to refine his drawing abilities. In 1918, a 16-year-old Walt Disney tried to join the military to fight in World War I, however Walt was turned down because he was underage. Instead, Walt joined the Red Cross and was sent overseas to France where he spent a year driving an ambulance and chauffeuring Red Cross officials. His ambulance was covered not with stock camouflage, but with Disney cartoons (justdisney.com). Ray Kroc, the mastermind behind the McDonalds corporation, was in the Red Cross the same time as Walt. In Krocs book, Grinding It Out, he lets out a recollection of Disney as a young man in Europe, He was regarded as a strange duck because whenever we had time off and went out on the town to chase girls, he stayed in camp drawing pictures (Fast Food Nation 36). In 1919, Walt returned to Kansas City for an apprenticeship as a commercial illustrator. There Walt made perhaps one of the most important relationships of his career with Ubbe Ub Iwerks.
By 1923, Walt and Ub had set up their own shop, Laugh-O-Grams, which sold cartoons to a local theater. At first, however, Disney and Iwerks did not find success. Their first cartoons, Puss in Boots and The Musicians of Bremen, cost more to produce then they earned. Ubs drawing ability and technical inventiveness were prime factors in Disneys eventual success (Answers). When Laugh-O-Grams went bankrupt Walt and Ub headed to California with not much more in hand than an early copy of the Alice Comedies, a story of a real girl having adventures in an animated world. Roy Disney, Walts older brother, was in Hollywood to meet the pair with $250 and encouragement. Pulling their resources from every angle the brothers were able to come up with another $500 and space in their uncles garage to have a shop. Soon enough word reached New York about a newly named Alice in Cartoonland, and an order was placed for a featurette. With the extra cash from the featurette the business was able to expand to the back of a Hollywood real estate office. Walts world was looking up; in July of 1925, he married one of his first employees, Lillian Bounds in Idaho, and by 1927, Walt created an animated series starring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. However, A bitter dispute with the cartoons distributor resulted in Disney losing the rights to Oswald. The distributor also hired away most of Disneys staff and produced more Oswald cartoons without him (Actors Biography). This distributor was actually Charles Mintz of Universal Studios. A year later a frustrated Ub and Walt had the idea to come up with a new character. By this time Walt took a back seat on the animation and asked Ub to come up with a new character. Ub drew countless animals but none of them appealed to Disney. That was until Iwerks drew a mouse. Iwerks came up with the idea after seeing a drawing Hugh Harman, later founder of Warner Bros. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer animation studios, did with mice around Disneys face. The first name for this new character was Mortimer Mouse. Lillian did not like the name Mortimer and suggested that Mickey sounded much better, the name stuck. According to Walt himself Mickey Mouse was born of necessity, the little fellow literally freed us of immediate worry. He provided the means for expanding our organization to its present dimensions and for extending the medium cartoon animation towards new entertainment levels. He spelled production liberation for us (justdisney.com).
Mickey Mouse stared in two silent films Plane Crazy and Gallopin Gaucho. His third film Steamboat Willie was the first fully synchronized sound cartoon and in the film Disney was the first voice of Mickey Mouse. The film was first premiered at the Colony Theater in New York on November 18, 1928. At first the Mickey Mouse cartoons used boisterous, unsophisticated humour, but eventually Mickey was domesticated and transformed into an emblem of suburban, middle-class America (The Concise Grove Dictionary of Art). The wild humor that was much needed to make cartoons successful was given to new characters such as Pluto, Goofy and most prominently Donald Duck. With the success of his Mickey Mouse cartoons Disney was able to tinker with new types of animation. The use of music in (The Skeleton Dance), the portrayal of speed (The Tortoise and the Hare), three-dimensional effects (The Old Mill), and the use of color (one of the earliest color shorts was 1933s Three Little Pigs) (Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia). Keeping his momentum going Walt started working on his newest idea, a full length animated film in 1934. Many people thought he was crazy because it was thought at the time that extended exposure to animation would give people headaches. However Walt paid them no attention, three years and $1,499,000 later Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs premiered at the Carthay Theater in Los Angeles, California. For the next five years Walt and company created other full-length animated movies including Bambi, Cinderella, Pinocchio and Brer Rabbit. In 1940 construction was completed on Disneys new Burbank Studio. Disneys staff consisted of more than 1,000 artists, animator, story men and technicians. When the United States was pulled into World War II, Walt and company became involved with the war efforts.
I first saw the site for Disneyland in 1953. In those days it was all flat land no rivers, no mountains, no castles or rocket ships just orange groves, and a few acres of walnut trees (justdisney.com). Disney wanted to make an amusement park where parents and children could have fun together. His original idea came pre-World War II for an eight acre spot of land where his employees of Burbank studios and their families could come and relax. After the war Walt hired Stanford Research Institute to find a 100-acre plot of land within the metropolitan area of Los Angles. The researchers came back with a 160-acre orange grove in rural Anaheim, California. To help with funding for Disneyland Walt reached out to television; Walts Disneys Disneyland television series brought Walts far-out idea of Disneyland into a reality for the American people to grasp. Walts plan for Disneyland was to break it into five smaller sections, Main Street, U.S.A, Adventureland, Frontierland, Fantastyland, and Tomorrowland. Each different section of the park would offer something different for the public to see. Walt Disney went into great depth explaining why each different part of the park was important. Main Street, U.S.A was modeled after the typical turn of the century city Main Street. For those of us who remember the carefree time it recreates, Main Street will bring back happy memories. For younger visitors, it is an adventure in turning back the calendar to the day of grandfathers youth (justdisney.com). Adventureland was going to represent any far-off region of the world and be used to create a land that would make this dream reality, we pictured ourselves far from civilization, in the remote jungles of Asia and Africa (justdisney.com). Frontierland was a reflection of the pioneer days of America; All of us have a cause to be proud of our countrys history, shaped by the pioneering spirit of our forefathers Our adventures are designed to give you the feeling of having lived, even for a short while, during our countys pioneer days (justdisney.com). Fantasyland was to feature a large castle for Sleeping Beauty. What youngster has not dreamed of flying with Peter Pan over moonlit London, or tumbling into Alices nonsensical Wonderland? In Fantasyland, these classic stories of everyones youth have become realties for youngsters of all ages to participate in (justdisney.com). Finally is Tomorrowland, the Tomorrowland attractions have been designed to give you an opportunity to participate in adventures that are a living blueprint of our future (justdisney.com). On July 17, 1955 the $17,000,000 Disneyland opened. Walt Disney dedicated his dream to all of the people that would walk through its gates: 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 (disneydreamer.com).
After the success of the Magic Kingdom in California Walt was asked to build another one in many places throughout the world, but that is not what Walt wanted to do. Walt Disney began working on four different projects for the 1964 New York Worlds Fair. They were General Electrics Carousel of Progress, Fords Magic Skyway, Pepsi-Colas Its a Small World and the State of Illinois Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. While working on these projects Walt came to realize just how extraordinary his staff was. This gave him the idea to expand and build an East Coast Project. The thing Disney needed to make his newest dream come true was land. He learned his lesson on not buying enough land around the Magic Kingdom. He wanted the Magic Kingdom to be a place where people could come and escape from the real world but with the popularity of his theme park, businesses sprang up on the very edge of his property. In 1963, Walt sent his brother Roy to go look for places to build his new park. Roy Disney and his team traveled across the country under assumed names and making anonymous inquiries. Walt knew that if anyone got wind he was looking at land in any area of the country its price would skyrocket. The team looked at several areas of the United States: St. Louis, the Great Smokey Mountains and Niagara Falls. But the team finally set their minds on central Florida. The weather was almost perfect all year round, and its roads were very accessible. Most of all, there was land untouched and plenty of it (justdisney.com). The final price to buy the land was just over $5 million for 27,443 acres of land, about 43 square miles, twice the size of Manhattan. On November 15, 1965, Walt Disney held a press conference to announce his plans for Disney World. A few days after Disneys announcement the price of land went up to $80,000 an acre. Sadly Walt Disney passed away on December 15, 1966 before construction of his Disney World ever started. He was cremated and buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. However, Walts dream did not die with him. Roy pressed on and renamed the project Walt Disney World, so everyone would remember its creation and purpose represented the dreams of his amazing brother (justdisney.com).
Walt Disney World opened on October 1, 1971. On October 25, 1971, the Magic Kingdom was dedicated. As the World Symphony Orchestra played at the base of Cinderellas Castle, Roy O. Disney stood with Mickey Mouse and read the dedication plaque that still sits next to the flagpole on Main Street, U.S.A:
It is hard to fathom that somehow one man had this all inside of his head, something that could make people of every age, ethnicity, intelligence, social status and mindset happy. Without him our world would never have experienced the joy of Mickey Mouse or have a place where young and old can grow, learn and have fun together. Walt Disney has left his fingerprint on this world and even some 42 years after his death his mark does not seem to be fading in the least.
A Mouse, a Man and One Great Plan
Walking down that Main Street, gazing at the magical castle, the air seems to be laced with the fragrance of dreams coming true. Each step closer to the castle is one step further from reality. Being enveloped by one mans dream leaves me speechless every time I come. My family has made countless memories in this world and have taken away much more happiness and relaxation then could be found anywhere else. Sometimes it is hard to remember that at one time my favorite place on the face of this planet did not exist. Walt Disney famously said in 1954 it all started with a mouse but really it all started with a man.Walter Elias Disney was born December 5, 1901, in Chicago, Illinois. His father, Elias Disney was Irish-Canadian and his mother, Flora Call Disney, was German-American. Soon after Walts birth the family, consisting of three other boys and a girl, moved to Marceline, Missouri. When Walt was around the age of seven he sold small drawings of animals and other nature figures to his neighbors; he often worked on these instead of doing his school work. The Disney family farm was close to the Santé Fe Railroad. Mike Martin, one of Walts uncles worked as an engineer between Fort Madison, Iowa and Marceline. With this connection Walt got a summer job working with the railroad selling popcorn, soda and newspapers to passengers. Then the Disney family moved to Kansas City where Walt started acting and performing. At school he began to entertain his friends by imitating his silent screen hero, Charlie Chaplin. At his teachers invitation, Walt would tell his classmates stories, while illustrating on the chalkboard (justdisney.com). Some days Walt would sneak out of the house to perform comical skits at Vaudeville Theatre in town. At the age of 14, Walt attended the Kansas City Art Institute. One year later, Walt went back to Chicago to attend one year of high school at McKinley High. While there Disney worked on his drawing and photography skills and contributed to his school newspaper. At night he attended the Academy of Fine Arts to refine his drawing abilities. In 1918, a 16-year-old Walt Disney tried to join the military to fight in World War I, however Walt was turned down because he was underage. Instead, Walt joined the Red Cross and was sent overseas to France where he spent a year driving an ambulance and chauffeuring Red Cross officials. His ambulance was covered not with stock camouflage, but with Disney cartoons (justdisney.com). Ray Kroc, the mastermind behind the McDonalds corporation, was in the Red Cross the same time as Walt. In Krocs book, Grinding It Out, he lets out a recollection of Disney as a young man in Europe, He was regarded as a strange duck because whenever we had time off and went out on the town to chase girls, he stayed in camp drawing pictures (Fast Food Nation 36). In 1919, Walt returned to Kansas City for an apprenticeship as a commercial illustrator. There Walt made perhaps one of the most important relationships of his career with Ubbe Ub Iwerks.
By 1923, Walt and Ub had set up their own shop, Laugh-O-Grams, which sold cartoons to a local theater. At first, however, Disney and Iwerks did not find success. Their first cartoons, Puss in Boots and The Musicians of Bremen, cost more to produce then they earned. Ubs drawing ability and technical inventiveness were prime factors in Disneys eventual success (Answers). When Laugh-O-Grams went bankrupt Walt and Ub headed to California with not much more in hand than an early copy of the Alice Comedies, a story of a real girl having adventures in an animated world. Roy Disney, Walts older brother, was in Hollywood to meet the pair with $250 and encouragement. Pulling their resources from every angle the brothers were able to come up with another $500 and space in their uncles garage to have a shop. Soon enough word reached New York about a newly named Alice in Cartoonland, and an order was placed for a featurette. With the extra cash from the featurette the business was able to expand to the back of a Hollywood real estate office. Walts world was looking up; in July of 1925, he married one of his first employees, Lillian Bounds in Idaho, and by 1927, Walt created an animated series starring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. However, A bitter dispute with the cartoons distributor resulted in Disney losing the rights to Oswald. The distributor also hired away most of Disneys staff and produced more Oswald cartoons without him (Actors Biography). This distributor was actually Charles Mintz of Universal Studios. A year later a frustrated Ub and Walt had the idea to come up with a new character. By this time Walt took a back seat on the animation and asked Ub to come up with a new character. Ub drew countless animals but none of them appealed to Disney. That was until Iwerks drew a mouse. Iwerks came up with the idea after seeing a drawing Hugh Harman, later founder of Warner Bros. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer animation studios, did with mice around Disneys face. The first name for this new character was Mortimer Mouse. Lillian did not like the name Mortimer and suggested that Mickey sounded much better, the name stuck. According to Walt himself Mickey Mouse was born of necessity, the little fellow literally freed us of immediate worry. He provided the means for expanding our organization to its present dimensions and for extending the medium cartoon animation towards new entertainment levels. He spelled production liberation for us (justdisney.com).
Mickey Mouse stared in two silent films Plane Crazy and Gallopin Gaucho. His third film Steamboat Willie was the first fully synchronized sound cartoon and in the film Disney was the first voice of Mickey Mouse. The film was first premiered at the Colony Theater in New York on November 18, 1928. At first the Mickey Mouse cartoons used boisterous, unsophisticated humour, but eventually Mickey was domesticated and transformed into an emblem of suburban, middle-class America (The Concise Grove Dictionary of Art). The wild humor that was much needed to make cartoons successful was given to new characters such as Pluto, Goofy and most prominently Donald Duck. With the success of his Mickey Mouse cartoons Disney was able to tinker with new types of animation. The use of music in (The Skeleton Dance), the portrayal of speed (The Tortoise and the Hare), three-dimensional effects (The Old Mill), and the use of color (one of the earliest color shorts was 1933s Three Little Pigs) (Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia). Keeping his momentum going Walt started working on his newest idea, a full length animated film in 1934. Many people thought he was crazy because it was thought at the time that extended exposure to animation would give people headaches. However Walt paid them no attention, three years and $1,499,000 later Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs premiered at the Carthay Theater in Los Angeles, California. For the next five years Walt and company created other full-length animated movies including Bambi, Cinderella, Pinocchio and Brer Rabbit. In 1940 construction was completed on Disneys new Burbank Studio. Disneys staff consisted of more than 1,000 artists, animator, story men and technicians. When the United States was pulled into World War II, Walt and company became involved with the war efforts.
Because of World War II 94 percent of Disney facilities were in engaged in special government work, including the production of training and propaganda films for the armed services, as well as health films which are still shown through-out the world by the U.S. State Department. The remainder of his efforts were devoted to the production of comedy short subjects, deemed highly essential to civilian and military morale. (justdisney.com)
When the war ended in 1945 Disney returned to full time movie making. In 1951, came Treasure Island where Disney started experimenting with live-action movies. Even with his new creative outlet Disney stuck to his roots turning out Alice in Wonderland in 1951 and Peter Pan in 1953. In the same year Walt Disney saw something that would change his life, and the world, forever.I first saw the site for Disneyland in 1953. In those days it was all flat land no rivers, no mountains, no castles or rocket ships just orange groves, and a few acres of walnut trees (justdisney.com). Disney wanted to make an amusement park where parents and children could have fun together. His original idea came pre-World War II for an eight acre spot of land where his employees of Burbank studios and their families could come and relax. After the war Walt hired Stanford Research Institute to find a 100-acre plot of land within the metropolitan area of Los Angles. The researchers came back with a 160-acre orange grove in rural Anaheim, California. To help with funding for Disneyland Walt reached out to television; Walts Disneys Disneyland television series brought Walts far-out idea of Disneyland into a reality for the American people to grasp. Walts plan for Disneyland was to break it into five smaller sections, Main Street, U.S.A, Adventureland, Frontierland, Fantastyland, and Tomorrowland. Each different section of the park would offer something different for the public to see. Walt Disney went into great depth explaining why each different part of the park was important. Main Street, U.S.A was modeled after the typical turn of the century city Main Street. For those of us who remember the carefree time it recreates, Main Street will bring back happy memories. For younger visitors, it is an adventure in turning back the calendar to the day of grandfathers youth (justdisney.com). Adventureland was going to represent any far-off region of the world and be used to create a land that would make this dream reality, we pictured ourselves far from civilization, in the remote jungles of Asia and Africa (justdisney.com). Frontierland was a reflection of the pioneer days of America; All of us have a cause to be proud of our countrys history, shaped by the pioneering spirit of our forefathers Our adventures are designed to give you the feeling of having lived, even for a short while, during our countys pioneer days (justdisney.com). Fantasyland was to feature a large castle for Sleeping Beauty. What youngster has not dreamed of flying with Peter Pan over moonlit London, or tumbling into Alices nonsensical Wonderland? In Fantasyland, these classic stories of everyones youth have become realties for youngsters of all ages to participate in (justdisney.com). Finally is Tomorrowland, the Tomorrowland attractions have been designed to give you an opportunity to participate in adventures that are a living blueprint of our future (justdisney.com). On July 17, 1955 the $17,000,000 Disneyland opened. Walt Disney dedicated his dream to all of the people that would walk through its gates: 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 (disneydreamer.com).
After the success of the Magic Kingdom in California Walt was asked to build another one in many places throughout the world, but that is not what Walt wanted to do. Walt Disney began working on four different projects for the 1964 New York Worlds Fair. They were General Electrics Carousel of Progress, Fords Magic Skyway, Pepsi-Colas Its a Small World and the State of Illinois Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. While working on these projects Walt came to realize just how extraordinary his staff was. This gave him the idea to expand and build an East Coast Project. The thing Disney needed to make his newest dream come true was land. He learned his lesson on not buying enough land around the Magic Kingdom. He wanted the Magic Kingdom to be a place where people could come and escape from the real world but with the popularity of his theme park, businesses sprang up on the very edge of his property. In 1963, Walt sent his brother Roy to go look for places to build his new park. Roy Disney and his team traveled across the country under assumed names and making anonymous inquiries. Walt knew that if anyone got wind he was looking at land in any area of the country its price would skyrocket. The team looked at several areas of the United States: St. Louis, the Great Smokey Mountains and Niagara Falls. But the team finally set their minds on central Florida. The weather was almost perfect all year round, and its roads were very accessible. Most of all, there was land untouched and plenty of it (justdisney.com). The final price to buy the land was just over $5 million for 27,443 acres of land, about 43 square miles, twice the size of Manhattan. On November 15, 1965, Walt Disney held a press conference to announce his plans for Disney World. A few days after Disneys announcement the price of land went up to $80,000 an acre. Sadly Walt Disney passed away on December 15, 1966 before construction of his Disney World ever started. He was cremated and buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. However, Walts dream did not die with him. Roy pressed on and renamed the project Walt Disney World, so everyone would remember its creation and purpose represented the dreams of his amazing brother (justdisney.com).
Walt Disney World opened on October 1, 1971. On October 25, 1971, the Magic Kingdom was dedicated. As the World Symphony Orchestra played at the base of Cinderellas Castle, Roy O. Disney stood with Mickey Mouse and read the dedication plaque that still sits next to the flagpole on Main Street, U.S.A:
Walt Disney World is a tribute to the philosophy and life of Walter Elias Disney
and to the talents, the dedication, and the loyalty of the entire Disney organization that made Walt Disneys dream come true. May Walt Disney World bring Joy and Inspiration and New Knowledge to all who come to this happy place
a Magic Kingdom where the young at heart of all ages can laugh, and play and learn together. (o-towninfo.com)
Walt Disneys contribution to the world did not end with the idea of Walt Disney World. With his inspiration the Disney Company has embraced expansion of Walts dream; Disneylands have been built in Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Paris. The company has also taken Walts push to be an innovator in technology and business to partnership with Pixar Animation to further the computerized side of animation and expanded the Disney name into other ventures such as a cruise line. Walt Disney also created a subculture to his name: books, television shows, movies, and websites all dedicated to telling about his life work. There is a sense of community that thrives around Disney
He would be very excited about the fact that so much legacy and lore and excitement and imagination has sprung up around something he helped create
People love it so much they have created a community
to talk about what he did (The DIS Unplugged). In the years to come it can be trusted that the Disney Company will continue to respect and push for Walts Dream, that anything can happen when you wish upon a star. It is hard to fathom that somehow one man had this all inside of his head, something that could make people of every age, ethnicity, intelligence, social status and mindset happy. Without him our world would never have experienced the joy of Mickey Mouse or have a place where young and old can grow, learn and have fun together. Walt Disney has left his fingerprint on this world and even some 42 years after his death his mark does not seem to be fading in the least.
