William Planeta
November 16th, 2012
Syracuse University Project Advance
Mr. Corini, Period 4
US Historical Figures:
Walt Disney
Walt Disney, entrepreneur in the animation industry was without a doubt one of the most
inspiring figures who brought so much to the culture of the United States and had really changed
how animation production worked over his years creating and “imagining” more and more
classic ideas. Not only did Walt Disney bring so much to the entertainment business along with
movie production and cartoons, but after he passed away, he also left so much behind. At least
once a day there is something that can remind someone of the famous Disney enterprise.
Whether it be watching a cartoon on television, or simply looking at a mouse, or mouse ears
even. It’s quite safe to say that Walt Disney has surely left a large legacy in the timeline of
American History. From building his animation studio from the ground up with very little to no
funding, all the way to the multi-billion dollar theme park Disneyland. People will certainly be
talking about Walt Disney and his work and accomplishments for many, many years to come.
Walter Elias Disney, more commonly known as Walt Disney, was born in Chicago,
Illinois on December 5th, 1901. (Biography Channel website) During his younger years, he really
enjoyed drawing and he became a draftsman at a Kansas City Art Studio by the age of 18.
(Biography Channel Website) But before he was a young man who moved into these big cities in
order to pursue his love for drawing and art, Disney had spent approximately four years in
Marceline, Missouri when he was just a boy until he was about eight years of age. (Watts, 2)
This small mid-western town had a big impact on Walt and his imagination. A vast majority of
his work had been inspired by him from this little town that he spent so little time in. He often
tells stories about small adventures or what he used to do back when he was a kid. For example,
while Walt’s family lived in Marceline Missouri, Walt’s father was having his attempt at
becoming a successful farmer, which allowed Walt and his siblings to get an experience as to
what farm work was. Walt really enjoyed that type of lifestyle, and he often reminisces about
those memories about how he used to pick really good tasting apples from the trees on his farm,
and even when he was a full grown adult, if the topic were to arise, Walt would certainly explain
how when he was a kid he was surrounded by animals living on the farm and all, and even as an
adult he says how he sure does hope things went back to that again. (Watts, 4, 5) Although he
may have not lived in Marceline for what we would consider a significant amount of time, his
brief experiences there greatly influenced the foundation for some of his early animations.
Steamboat Willie, which came out in 1928 which was and always will be Disney’s most famous
piece of work because not only did it introduce Mickey Mouse to the United States, but it was
the first cartoon which appealed to the ears of its audience. It was the first cartoon with sound
playing simultaneously as the animated images. But, when one analyzes the animation deeper,
they can see how the setting and general story can relate to Marceline Missouri where Disney
had spent so little time as a young boy. The cartoon had Mickey Mouse Cruising down on a
riverboat in the country side featuring comedic jokes that were related to farm animals. Also, The
Country Cousin was a Silly Symphonies that showed a comparison from living in the country, to
living in the urban city, with all of the lights and noise; it’s not like the peace and quiet country
life. (Watts, 5)
In 1911, the Disney family moved from Marceline Missouri to Kansas City. Although
they were in Kansa’s city, Walt attended high school in Chicago, where he took drawing and
photography classes and he was even the cartoonist for the school newspaper. Walt also attended
night classes at the Chicago Art Institute. In 1917, during the First World War, Disney dropped
out of school in order to join the army. Being only sixteen, he was not allowed to go, for he was
not old enough. Instead, Walt joined the Red Cross and drove an ambulance in France for a year.
(Biography Channel website) During his time being in the ambulance corps, Walt had still
pursued cartooning and drawing. He often sent cartoons and drawings back to his high school
and submitted pictures to magazines, which were actually rejected. He did a lot of artistry during
his service. He created Red Cross posters and even decorated some vehicles with images. After
being untouched from the war, Walt Disney returned home to Kansas City in 1919. (Watts 10,
11)
Back from the war, Walt was totally determined to be successful, he was no longer a
young boy, but yet now he was a young man ready to take on the world. When Walt arrives
home in Kansas City, he sees that there is an “office boy” wanted at the Star newspaper. Walt
had dreamed of working there, and now this was his opportunity. Walt walks in to apply for the
office boy position dressed sharply in his uniform from the Red Cross, believing that one would
want to hire a responsible young man who was matured from his tour in France. Shockingly,
seventeen year old Walt Disney was turned down for being too old for the job. (Gabler, 44) Walt
got back from the war determined for success at being a cartoonist, but now discouragement and
stress began to surround Walt, in thinking that his dream could no longer come true. After a time
of brief depression, Walt’s brother Roy mentioned about an opening for artists at Pressman-
Rubin Studios. Roy was able to become knowledgeable about this because of his job as a teller at
the First National Bank. He was the one who handled their banking. (Eliot, 15) Walt was hired
by them and worked doing multiple tasks such as designing letterheads, writing scripts, and
drawing layout for any advertisements. But the most important thing that came out of his job
there was that he had met Ubbe Iwwerks. He was a Dutch artist who had much in common with
Walt and shared a lot of similar ideas with him in regards to drawing and cartoons. After the
Pressman-Rubin studio let them go after the “Christmas rush” the two of them established
Iwerks-Disney Commercial Artists, and they would be lifelong associates. (Watts, 26)
After Disney and Iwerks stopped being “commercial artists”, they decided to open up
their own Hollywood studio together. In 1923, Walt Disney with the help of his brother Roy was
a main reason as to why the studio was able to even take off on a steady foot. Roy had previously
been a bank teller, so he was mostly in charge of the funding that went into Disney’s studio.
(Biography Channel website) After five years of hard work, the studio released Steamboat
Willie, which featured Mickey Mouse, who was a new character that was actually based off of an
older character that goes by the name of Oswald the rabbit. Oswald was originally created by
Walt Disney in 1927, but the rights to Oswald went to Charles Mintz over a lengthy contract
dispute. (License! Global! issue 5) So, from the foundation of Oswald the rabbit, some
brainstorming lead to the birth of Mickey Mouse and his feature that was in Steamboat Willie
that was released in 1928. Later on, Walt and the artists and animators at the studio began work
on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1934, and after it was released in 1937, it was the
highest grossing film of 1937 and it was nominated greatest American film of all time. After
opening another studio, Disney then released more color films with sound such as Pinocchio,
Dumbo, and Bambi. (Biography Channel website)
In 1955 Walt Disney opened Disneyland, a children’s amusement park and the most wellknown theme park in the world today. Also, Walt Disney was able to direct multiple shows that
aired weekly on television. All the time he was airing TV shows in the 50’s and 60’s, he was also
multi-tasking and still producing films as well. (Biography Channel website) Only a few years
later in 1966, Walt Disney died at the age of 65 from a circulatory system collapse which was
originally caused from lung cancer. (Eliot, 265) Now today his legacy continues on with his
multi-billion dollar Disney enterprise contains the amusement parks, several TV networks, and
Motion pictures studios along with vacation resorts and record labels. (Biography Channel
Website.) Again, there isn’t a day that goes by where something that origins from Disney aren’t
watched, played with, or purchased in modern day society.
When it comes to Walt Disney, there is really no one specific thing that impacted
American society just by itself. All of Disney’s achievements together as one are the
achievement. He’s done so much, it’s almost impossible to choose one and determine it as the
most significant thing that he’s done for American culture. When Walt Disney Studios released
Steamboat Willie, it made history! It was the first ever animated cartoon with sound. But he
doesn’t stop there; he still ends up releasing even more feature films such as Snow White and the
Seven Dwarfs. Snow white is the most profitable Disney feature ever and it is even hailed as the
greatest animated film of all time. Since it was released in 1937, it since then has made
approximately 1.1 Billion dollars, and with the new technology that is out, the movie will be remastered again to an even higher quality, and then sold again to keep the steady current of profit
flowing. (Roberts, Newsweek) Snow White was only one film, Disney still went on to make
plenty more such as Fantasia, Dumbo, Pinocchio and much more, considering how the same
things will happen to all of the Disney films as they did Snow White, the amount of money
amassed by these movies are tremendous in size. The main point when it comes to these feature
films is that, they were released almost seventy-five years ago, and they are still making
unthinkable profit. What that says about the American people is that these movies are the
“classics” so to speak, it’s almost unethical to have not seen them. Watching these movies and
introducing them to the children of the new generation is becoming more and more of a tradition.
It’s always been a tradition. With that being said, Walt Disney had started a tradition almost 70
years ago when he released all of these stunning new films that were in color, and had sound, it
was something entirely new. There is no doubt, no question, no argument that the films that Walt
Disney had created will not be forgotten they will forever be viewed from generation along to
generation, that’s the way it already has been, and it’s not going to change anytime soon.
Now, creating classic films was not the only thing Walt Disney has done to impact the
American society, as well as the whole world for that matter. The official Grand Opening of
Disneyland theme park was July 17, 1955 in Anaheim California. The event was broadcasted
live on ABC (Eliot, 230) Disneyland was Walt Disney’s own special way of making an
amusement park. Sure, anyone can make a regular amusement park, and that’s what most of the
civilians thought when they walked through the tunnels leading into the park; they expected a
fancy new amusement park. (Dehrer, Futurist) What makes Disneyland so different from your
everyday amusement park is that when you enter, you’re surrounded by the themes of the films.
You can look and see Cinderella’s castle in the distance, or Sleeping Beauty’s castle right when
you walk in. What Walt Disney did with this park is he took the films that everyone loved so
much, and he made it real. And being inside of the park, it blocked out any elements that could
make you feel like you weren’t in the happiest place on earth. No, you’re not in Anaheim; you’re
in Disneyland surrounded by Mickey Mouse and Snow White. So Walt releases these
outstanding films that immediately become loved by the people, and when he opens Disneyland
up to the public, he basically says “welcome” into whichever movie you loved the most, and you
would get to go and experience that for the day.
According to those who contributed into creating Disneyland, there are steps that need to be
taken in order to successfully make a dream reality. Area development would be increasing the
distance between attractions and increasing the quality of landscaping and architecture can really
enhance ones experience. “Blue Sky” which states how there are no limits as to what the creators
at Disneyland can do and any thoughts against those could hinder the full potential of the park.
Brainstorming, in order to maximize the parks potential, the creators gather as many ideas as
possible without missing any gaps. Everything from there is basics; in the park it’s always good
to have moving things around to give life and energy to the surroundings of the park goers, so
they feel like there is no bore and something is always going on. Also, keeping all of the
performances throughout the park up to par and entertaining. But the most important is the
simplest of them all, as Walt Disney would say, “plussing” which means to continue working to
improve or enhance something, even though it may already be finished. (Dehrer, Futurist)
In conclusion, Walt Disney is an exceptional historical figure whose hard work and
achievements has indefinitely left a strong impact on the society as well as the culture of the
American people. Walt Disney has given societies all around the world theme parks so that
everyone, not just Americans, can have the Disney experience. The culture of the American
people has been forever transformed ever since he released his award winning films that
Americans will watch time and time again, and they will show them to our succeeding
generations. He has given us a tradition to follow as well as an inspiration to never give up with
our dreams, because with enough work and effort, they can very well become reality.
Works Cited
 Eliot, Marc. Walt Disney: Hollywood's dark prince : a biography. Secaucus, N.J.: Carol Pub.
Group, 1993. Print.

Gabler, Neal. Walt Disney: the triumph of the American imagination. New York: Knopf, 2006.
Print.

Watts, Steven. The Magic Kingdom: Walt Disney and the American way of life. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin, 1997. Print.
Dehrer, Gary. "Imagineers In Search Of The Future." Futurist 45.2 (2011): 36. MasterFILE
Premier. Web. 16 Nov. 2012.
"Epic Mickey Marks Return Of Oswald." License! Global 13.5 (2010): 22. MasterFILE Premier.
Web. 16 Nov. 2012.
Biography.com. "Walt Disney Biography - Facts, Birthday, Life Story - Biography.com." N.p.,
1901. Web. 16 Nov 2012. [http://www.biography.com/people/walt-disney-9275533].
thedailybeast.com. "The Disc That Saved Hollywood - Newsweek and The Daily Beast." N.p.,
2001. Web. 16 Nov 2012. [http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2001/08/19/the-disc-thatsaved-hollywood.html].