Walt Disney
Dec. 5, 1901-Dec 15, 1966
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By Gabriela Rodriguez
Childhood
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Born on December 5, 1901- Chicago, Illinois
Walt Disney was born to Elias Disney (Irish-Canadian) and his mother, Flora Call Disney
(German-American decent)
At age four (1906), Walt and his family moved to a farm in Marceline, Missouri.
While in Marceline, Walt developed his love for drawing.
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One of his neighbors, a retired doctor,
paid
Walt to draw pictures of their horse, Rupert
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Teenage
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Disney began his freshman year of high school at McKinley High School and also began
taking night courses at the Chicago Art Institute.
Disney became the Cartoonist for the school newspaper.
Disney dropped out of high school at the age of 16 to join the Army, but was rejected
because he was underage.
Walt and his friends then decided to joinQuickTime™
the and a Red Cross and they were sent to France for
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a year, where he drove an ambulance.
In January 1920, Disney and Iwerks made a company called, “Iwerks-Disney Commercial Artist”
Disney then took up an interest in the field of animation.
Alice Comedies
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Virginia Davis (actress who played Alice in Alice in Wonderland) and her family were
relocated from Kansas to Hollywood at Disney’s request.
This was the beginning of the Disney’s Brother’s Studio.
In 1925, Disney hired a young women named Lillian Bounds to ink and paint celluloid.
They dated for for a while and then got married that same year.
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The series, Alice Comedies, was successful.
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The series ended in 1927, and Walt focused more on the animated characters, like Julius
who resembled Felix the cat, rather than the live action Alice.
Mickey Mouse
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The character Mickey Mouse was based on a pet mouse that he had adopted while working
at a Kansas City ad Company.
Ub Iwerks reworked the sketches made by Disney so that it was easier to animate.
However, Mickey’s voice and personality was provided by Disney
Ub Iwerks designed Mickey’s physical appearance, but many say that “Walt gave him his
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The mouse was was originally med “Mortimer”
Lillian Disney thought that the name Mortimer did not fit.
Mortimer later became the name of Mickey’s rival for Minnie, who was taller and had a
Brooklyn accent.
Disney himself provided the vocal effects for the earliest cartoons and performed as the
voice of Mickey until 1946.
First Academy Award
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Disney received a special Academy Award in 1932 for the creation of Mickey Mouse
The Mickey Mouse Series was made into color in 1935
“Mickey Mouse” soon launched spin-off series supporting characters like Donald Duck,
Goofy, and Pluto.
Pluto and Donald would then immediately get their own cartoons in 1937 and Goofy in 1939
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Children
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Disney and Lilly’s first attempt at having children ended up in Lilly having a miscarriage.
Lilly then became pregnant again and gave birth to a daughter, Diane Marie Disney on
December 18,1933
A few years later, the Disney’s adopted Sharon Mae Disney who was born on December 21,
1934
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Planning Disneyland
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Disney began drawing sketches of his ideas for an amusement park on a business trip to
Chicago in the late 1940’s
He envisioned his employees spending time with their children
He got this idea after visiting Children’s Fairyland in Oakland, California
Disney spent five years developing Disneyland and created a new subsidiary of his
company, called WED Enterprises
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1960’s successes
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By early 1960, Disney empire was a major success
Walt Disney productions established itself as the “world’s leading producer of family
entertainment.”
Walt Disney was the Head of Pageantry for the 1960 Winter Olympics.
Mary Poppins was released in 1964 and was the most successful Disney film of he 1960s
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Plans for Disney World
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The plans for Disney World included a larger, more elaborate version of Disneyland
It was to be called the Magic Kingdom
It would feature golf courses and resort hotels.
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Death
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Died on December 15, 1966
After many years of smoking he was diagnosed with lung cancer
On November 2, 1966, during pre-surfer X-rays, doctors at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Los
Angeles discovered that Disney had an enormous tumor on his left lung
Days later, Disney went back for surgery, but tumor had spread to a great extent that
doctors had to remove his left lung. QuickTime™
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On November 30, 1966, Disney collapsed in his home but was revived by paramedics.
He died in the hospital on December 15, 1966
He was cremated on December 17, 1966
His ashes reside at the forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California
The Vision
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Roy Disney took full control of Walt Disney Productions and WED Enterprises after Walt’s
death
Roy died from a cerebral hemorrhage on December 20, 1971
Today, Walt Disney’s animation/motion picture studios nd theme parks have developed into
a multi-billion dollar company to carry his name.
As of 2007, the company has an annualQuickTime™
revenue
of over $35 billion.
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