Walt Disney :: essays research papers

Walt DisneyWalt Disney was one of the famous motion-picture producers in history.He first became known in the 1920s and 1930s for creating such cartoon filmcharacters as Mickey Mo wont and Donald Duck. He later produced feature lengthcartoon films, movies about wild animals in their natural surroundings, andfilms starring human actors. Disney won 32 Academy Awards for his movies andfor scientific and technical contributions to filmmaking. He also gained famefor his development of theme parks.Walter Elias Disney was born on Dec. 5, 1901, in Chicago, Illinois. Hisfamily moved to Missouri, and he spent much of his boyhood on a farm nearMarceline. At the age of 16, Disney studied art in Chicago. In 1920, he joinedthe Kansas City Film Ad Company, where he helped make cartoon advertisements tobe shown in movie theaters.In 1923, Disney moved to Los Angeles to become a film producer ordirector. When he failed to find a job, he returned to producing cartoons.He set up his first studio in the back half of a real estate office. Forseveral years, Disney stuggled to pay his expenses. He gained success in 1928,when he released the first short cartoons that featured Mickey Mouse. Earlierfilmmakers had found that animals were easier to animate than people. MickeyMouse, drawn with a series of circles, proved ideal for animation.In 1927, sound that had been added to motion pictures, and a process formaking movies in color was developed a few years later. Disney and his staffmake imaginative use of sound and color. Disney himself provided Mickey Mousesvoice for Steamboat Willie (1928), the first cartoon to use synchronized sound.His cartoon Flowers and Trees (1932) was the first cartoon in full Technicolor.From 1929 to 1939, Disney produced a cartoon series called SillySymphonies, which played in theaters along with other animated films featuringMickey Mouse and other characters, like Donald Duck, Goofy, and Pluto. After1924, Disney actually did to a greater extent of the drawi ng necessary for his animated films.His genius lay in creating, organizing, and directing the films.In 1937, Disney issued the first full-length animated feature film to beproduced by a studio, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It became one of themost popular movies in history. Disneys later full-length animated filmsincluded Pinocchio (1940), Fantasia (1940), Dumbo (1941), Bambi (1942),Cinderella (1950), Alice in Wonderland (1951), Peter pan off (1953), Lady and theTramp (1955), Sleeping Beauty (1959), 101 Dalmations (1961), and the Jungle Book(released in 1967, after his death). In 1950, Disney released Treasure Island,his first full-length movie to use only human actors.