Walt Disney
Growing Up
Walter Elias “Walt” Disney was born on December 5, 1901 in Chicago,Illinois to Elias and Flora Disney. He had three brothers and one sister. When Walt was young his family moved to Marceline,Missouri. Walt came to like drawing there. After a few more years, Walt’s family moved again to Kansas City,Missouri.He developed an interest in trains there. His uncle worked as a train engineer and later Walt worked on the the railroad as a summer job. When Walt was 15 his family moved once more back to Chicago and Walt worked to become a good artist. His passion and interest helped him become really creative.Walt attended McKinley high school and took photography and art lessons. He contributed to the school by becoming the cartoonist for the school paper.Walter had to drop out because of the ongoing war or “World War I” to join the military. Walter was too young to join the army so he joined the Red Cross and drove an ambulance in France for 1 year.
Early Adulthood
When Walt came from France he was 18 and was a grown man. He got into a bad habit at a young age of smoking. His father,Elias, wanted him to work at the jelly factory ,but Walt had a plan of his own.He started a company called Laugh-O-Grams. It went good for a while,but went bankrupt. Walt knew if he wanted to create movies he could go to Hollywood in California.He created a company called the Disney Brothers Productions. Walt was a recognized figure in Hollywood after his success “Alice Comedies”. Walt married one of his employees,Lillian Bounds in Lewiston, Idaho. They had two children named Diane and Sharon.Walt hired a person who was in the future to be the best drawer and painter. Walt and his brother Roy decided to make a cartoon called Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. It was a huge success,but unfortunately a other company bought the company as well as some of Walt’s employees. Walt was mad and needed an idea fast or else he would go bankrupt.
The Walt Disney Park
On his vacation he wanted to relieve people of stress somehow. He decide not one ,but to make 2 amusement parks so families and friends could have fun and a stress free visit/ vacation. The first one was made in Los Angeles, California. It was finally built and families poured in. They had a lot of fun and Walt got a lot of money. With more money Walt made another amusement park in Orlando,Florida. It was planned out well and was going to be better than the one in California. He sadly did not see the park to be finished, for he was diagnosed with lung cancer. His bad habit of smoking got him and he died on December 15,1966. He died at age 65. His legacy lives on and he is remembered as one of the best entrepreneurs and a very talented cartoonist. We will remember Walter Elias Disney.
The Walt Disney Company Walt had many cartoons at the time ,but his most famous one was Steamboat Willie featuring Mickey Mouse .He made more cartoons with Mickey Mouse and added characters Donald Duck and Goofy etc.He got an idea for a movie and called it Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. After a lot of hard work Walt released his first movie with color and sound. The audience loved it and it spread quickly. Walt made 1.5 million dollars. He didn’t stop there ,and he made other movies including Pinocchio,Bambi, and Dumbo. They weren’t as popular,but they still earned him money. Walt decided to make another headquarters in Burbank, California and changed his company to the Walt Disney Productions. His brother Roy didn’t mind. Due to the Great Depression Walt had to cut many employee wages and his workers went on strike. After 9 weeks on strike Walt visited a doctor who suggested to go on vacation to relieve stress. Roy paid employees the money they needed. He famously said the "all of our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them." |
Memorial for Walt Disney
My memorial is a studio with the many movies Walt Disney created during his time like Fantasia and Bambi. People could watch their favorite movies even after Disney's death like Frozen, Cars 1 and 2,and Finding Nemo. People would sit back and relax while munching on popcorn and drinking soda and enjoying the movie. That is not all you can go to a arcade and play duck hunt,pac man,and air hockey. Kids especially, would love it.
Credits: Biography.com, notablebiographies.com, book biography.