Walt Disney: Short Biography

Walt Disney was born on December 5, 1901 in Chicago Illinois, to his father

Elais Disney, and mother Flora Call Disney. Walt was one of five children, four

boys and a girl.

After Walt's birth, the Disney family moved to Marceline Missouri, Walt lived

most of his childhood here.

Walt had very early interests in art, he would often sell drawings to neighbors

to make extra money. He pursued his art career, by studying art and

photography by going to McKinley High School in Chicago.

Walt began to love, and appreciate nature and wildlife, and family and

community, which were a large part of agrarian living. Though his father could be quite stern, and often there

was little money, Walt was encouraged by his mother, and older brother, Roy to pursue his talents.

During the fall of 1918, Disney attempted to enlist for

military service. Rejected because he was under age,

only sixteen years old at the time. 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 from stem to stern, not with stock

camouflage, but with Disney cartoons.

Once Walt returned from France, he began to pursue

a career in commercial art. He started a small

company called Laugh-O-Grams, which eventually

fell bankrupt. With his suitcase, and twenty dollars,

Walt headed to Hollywood to start anew.

After making a success of his "Alice Comedies," Walt became a recognized Hollywood figure. On July 13,

1925, Walt married one of his first employees, Lillian Bounds, in Lewiston, Idaho. Later on they would be

blessed with two daughters, Diane and Sharon .Walter Elias Disney (1901-1966

In 1932, the production entitled Flowers and Trees(the first color cartoon) won Walt the first of his studio's

Academy Awards. In 1937, he released The Old Mill, the first short subject to utilize the multi-plane camera

technique.

On December 21, 1932, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first full-length animated musical feature,

premiered at the Carthay Theater in Los Angeles. The film produced at the unheard cost of $1,499,000

during the depths of the Depression, the film is still considered one of the great feats and imperishable

monuments of the motion picture industry. During the next five years, Walt Disney Studios completed other

full-length animated classics such as Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, and Bambi.

Walt Disney's dream of a clean, and organized

amusement park, came true, as Disneyland Park

opened in 1955. Walt also became a television

pioneer, Disney began television production in 1954,

and was among the first to present full-color

programming with his Wonderful World of Color in

1961.

Walt Disney is a legend; a folk hero of the 20th

century. His worldwide popularity was based upon

the ideals which his name represents: imagination,

optimism, creation, and self-made success in the

American tradition. He brought us closer to the

future, while telling us of the past, it is certain, that

there will never be such as great a man, as Walt

Disney.