Walter Elias Disney Essay -- Biography Biographical Disney Essays

Walter Elias Disney Disney has become a household name in American society, but most people are not aware of Walt Disney's struggles before becoming one of the twentieth century's most prominent and successful animators and film directors. Walt Disney is best know for his characters Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Pluto, Goofy, and Minnie Mouse, but his company can also be credited with achievements such as the first fully synchronized sound picture, "Steamboat Willie", the first full-color animation, "Flowers and Trees", and the first full-length animated movie, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". Walter Elias Disney was born on December 5, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois to Elias Disney and Flora Call. Walt was the youngest of four boys before his younger sister was born. At the age of five, he moved with his family away from the city to a farm near Marceline, Missouri. Walt loved his years on the farm, and his first drawings were of his beloved farm animals. Paper was scarce in the Disney household, so Walt's original drawings were done on toilet paper, one reason why his earliest works were never preserved. Around the time when Walt was eight, his mother gathered enough money to buy him a book for his drawings. Walt's father became ill, and during Elias's recovery, the Disney's three youngest children, Flora, and Elias moved to Kansas City. For more income, Elias forced Walt and his older brother and future partner Roy, to deliver newspapers. Even though there was an age difference of ten years between Walt and Roy, the brothers always remained very close. After Roy ran away, the youngest two children and the Disney parents moved again, back to Chicago, where Walt become the junior editor of his high school news paper "The Voice."... ...ied on December 15, 1966 from cancer, while Walt Disney World, in Florida, was under construction. Walt saw his company rise to greatness, but never in his wildest dreams could he imagine the legacy that he left in this world. Today, the renamed Disney Company still produces full-length animated features that children all over the world enjoy, and trips to Disney theme parks have become pilgrimages for the young and old alike. Works Cited: "Disney, Walt." Encyclopedia Britanica. http://search.eb.com/eb/article?eu=31135 Eliot, M., 1993: Walt Disney:Hollywood's Dark Prince. Carol Publishing Group. New York, NY. Mosley, L., 1985: Disney's World. Stein and Day Inc., New York, NY. Thomas, f. and O. Johnston, 1981: The Illusion of Life:Disney Animation. Hyperion, New York, NY. "Timeline." http://disney.go.com/DisneyChannel/z4/TheMagicIsBorn/timeline.html