Disney


 * Persuasive Research Essay- Walter Elias Disney**
 * General Facts:**
 * ** Born: **December 05, 1901 in United States, Illinois, Chicago
 * ** Died: **December 15, 1966 in California, United States, Los Angeles
 * ** Nationality: **American
 * ** Occupation: **Movie producer
 * Four Academy Awards- 1954
 * Presidential Medal of Freedom- 1965
 * Freedom Foundation Award- 1965
 * Growing Up **
 * The fourth of five children
 * Elias-Father
 * a Canadian Farmer
 * a stern religious fundamentalist
 * denied the children toys, games, and sporting equipment associated with childhood
 * may have had an impact on Disney's passion for entertaining children
 * frequently changed jobs
 * Flora-Mother
 * from Ohio
 * Raised on a Midwestern farm in Marceline, Missouri, in Kansas City, Missouri, and in Chicago, Illinois.
 * Family always on the verge of financial collapse


 * Attended grammar school in Kansas City and high school in Chicago
 * Gained art instruction from correspondence courses and Saturday museum classes
 * Kansas City Art Institute
 * Chicago Institute of Art
 * Employment **
 * Dropped out of high school at 17 to serve in WWI
 * wanted to go into the Navy, but rejected because he was underage
 * Late 1918- Went to France to be an ambulance driver at the end of World War One
 * altered birthdate on application in order to serve
 * 1919- Returned to the United States- Kansas City, Missouri
 * 1920- Employed at an advertising company
 * Met Ub Iwerks, who helped develop the Disney style
 * 1922- Set up a small studio w/ Iwerks
 * Made animated spoofs and fairytales- "Laugh-O-Grams"
 * 1923- Went bankrupt
 * Took a job with a local ad service that made cartoon advertisements to be shown between movies
 * 1923- Moved to Hollywood with brother Roy and Iwerks
 * Developed 56 film series based off of //Alice's Adventures in Wonderland//
 * expended on this with the series //Alice in Cartoonland//
 * 1927- created //Oswald the Lucky Rabbit// series, but lost rights
 * vowed to never work for someone else again
 * 1927- Disney created mouse character Mortimer
 * wife thought the name was too stiff and talked Disney into naming the character Mickey instead
 * 1928- Mickey Mouse came to life
 * pilot, adventurer, and sort-of pirate character
 * Late 1928- First all-sound, talking-and-music cartoon, //Steamboat Willie//
 * inspired by the first sound movie, //The Jazz Singer//
 * Developed characters such as Donald Duck and Pluto
 * began using a staff of animators to implement his ideas
 * 1928-1946, Disney was the voice of Mickey Mouse
 * Established Disney-controlled sideline franchises
 * Created new studios and established training schools for animators
 * made possible //Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Bambi,// and //Pinocchio//
 * Personal Life**
 * Early 1920's- Met co-worker Lillian Bounds
 * July 13, 1925- Married Lillian
 * Traits
 * perfectionist
 * demanding
 * self-centered
 * workaholic
 * driven
 * contradictory
 * smoked, but hated the habit in others
 * Republican despite is father's socialist ideals
 * loved country life, but spent most time in cities
 * Suffered 2 nervous breakdowns in his life
 * 1) At the age of 30
 * 2) At the age of 40
 * half of his cartoonists went on strike against labor practices
 * 1966- Had surgery for lung cancer
 * December 15, 1966- Had a relapse and died
 * Achievements**
 * Won over 700 awards for creative achievements
 * 1939- honorary Academy Award
 * 1954- 4 Academy Awards
 * 1965- Presidential Medal of Freedom
 * awarded by President Lyndon B. Johnson
 * 1965- Freedom Foundation Award

Lewis, Amy. //American Cultural Leaders From Colonial TImes to the Present.// Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, Inc., 1993. Print

"Walt Disney." //Business Leader Profiles for Students//. Ed. Sheila Dow and Jaime E. Noce. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 1999. //Gale Biography In Context//. Web. 15 Feb. 2012.