The Life of Walt Disney

Walt Disney’s father, Elias was born in 1859 in Canada. His parents were from Ireland. He was the oldest of eleven children. Elias loved moving from place to place and had many different jobs. He lived in Canada, Kansas, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, and Missouri. This was the age before cars, so people had horses and buggies. It was not usual for people to travel more than 100 miles, but Elias loved traveling and living in different states. He worked as a farmer, hotel owner, machinist, carpenter, mail carrier, and soldier. He practiced religion at the St. Paul Congregational Church. In 1888, he married his wife, Flora and together they had four sons and one daughter. Herbert was born in 1889 in the spring. Raymond and Roy were born somewhere between 1889 and 1901. Walter was born December 5, 1901. Ruth, the only girl, was born in 1903. Elias was very cruel to his sons. He made Herbert and Raymond give him their working money, so eventually they ran away and this made Elias sick. When Roy and Walter got older, Elias worked them too hard and was also cruel to them, so Roy moved in with his uncle Will. Walter was not old enough yet to leave home. (Fanning, 1994, p.19-27).

Even though Walter was stuck at home with a strict father and being the only boy, his mother made life easier and he loved Ruth. He made a friend in school, also named Walt, and he would often go over his friend’s house and receive warmth and love. Walt had a passion for reading and some of his favorite authors were Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, and Horatio Alger. Roy would visit often and he and Walter remained close. Roy told Walt to not let Elias hurt him, so one day Walt fought back and was not abused again. Walt Disney grew up loving his family’s farm animal...

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...se he died almost made me cry. Even though Walt Disney was a huge success by the end of his life and still is today, he was an ordinary businessman that had to suffer through debt multiple times, went through the good and bad of a partnership with his brother, Roy, was a young entrepreneur, faced his workers striking against him practicing communism, and had to deal with the ethics of keeping Disney family friendly when he himself liked to drink and smoke. After reading this book, I feel like I have a connection with Walt Disney. I have been to Walt Disney World once when I was nine, but now I want to go to Disney Land to truly appreciate Walt Disney’s work and passion for his business.

Works Cited

Fanning, J., & Gibbons, L. (1994). Pop culture legends: Walt disney. Chelsea House Publishers.

Pride, Hughes, & Kapoor. (2012). Business (11th ed.). Cengage Learning.