Steamboat Music, Silly Symphonies, and Fantasias of Sound

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Steamboat Music, Silly Symphonies, and Fantasias of Sound
“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious, and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” -Walt Disney
With one man and a mouse, the history of the film, animation, and soundtrack world was changed forever. Co-founder of Walt Disney Productions, now known as The Walt Disney Company, Walt Disney changed the game of the movie industry with his animated films, ushering in a new era of feature animations. Not only were his animations original, but they were innovative. Disney constantly pushed himself to find new ways to advance the medium through which he transmitted his ideas. Starting simply with comics in his school newspaper, Walt Disney evolved his technique to create films and animations, breaking bounds first by creating the first animation with synchronized sound, then the first animation to be done in color, and then the first animated feature film, his musical movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The life of Walt Disney and the events that lead up to his creation of Steamboat Willie, the first animation with a synchronized soundtrack, is very important in understanding the history of soundtracks in movies.
Walter Elias Disney was born in Chicago, Illinois on December 5th, 1901. At the age of ten, Walt moved to Kansas City and was introduced to vaudeville and motion pictures by his grammar school friend who came from a family of theatre loving people, Walter Pfeiffer. Walt would spend more time at Walter's house than at his own, and the two of them would attend courses at the Kansas City Art Institute. In 1917, Walt moved back to Chicago and attended night classes at the Chicago Art Institute, while also serv...

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...during the very beginning of the life of Walt Disney, it documents the first steps that lead this man to becoming one of the most influential and revolutionary figures in the world. Walt Disney would use his taking to using soundtracks in his films to evolve it to his Silly Symphonies, essentially animated short ballets to music, and the world's first animated feature film, his musical movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, as well as his “concert piece,” Fantasia. Disney would later be known as the creator of the happiest place on earth, Disneyland, and founder of one of the world's most powerful companies, The Walt Disney Company. Music is now one of the key components to the success of The Walt Disney Company, and it all began with a man and a mouse. As long as people keep moving forward and opening new doors, the world will be lead down new and exciting paths.

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