The Creation of Disneyland
Walt Disney: The Early Years
Walter Elias Disney was born on December 5, 1901. He was the fourth of five children born to Elias and Flora Disney. Elias was a fairly unsuccessful businessman, who moved the family from city to city in search of financial success. When Walt was four, they moved from their home in Chicago to a farm in Marceline, Missouri. Walt's time in Marceline provided him with the vision for Main Street USA (Francavigilia, 1981). His frequent associations with animals would also become evident in his later cartoons (Bryman, 4). In 1910, the family left Marceline and moved to Kansas City. Elias was a strict taskmaster who often beat his children. This led to Walt's two oldest brothers deserting the family. Another brother, Roy, left to go help an uncle on a farm. Although they were no longer living together, Roy and Walt remained close.
In 1919, Walt got a job as a cartoonist at a commercial art studio in Kansas City. That job did not last long, and following a failed attempt at starting his own business, Walt began to work for the Kansas City Film Ad Company. During this time, he seriously explored the world of animation. Success, however, did not come easily to Walt, and he soon decided that he had to leave Kansas City. In 1923, he carried just $40 in his pocket and left for Hollywood.
Walt's brother Roy, who was already living in Los Angeles, provided Walt with some financial backing and contacted a distributor about Walt's first animation Alice's Wonderland. Working together with Roy, the brothers opened "Disney Bros. Studio" (It would later be known as Walt Disney Studio). Roy handled the business operations and Walt specialized in the animated productions. Although produ...
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...jects. James Rouse, an accomplished architect has credited Walt Disney for providing much of his inspiration. In addition to suburban malls, Rouse has created Baltimore's Harborplace and Boston's Faneuil Hall Marketplace (Hine, 152). Although Walt Disney died in 1966, his ideas can still be found across the globe.
Works Cited
Adams, Judith A. The American Amusement Park Industry. Boston: Twayne, 1991.
Bryman, Alan. Disney and his Worlds. New York: Routledge, 1995
Francavigilia, R.V. (1981) "Main Street USA: a comparison / contrast of streetscapes in Disneyland and Walt Disney World", Journal of Popular Culture, 15: 141-156
Justdisney.com. 18 Apr. 2004 http://www.justdisney.com/disneyland/history.html
Thomas Hine, Populuxe (New York: Knopf, 1986), 152.
Works Consulted
Marling, Karal Ann. Designing Disney's Theme Parks. New York: Flammario, 1997.
Walt Disney started drawing at a very young age. When he was nine he sold paintings and drawings to his neighbors. He liked believing that the characters would come to life by making a flip book. When Disney was in high school he took animation classes, photography classes and drew animation for his high school paper. Walt was the kind of person who drove himself to make his dreams come true. He dropped out of school at sixteen and moved to Hollywood, California with his brother, Roy, and there they started their own animation company, Disney Brothers Studio, joined with Universal Studios. When the Disney’s moved to Hollywood they hired Fred Harman, Harman’s Brother, The Wrinkle family and Ubbe Iwerks. The comp...
Walt Disney developed the concept of Main Street USA as part of his theme parks, starting with the original park in southern California. Walt had grown up in a town called Marceline, MO around the 20th century and it was his childhood memories around which the idea ...
Dunlop, Beth, and Eric Himmel. Building a Dream: The Art of Disney Architecture. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1996. Print.
After a short stint in France during WWI, Walt soon came to work in advertising as a cartoonist while earning extra money selling animated cartoon advertisements. In 1923, Walt...
Walt Disney as a real man. Walter Elias Disney was born on December 5, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois to his parents, Elias Disney an Irish Canadian and Flora Call Disney, a German American. Walt was one of four children. Walt and his brother Roy and sister Ruth grew up in Chicago, where they attended Benton Grammar School together. He worked hard throughout his schooling and helped support his family during difficult times. When Walt was 23 years old, he and his sweetheart, Lilly, were married in Lilly’s hometown in Idaho on July 13, 1925, even though they had very little money at this time in their lives. (Ford NP) Together they had two daughters, Diane Marie Disney and Sharon Mae Disney. (www. JustDisney.com NP) Walt Disney left a legacy of unmatched vision and creativity through his animated films, studios and theme parks before he pasted away on December 17,1966. (Drazon NP) His brilliant vision has lived on with each generation since his death.
In 1920, while working at an ad company called Pesmen-Rubin Art Studio in Kansas City, Walt discovered the great world of animation and submerged himself within it. While keeping his day job, he began making Laugh-O-Gram ad films and animation shorts with artist Ub Iwerks, whom he met working at the Art Studio. Laugh-O-grams Films soon went bankrupt, and Walt, moved to California with very little money in his pocket (Walter Elias Disney). Disney ran into a lot of road blocks and hard time, but that would not stop him. His dreams and imagination keep him
“Walter Elias Disney was born December 5, 1901, in Chicago, Illinois, to Elias and Flora Disney…Walt’s parents …decided to move closer to family on a farm outside of Marceline, Missouri, in 1906…It was here that he began to draw animals and indulge his imagination. Walt’s exposure to rural life influenced him throughout his career.” (Jolley) When reading about Walt’s early history, it’s noticeable that he came from very humble circumstances. The places he lived, and the experiences he had, shaped his life dramatically. He was an imaginative and hardworking person from the start. “ Walt was only nine years old when he had to get up at 3:30 a.m., seven days a week, to fold and deliver papers for two hours before attending…school” (Jolley) By working at such a young age, life lessons of perseverance and dedication was instilled into his values at a very early.
Walt disney was born on December 5, 1901, in the Hermosa section of Chicago, Illinois. When he was born his given name was walter Elias . but he soon changed his name to walt disney .His father was Elias Disney, an Irish-Canadian,
Walt Disney came from an Anglo-Irish family that immigrated to Canada just before the potato famine (“Walt Disney Interviewed by Fletcher Markle”). On December 5, 1901, Elias and Flora Disney welcomed their fourth son into their home in Chicago, Illinois. When Walter Elias Disney was two years old his family moved to Missouri to escape the rising crime in Chicago. Life in Missouri for the Disney’s only lasted six years until they packed up their belongings and moved to Kansas City, Kansas. In 1917 when Walt Disney was the only child left at home, the three Disney’s decided Chicago was the place for them after all. Walt Disney was a student at McKinley High School and worked as the school newspaper’s art editor. His father was a co-owner of a jelly factory and during the day hours Walt would help wash jelly jars to help pay for expenses for art classes he was taking at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts (Schwartz).
With a name like Walt Disney, it seems like you are expected to do great things and have your name known across America. From a young age, Walt Disney had an interest in all things animation. Growing up in a time where animation and TV was making its first appearances, Walt Disney wanted to be a part of the sensation. Striving and pushing forward with his natural talent of the creative arts and entertainment, Mr. Walt Disney became one of the most well-known entertainers that is mentioned all around the world. His great animation and artistic works but also with his world famous characters and popular theme parks, the first one, Disneyland, being built in Anaheim, California in 1955.
Walt Disney was born on December 5, 1901, in Hermosa, Illinois. He grew up most of his life in Marceline, Missouri. There he began drawing, painting, and selling his pictures to neighbors and friends. As a young teen Disney took art and photography classes at McKinley High School and worked for the school paper as a cartoonist. Unfortunately at age sixteen he dropped out of high school to join the army, but was rejected because he didn’t meet the age requirement. .So instead, he joined the Red Cross and became an ambulance driver in France. (“Walt Disney”)
Ever since I was a child, my family and I have been Disney fanatics. The Disney empire has created many amazing places, but my favorite location to visit is the Walt Disney World Resort. Every day 50,000 people from all over the world arrive at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida to experience the magic. When the park first opened its gates in 1971, 10,000 visitors made their way through. That number has multiplied five-fold and continues to multiply to this day. Since the 1971 opening, over 600 million people have experienced the magic of Disney. In my lifetime, I have visited the park with my family and friends six times. Each visit lasted four days in order to experience all the parks and their unique offerings. When I’m in Disney World, the experience each time is incredible.
Walt returned home and was soon questioned by his father what his future plans would be. Walt replied with “I want to become an artist” (Cole 22). Walt, with extreme determination, tried to work as a cartoonist with Kansas City newspapers, but they thought Walt was not creative enough. Walt applied at the Pesmen-Rubin Commercial Art Studio in the Gray Advertising Building. Walt received his first job as an artist. “Disney did the drawings for his ca...
Walt Disney was born on December 5, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois. His parents, Elias and Flora Disney, gave him the name Walter Elias Disney. Walt was one of 5 children, four boys and one girl. In 1906, his family packed up and moved to a farm in Marceline, Missouri. By this time, Walt discovered that he was very interested in art and drawing. “More things of importance happened to me in Marceline than have happened since – or are likely to in the future.” (Disney, 7) Later on, the Disney family had to move to Kansas City because Walt's father, Elias, could no longer take care of his farm when he became very ill. Elias owned a newspaper company to make money for his family and had Walt and Roy, one of his other sons deliver the papers. In 1910, Walt's family once again packed up and moved to Chicago. Walter did not want to move with his family because he wanted to finish school, so he stayed behind and worked for his brother Herb through the summer. In fall, he moved back with his family and enrolled at McKinley High School. Walt did have an interest in his classes, but found a love for drawing cartoons which were featured in his school's newspaper.
In 1910, two years after Walt’s brothers Herbert and Raymond ran away, Elias contracted typhoid fever. As farm upkeep became too difficult, the Disney family moved to Kansas City, where Roy left home to work as a bank teller. When Walt was 16, he and the remaining family members once again moved, this time returning to Chicago. Walt soon enlisted with the Red Cross Ambulance Unit. In 1919, he returned home, but soon became upset as his father disapproved his dream of being a cartoonist. Walt decided to leave home, going to Kansas City as to be with Roy. He would soon begin to develop his dreams.