Walt_Disney__a_Dream_Come_True

It’s Sunday and my sisters and I are watching the “Disney Channel Original Movie” for the night. It’s the typical Damsel-in-Distress having to be rescued by the favorable, handsome Prince Charming. While on commercial break, the preview of the newest Disney Princess movie appeared on the television screen. It seemed like the classic movie of the beautiful princess having to kiss a frog to see her wonderful prince. It even had the very literal title, “The Princess and the Frog.” Only this time, when she kissed this frog, he didn’t become an attractive brown-haired bombshell, instead, he remained the green slimy frog. “What a twist to the story!” my sister exclaimed. It definitely wasn’t what we expected. Nobody would ever expect that to happen, especially in a Disney movie. But that is exactly what makes the Disney Company so successful. Revolution in animated films and innovation of new story lines keep their wide-range of audiences wanting more and more every time a movie comes out. This revolution of mass media and public love for the infamous Disney characters started because of one person. One individual changed the full-length animation production forever and gave this nation, this entire world a special way of interpreting animated films. The rhetoric of Walt Disney gave imagination to the youth of America for generations and many more generations to come. Walt Disney began his love for drawing at an early stage in his life. While living in his farm house in Marceline, Missouri he developed his love for drawing. He also found his interest for trains and often found himself anticipating the sounds of an oncoming train. When he moved to Kansas City with his family, he attended Saturday courses at the Kansas City Art Institute. There, he became the cartoonist for the school newspaper. His cartoons were very patriotic, focusing on World War I. After his attempt at joining the army (but being underage, he was declined) he decided to pursue his artistic career. Walt eventually decided to open an animation business of his own, and recruited a co-worker at the Kansas City Film Ad Company, Fred Harman. They pursued a deal with Frank L. Newman (the most popular “showman” in Kansas City at the time) to air their cartoons, which they called “Laugh-O-Grams”, at his theater. As soon as his cartoons hit the screen, they became widely popular in the Kansas City area. He soon acquired his own studio and hired a great amount of supplementary animators. Unfortunately with all his high employee salaries, he was unable to make up for studio profits and successfully manage the money. The studio became loaded with debt and wound up bankrupt. But he didn’t give up. This small set-back in his life only made his standards higher. He set his sights on establishing a studio in Hollywood, California: the movie industry’s capital city. There is where his movie making started. Although, he had almost no money and was doing everything he could to keep his dream alive. He borrowed money from many relatives in order to fund his business. He started with simple Alice Comedies and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit which took Disney to the top of Hollywood society (Hearldson, 22). Disney would have never been able to achieve this without being optimistic and having faith in himself. Soon there after became the very infamous Mickey Mouse. Mickey starred in many silent films but later on Disney himself provided the vocal effects for the earliest cartoons and performed as the voice of Mickey Mouse until 1946. After the release of Steamboat Willie, Walt Disney would continue to successfully use sound in all of his future cartoons. In 1935 opinion polls showed that Popeye the Sailor had taken the number one spot. Disney didn’t take this as defeat, but only increased Mickey’s popularity by further colorizing him and partially redesigning him into what was considered to be his most appealing design up to this point in time. Mickey was back on top again. After this success, Disney soon began plans for a full-length feature. When the film industry found out about Disney’s plans to produce an animated feature-length version of Snow White, they were certain this project would destroy the Disney studio. He showed them and whoever else doubted him that they were completely wrong. He continued plans for the feature, with the help of the multiplane cameras he was able to give the characters realistic human animation, distinctive character animation, and special effects, some of the very key factors that make animation a success today. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs received a standing ovation on December 21, 1937. It was the first animated feature in America and Technicolor and was the most successful motion picture of 1938. The film produced at the unheard cost of $1,499,000 during the depths of the Depression, the film is still considered one of the great feats and imperishable monuments of the motion picture industry (Gabler, 142). All together it produced over $8 million in its original theatrical release. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs set the standard for every single animation movie created there after. Snow White was the peak of Disney’s success and it ushered in a period of time that was known as the Golden Age of Animation. Movies such as Pinocchio, Fantasia, and Bambi were created in the new Walt Disney Studios in Burbank. Work was continued on the Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy and Pluto cartoon series. Although, Pinocchio and Fantasia couldn’t live up to Snow White’s success and Donald Duck began to gain more popularity among theatre audiences than Mickey Mouse. Dumbo was created to become an income generator, but it brought nothing but a strike from the workers and high tension between Disney and his employees. After the production of Dumbo, the United States of America entered World War II. Only because of Disney did America understand what was going on across the Atlantic. The U.S. Army contracted most of the Disney studio’s facilities and had the staff create training and instructional films for the military. At home, morale-boosting shorts such as Der Fuehrer’s Face and the feature film, Victory Through Air Power helped keep us aware of the war and task at hand. This was possibly the first time that such skilled use of visual description had been placed at the service of an abstract political argument. “Victory Through Air Power” played a significant role for the Disney Corporation because it was the true beginning of educational films. The educational films would be, and still are, continually produced and used for the military, schools, and factory instruction. The company learned how to effectively communicate their ideas and efficiently produce the films while introducing the Disney characters to millions of people worldwide (Wikipedia). When most people had no jobs, were living in poverty, and had no hope for the future, Disney created these animated films to make these people laugh when no one else could. To make our nation realize happiness was still within reach, allowing people to forget all about the tragedies in their own lives for a while and be happy. Disney’s military films did not generate income but it did boost spirits at home and watching animated films became a favorite American past-time again. All Disney ever thought about was continuing to expand his company and create happiness to spread across not only the nation, but the entire world. After World War II while on a business trip to Chicago, Walt Disney drew sketches of his ideas for an amusement park where he envisioned employees spending time with their children. He went from bank to bank, showing his earliest plans to request for funding. All he wanted was for it to look like nothing else in the world, to be like nothing else in the world. And he did exactly that. Disneyland officially opened on July 17, 1955 changing the world forever. Disneyland contained many areas, where he showed clips of past Disney productions, gave tours of his studio, and familiarized the public with Disneyland. The studio’s first daily television show, Mickey Mouse Club debuted in 1955 which continued in many various incarnations into the 1990s, drawing in children from across the nation to this infamous Club. By the early 1960s, Walt Disney and his empire was a major success. Walt Disney Productions had established itself as the world’s leading producer of family entertainment. Within his ten years of becoming the world’s leading producer, Disney became very sick. Doctors found an enormous tumor on his left lunch which kept spreading to such great extent that the doctors had to remove his entire left lung. Ten days after his 65th birthday, Disney died on December 15, 1966 at 9.30 a.m. Prior to death, Walt was creating his second amusement park in Florida. All Disney wanted to do was create and expand, create and expand, over and over again until his empire was to its greatest success. “Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world” (Disney). His life on earth may have ended, but it was definitely not the end of his company. Walt Disney’s brother, Roy O. Disney continued to carry out the Florida project, insisting that the name be changed to Walt Disney World in honor of his brother. He was no where close to being forgotten. This just proves the impact of Walt Disney on today’s society. To this day, Walt Disney’s animation/motion picture studios and theme parks have developed into a multi-billion dollar television, motion picture, vacation destination and media corporation that carry his name. The Walt Disney Company today owns, among other assets, five vacation resorts, eleven theme parks, two water parks, thirty-nine hotels, eight motion picture studios, six record labels, eleven cable television networks, and one terrestrial television network (Wikipedia). He created one of the most successful corporations today from almost nothing. He brought magic into the lives of many children and adults. Not only has he taught society about the triumph of good over evil in his films but he showed that having a positive attitude is key to making this world a better place. He forced people to look at the world differently, from an animated perspective. In this animated perspective he showed children across the world to never give up hope. Walt Disney never settled for less than his dreams, and since then, not many people have. Disney’s movies not only depicted the typical Caucasian living happily ever after, but the films were culturally diverse. In China, Mulan was the young Chinese maiden who learns that her weakened and lame father is to be called into the army in order to fight the invading Huns. Knowing that he could never survive the rigors of war she decides to disguise herself and join in his place. On the other hand, in India, Aladdin was the street-urchin who lived within the same city as Princess Jasmine. Jasmine is meant to marry a prince. The couple overcomes many setbacks and over comes the evil sultan’s advisor, Jafar. From Mulan to Aladdin, children across the world feel at home watching these Disney characters of all cultures overcome evil and live happily ever after. Almost 43 years after Walt Disney’s death, movies are still being produced under his corporation. The most recent film being The Princess and The Frog. This movie marks the first time Disney portrays an African-American heroine on the big screen. It also is the landmark for the first inter-racial coupling and the first time the princess will also be turned into a frog along with her prince. Sara Sarason, Washington Post columnist wrote, “Going into this movie, I thought the princesses in pop culture, especially Disney princesses, could exist only in stories in which helpless young women are saved by handsome young men. But Tiana is the princess I didn’t know I had been waiting for my whole life.” It is very apparent that Walt Disney has affected many people in today’s society, regardless of sex, age, and race. Walt Disney once said, “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” In order to comprehend his courage and understand how influential Walt Disney truly was, try to imagine the world without him. Imagine the world today without Mickey Mouse, the fairy tales, Disney World, and possibly all animation. Walt Disney has most likely affect all lives throughout the nation and the entire world (Gabler, 49). Whether by touching the hearts of many young children with Disney classics such as Beauty and the Beast or by simply fascinating everyone by his amazing theme parks... Disney has changed everyone. He did more than anyone else to touch the hearts, minds, and emotions of millions of Americans than any other person in the past century. Through his work he brought happiness, joy, and a universal means of communication to the people of every nation. Walt Disney had a dream to change movie making history forever and that dream came true. Works Cited "Aladdin." Web. 16 Dec 2009. . Aldridge, Brad. "Walt Disney, Biography." Just Disney. August 1999. JustDisney.com, Web. 16 Dec 2009. . "Disney Plaque." Wikipedia . Web. 16 Dec 2009. . Disney, Walt. 17 July 1955. Quote in Nardo, Don. The Importance of Walt Disney. San Diego, CA: Lucent Books, 2000. Disney, Walt. Quotes from "Disney Quotes." Brainy Quotes. 2009. BrainyMedia.com, Web. 16 Dec 2009. . Gabler, Neil. (2006). Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination. New York: Knopf. Hearldson, Donald. “Creators of Life: A History of Animation.” New York: Drake Publishers, 1975. "Mickey Through the Years." Disney Blog. Web. 16 Dec 2009. . "Mulan." Word Press. Web. 16 Dec 2009. . Sarasohn, Sara. "The Princess and the Frog." Time 2009. Web. 16 Dec 2009. http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1946727_1946724,00.html. Schwarz, Benjamin. "Walt's World," The Atlantic, December 2006, p. 121. “Walt Disney.” Wikipedia – The Free Encyclopedia. 2002. Free Software Publications. 10 December 2009. . “Walt Disney, Biography.” Yahoo Movies. 2009. AEC One Stop Group Inc. 11 December 2009. http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/18000125351/bio.