Elias had purchased a newspaper delivery route for The Kansas City Star and Kansas City Times. Before long, Disney was spending more time at the Pfeiffers' house than at home. There, Disney attended the Benton Grammar School, where he met fellow-student Walter Pfeiffer, who came from a family of theatre fans and introduced him to the world of vaudeville and motion pictures. In 1911, the Disneys moved to Kansas City, Missouri. He and his younger sister Ruth started school at the same time at the Park School in Marceline in late 1909. He lived near the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway line and became enamored with trains. He also began to develop an ability to work with watercolors and crayons. Elias was a subscriber to the Appeal to Reason newspaper, and Disney practiced drawing by copying the front-page cartoons of Ryan Walker. In Marceline, Disney developed his interest in drawing when he was paid to draw the horse of a retired neighborhood doctor. In 1906, when Disney was four, the family moved to a farm in Marceline, Missouri, where his uncle Robert had just purchased land. Aside from Walt, Elias and Flora's sons were Herbert, Raymond and Roy and the couple had a fifth child, Ruth, in December 1903. He was the fourth son of Elias Disney-born in the Province of Canada, to Irish parents-and Flora ( née Call), an American of German and English descent. 1.6 Theme parks, television and other interests: 1950–1966ĭisney was born on December 5, 1901, at 1249 Tripp Avenue, in Chicago's Hermosa neighborhood.1.3 Creation of Mickey Mouse to the first Academy Awards: 1928–1933.His film work continues to be shown and adapted his namesake studio and company maintain high standards in their production of popular entertainment, and the Disney theme parks have grown in size and number to attract visitors in several countries. He nevertheless remains an important figure in the history of animation and in the cultural history of the United States, where he is considered a national cultural icon. His reputation changed in the years after his death, from a purveyor of homely patriotic values to a representative of American imperialism.
Although there have been accusations that he was racist or anti-Semitic, they have been contradicted by many who knew him. He had high standards and high expectations of those with whom he worked. Disney was a heavy smoker throughout his life and died of lung cancer in December 1966 before either the park or the EPCOT project were completed.ĭisney was a shy, self-deprecating and insecure man in private but adopted a warm and outgoing public persona. In 1965, he began development of another theme park, Disney World, the heart of which was to be a new type of city, the " Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow" (EPCOT). He was also involved in planning the 1959 Moscow Fair, the 1960 Winter Olympics, and the 1964 New York World's Fair. To fund the project he diversified into television programs, such as Walt Disney's Disneyland and The Mickey Mouse Club. In the 1950s, Disney expanded into the amusement park industry, and in July 1955 he opened Disneyland in Anaheim, California. New animated and live-action films followed after World War II, including the critically successful Cinderella (1950) and Mary Poppins (1964), the latter of which received five Academy Awards. The results, seen in features such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Pinocchio, Fantasia (both 1940), Dumbo (1941), and Bambi (1942), furthered the development of animated film. As the studio grew, he became more adventurous, introducing synchronized sound, full-color three-strip Technicolor, feature-length cartoons and technical developments in cameras. With Ub Iwerks, he developed the character Mickey Mouse in 1928, his first highly popular success he also provided the voice for his creation in the early years. He moved to California in the early 1920s and set up the Disney Brothers Studio with his brother Roy. He took art classes as a boy and got a job as a commercial illustrator at the age of 18. Several of his films are included in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.īorn in Chicago in 1901, Disney developed an early interest in drawing. He was presented with two Golden Globe Special Achievement Awards and an Emmy Award, among other honors. As a film producer, he holds the record for most Academy Awards earned by an individual, having won 22 Oscars from 59 nominations. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. Walter Elias Disney ( / ˈ d ɪ z n i/ December 5, 1901 – December 15, 1966) was an American entrepreneur, animator, writer, voice actor, and film producer.