Writing Assignment, Week Two

            Though the assignment called for a preferably unknown artist to discuss, the person I chose is indeed famous. But I feel the need to explain my appreciation for this person because I feel that their work is by far not acknowledged enough, and that the company often overshadows the man himself.

            The name Disney is recognized across the globe for it’s animated films and theme parks. It is the name people have known since early childhood for it’s family-friendly entertainment, yet, many people do not know what or who Disney truly is. Disney is the name of a legendary man who has changed the world. His impact on the animation film industry is why animation is the way it is today. They say “it all started with a mouse,” but that statement is modest. It all started with one man; Walt Disney.

            As a young boy, Walter Elias Disney and his family moved to Kansas City. Every morning at 3:30 AM, he and his brother were awakened to deliver newspapers with their father. At an early age, the boy’s parents formed their intense work ethic. Against his father’s wishes, he became a cartoonist. He formed his first company with Ub Iwerks, where they were commercial artists. Iwerks did the illustrating and lettering while Walt handled cartooning and sales. (Iwerks would later become an animator at a later studio.) In May of 1922, Walt formed his next studio, Laugh-o-gram Films, when he was only twenty years old. He raised $15,000 to start his own company, and had no help from his father. He was completely on his own, but that is what Walt did. He was a businessman and a leader with the ability to convince friends, strangers, and best artists he could hire to invest in his vision of something very unheard of at the time- a cartoon studio.

            Walt’s life proves to us that you can start off with nothing, and make your dreams a reality. If you have passion and love for what you are doing and never give up, then anything is possible. Walt wasn’t afraid to fall and get back up again. He proved this again when he lost the ownership to his first successful character, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. It was then after that when he and his wife Lillian, during a train ride, thought of a new character who led to his greatest successes – a character by the name of Mickey Mouse.

            Walt worked on his mouse shorts for a while until his dreams grew. He wanted to create a feature film length cartoon, which led to making Snow White. The fairytale was the most innovative thing of its time. Though he didn’t invent animation, he nurtured it into what it is today. He had a vision that he wanted the moving drawings to be more realistic, and he fine-tuned that with each movie. With Fantasia, he helped create the first multi-track stereo sound system. July 17^th, 1955, his big dreams of opening a fun and friendly park came true when he opened Disneyland in California. Walt Disney, a simple, honest guy with a dream created a multi-billion dollar empire.

            I personally don’t love every film he ever made, but I admire and appreciate the visionary and creative leader he was. It inspires an animation student like myself to not give up on my dreams, to be bold, not be afraid of failure, to inspire people with my art, and that anything is possible.  

Fun fact that relates to the first class! Walt Disney was a big fan of Charlie Chaplin, and eventually the two of them met! (I know what you're thinking, Chaplin looks different without his mustache.)