Walter+Elias+Disney

“I don’t have depressed moods. I’m happy, just very, very happy.” (Shickel). Walter Elias Disney truly lived a marvelous life. From creating Mickey Mouse to //Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs// to //The Jungle Book//, Disney has done an abundant amount of work throughout his lifetime. Even when faced with problems, he would resolve them with happiness. He was an inspiration to many people all over the world. He showed that anyone can go from nothing to something with just a paper and pen. There was not one unimaginative bone in his body (Bostwick).
 * Introduction**

One late winter night, a young Flora Disney gave birth to a boy, Walter Disney (Karwatka). Father, Elias Disney, saw his child for the very first time (Langer). They knew by the looks of him, he was a miracle baby. Although his parents loved him, they mistreated him greatly (Bostwick). Through the pain of his parents, Walter turned his brother into his best friend (Bostwick). Disney did almost everything with his brother.
 * Personal Background**

He first studied at McKinnley High School in Chicago (Langer). While attending high school during the day, he also went to night school at Chicago Institute of Art (Langer). He found his artistic talents at a very young age. Disney was unable to complete his high school studies and dropped out (Fanning 36). Soon after dropping out, he went to the Red Cross with his brother at the age of sixteen (Bostwick). Very soon after they found out of his real age, he was mustered out (Schickel).

After getting kicked out of the Red Cross, he moved to Kansas to live his dreams (Bostwick). Kansas was one of the biggest mistake for him. After realizing that Kansas was not the place to be for an artist, he moved to Hollywood with his brother (Bostwick). Living in Hollywood during the 1930’s was an exciting time for an artist (Santora). There in Hollywood is where he found most of his fame. At the mere age of 20, Disney had become president of his first company (Fanning 41).

Meanwhile in Hollywood, his love was waiting. He soon married the love of his magnificent life, Lillian Bond (Karwatka). He lived a happy life with his new wife. After the marriage, Lillian Disney gave birth to two beautiful girls (Santora). With his family, his life was complete. Just ten days after his 65th birthday, Disney’s cancer took over and caused his tragic death (Karwatka).

As persistent as Disney was, he almost always got whatever he wanted. He was also successful at everything he did (Bostwick). In order to become successful, Disney had to work tirelessly (Fanning 13). Even through all the tiring nights, he maintained his happiness to everyone. He never had depressed moods throughout the good times and the bad (Schickel).
 * Personality Traits**

Disney truly was an artistic man (Bostwick). With his artistic talents, came imagination (Fanning 31). He obtained very strong genius like qualities when working in the studio. Nothing made him question his works, he was determined to finish anything he started (Langer). He was very theatric when it came to his films (Fanning 31). Once he started his family, he became more focused on his wife and kids (Santora). During his retirement, he spent his day’s model railroading and lawn bowling. Most of Disney’s achievements were cause by his inventive mind. During his final days, you could see him sitting in his hospital bed sketching a new idea for a cartoon or story (Karwatka). None of Disney’s traits were any to be ashamed of.

Like many people, Disney faced many challenging obstacles. As a child, Disney found himself struggling through abuse from his parent (Fanning 27). Alongside the beatings, his family faced poverty (Schickel). He received no faith in him from family members and other people (Bostwick). Disney suffered through an unsafe environment that no kid would enjoy living in.
 * Obstacles**

After freeing himself from his parents unfriendly grasp, he finally started his business. The startup of his business was no easy accomplishment. The theft of his imaginative ideas form other companies brought Disney anger. The studio also suffered from a shortage of money and popularity (Bostwick). Disney disliked the life he was living in before his business boom (Karwatka).

Throughout his life, Disney suffered from lung cancer (Schickel). The wars end also put Disney at a huge disadvantage. It also saw a declining market for Disney’s very famous short films. Mickey Mouse also suffered from the decline in popularity from children and families all around the world. Disney put all of his resources into his first movie and risked everything. He happened to get very luck with the movies great popularity in 1930 to 1945 (Schickel). Although struggling with obstacles, Disney managed to power through them and make it in the challenging business. (Langer).

Disney was the man to create the first full-length animated movie. This was a huge accomplishment for living in his time period (Bostwick). Along with the movies, Disney also created the infamous Mickey Mouse (Fanning 53). The many movies he created brought all of his growing fame (Fanning 93-95). With a bit luck with his first animated film, //Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs// (Santora). Being an inventor, Disney created of the 3-color Technicolor Process (Bostwick). Disney was very significant for many other reasons though.
 * Historical Significance**

Throughout his life, Disney truly accomplished a career. After his fame broke out, Disney began working on bigger and better things. The creation of Disneyland is what truly hit home for Disney’s significance. This new theme park brought a whole new set of fans ranging from a young age to old (Bostwick). With the success of his first theme park, Disney decided to work on building a new one, Disney World (Santora). His true luck brought Disney fans from all over the world.

The company behind all of this fantastic new ideas was Disney Brothers Studio. Disney and his brother Roy both put all of their effort into this risky business (Langer). This company was later recognized as the largest media company ever (Bostwick). Some say Disney got very lucky throughout his life. Others think Disney was pure genius and luck had nothing to do with his great success. His success was caused by his ability to create many animated movies that won awards for what they held (Fanning 94). Success was a natural ability for the man behind all the magic.

Being known as the first Hollywood mogul is truly a spectacular achievement (Schickel). Disney was able to obtain more than 700 awards throughout his lifetime. Almost no one else had done this before (Santora). Walter Disney was significant for more than one reason, but whatever the reason, he lived a magical life. Being significant to society is one of the many talents Disney was able to accomplish without over thinking it.

Bostwick, Heleigh."Turning a Dream into a Kingdom: The Walt Disney Story." //Legalzoom.// 1 June 2009. Web. 8 Dec. 2014. **SE #6**
 * References**

[|Fanning, Jim.] //Walt Disney//. Chelsea House, 1994. 121. Print. **SE #2**

Karwatka, Dennis. "Walt Disney and His Multiplane Motion Picture Camera." //Tech Directions// 67.6 (2008): 10-1. //ProQuest.// Web. 1 Oct. 2014. **SE #3**

Langer, Mark."Disney, Walt." American National Biography Online. //Oxford University Press//. 1 Feb. 2000. Web. 5 Nov. 2014. **SE #4**

Santora, Phil. "The day Walt Disney, an American icon who gave us Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, died." //NY Daily News.// 16 Dec. 1966: 5. //nydailynews.// Web. 7 Jan. 2015. **SE #1**

Shickel, Richard"Walt Disney: Ruler of the Magic Kingdom." //Time.// 7 Dec. 1998. //Time Inc.// Web. 13 Nov. 2014. **SE #5**