Changes: Walt Disney

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Walter Elias Disney (5. December 1901-15. December 1966), known as Walt Disney, was an American producer, animator, and businessman. He is well known for creating characters like Mickey Mouse an [Donald Duck].

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+'''Walter Elias Disney '''(5. December 1901-15. December 1966), known as Walt Disney, was an American producer, animator, and businessman. He is well known for creating characters like [[Mickey Mouse]] an [Donald Duck].
-[[File:Walt Disney.jpg|220px|thumb|right|A black and white photograph of Walt Disney]]'''Walter Elias''' "'''Walt'''" '''Disney''' (December 5, 1901 – December 15, 1966) was an American [[film producer]], [[film director|director]], [[screenwriter]], voice actor, [[animator]], [[entrepreneur]],  [[entertainer]], international [[Cultural icon|icon]] and philanthropist. Disney is famous for his influence in the field of entertainment during the [[20th century]]. As the co-founder (with his brother [[Roy O. Disney]]) of Walt Disney Productions, Disney became one of the best-known motion picture producers in the world. The [[corporation]] he co-founded, now known as [[The Walt Disney Company]], today has annual revenues of approximately U.S. $35 billion. In this wiki he's most important because he created the Mickey Mouse and Duck Universes, and because he was the original voice of [[Mickey Mouse]]
-Disney is particularly noted for being a film producer and a popular showman, as well as an innovator in [[animation]] and [[theme park]] design. He and his staff created a number of the world's most famous fictional characters including [[Mickey Mouse]], a character for which Disney himself was the original voice. He has won 26 [[Academy Award]]s out of 59 nominations, including a record four in one year,<ref name="academyaward">{{cite web|title=Walt Disney Academy awards | url=http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/index.jsp | publisher=[[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]]|accessdate=2008-05-21 }}</ref> giving him more awards and nominations than any other individual. He also won seven [[Emmy Award]]s. He is the namesake for [[Disneyland Park (Anaheim)|Disneyland]] and [[Walt Disney World Resort]] theme parks in the [[United States]], as well as the international resorts in [[Tokyo Disney|Japan]], [[Disneyland Paris|France]], and [[Disneyland Hong Kong|China]].
-Disney died of [[lung cancer]] in [[Burbank, California]] on December 15, 1966. The following year, construction began on [[Walt Disney World Resort]] in [[Florida]]. His brother [[Roy O. Disney|Roy Disney]] inaugurated [[The Magic Kingdom]] on October 1, 1971. [[Epcot]] followed on October 1, 1982, [[Disney's Hollywood Studios]] formerly known as '''Disney MGM Studios''' on May 1, 1989, and [[Disney's Animal Kingdom]] on April 22, 1998. The resort also includes [[hotel]]s, [[restaurant]]s, [[golf course]]s, [[water park]]s, [[campsite]]s, sports & auto racing complex, a [[Disney's Wedding Pavilion|wedding pavilion]], and other shopping & entertainment complexes, making the [[Walt Disney World Resort]] in [[Florida]] the number one vacation destination in the world.
-==1901–1937: The beginnings==
-===Childhood===
-Walter Elias Disney was born on December 5, 1901 to [[Elias Disney]], of [[Irish-Canadian]] descent, and [[Flora Call Disney]], of [[German-American]] descent, in Chicago's [[Hermosa, Chicago|Hermosa]] [[community areas of Chicago|community area]] at 2156 N. Tripp Ave.<ref>http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/1789742,CST-NWS-disney25.article</ref><ref name="disneybio">{{cite web|title=Walt Disney biography|url=http://www.justdisney.com/WaltDisney100/biography01.html|publisher=Just Disney|accessdate=2008-05-21|archivedate=2008-06-05|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20080605151444/http://www.justdisney.com/WaltDisney100/biography01.html}}</ref>
-Walt Disney's ancestors had emigrated from [[Gowran]], [[County Kilkenny]] in Ireland. Arundel Elias Disney, great-grandfather of Walt Disney, was born in Kilkenny, Ireland in 1801 and was a descendant of Robert d'[[Isigny-sur-Mer|Isigny]], originally of France but who travelled to England with [[William I of England|William the Conqueror]] in 1066.<ref>{{cite book|title=Disneyland Paris|publisher=[[Michelin]]|date=2002-08-07|isbn=2060480027|page=38}}</ref>. The d'Isigny name became [[Anglicised]] as ''Disney'' and the family settled in the village now known as [[Norton Disney]], south of the city of [[Lincoln, Lincolnshire|Lincoln]], in the county of [[Lincolnshire]].
-His father [[Elias Disney]] moved from [[Huron County, Ontario]] to the United States in 1878, seeking first for gold in [[California]] but finally farming with his parents near [[Ellis, Kansas]] until 1884. He worked for [[Union Pacific Railroad]] and married [[Flora Call Disney|Flora Call]] on January 1, 1888 in [[Acron, Florida]]. The family moved to [[Chicago, Illinois]] in 1890,<ref name="gabler7">Neal Gabler, "Walt Disney:The Triumph of the American Imagination" (2006), p. 7.</ref>  where his brother Robert lived.<ref name="gabler7" /> For most of his early life, Robert helped Elias financially.<ref name="gabler7" />  In 1906, when Walt was four, Elias and his family moved to a farm in [[Marceline, Missouri]],<ref name="gabler4">Neal Gabler, "Walt Disney:The Triumph of the American Imagination" (2006), p. 9-10.</ref> where his brother Roy had recently purchased farmland.<ref name="gabler4" />  While in Marceline, Disney developed his love for drawing.<ref name="gabler15">Neal Gabler, "Walt Disney:The Triumph of the American Imagination" (2006), p. 15.</ref> One of their neighbors, a retired doctor named "Doc" Sherwood, paid him to draw pictures of Sherwood's horse, Rupert.<ref name="gabler15" /> He also developed his love for trains in Marceline, which owed its existence to the [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway]] which ran through town. Walt would put his ear to the tracks in anticipation of the coming train.<ref name="disneybio"/> Then he would look for his uncle, engineer Michael Martin, running the train.
-The Disneys remained in Marceline for four years,<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-21|url=http://www.waltdisneymuseum.org/|title=Walt Disney Hometown Museum|publisher=Walt Disney Museum}}</ref> before moving to [[Kansas City Metropolitan Area|Kansas City]] in 1911.<ref name="gabler19">Neal Gabler, "Walt Disney:The Triumph of the American Imagination" (2006), p. 18.</ref>  There, Walt and his younger sister Ruth attended the Benton Grammar School where he met Walter Pfeiffer. The Pfeiffers were theatre aficionados, and introduced Walt to the world of vaudeville and motion pictures. Soon, Walt was spending more time at the Pfeiffers' than at home.<ref>{{harvnb|Thomas|1994|pp=33–41}}</ref>  During this time he attended Saturday courses as a child at the [[Kansas City Art Institute]] <ref>[http://kchistory.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/Biographies&CISOPTR=31&CISOBOX=1&REC=2 Biography of Walt Disney, Film Producer – kchistory.org – Retrieved September 14, 2009]</ref> While they were living in Kansas City, Walt and Ruth Disney were also regular visitors of [[Electric Park, Kansas City|Electric Park]], 15 blocks from their home (Disney would later acknowledge the amusement park as a major influence of his design of [[Disneyland]]).
-===Teenage years===
-[[Image:Walt01.jpg|left|thumb|Disney as an [[List of ambulance drivers during World War I|ambulance driver]] during [[World War I]].]]
-In 1917, Elias acquired shares in the O-Zell jelly factory in Chicago and moved his family back there.<ref name="gabler30">Neal Gabler, "Walt Disney:The Triumph of the American Imagination" (2006), p. 30.</ref>   In the fall, Disney began his freshman year at [[List_of_schools_in_Chicago_Public_Schools#Former high schools|McKinley High School]] and began taking night courses at the [[Chicago Art Institute]].<ref>{{harvnb|Thomas|1994|pp= 42–43}}</ref> Disney became the cartoonist for the school newspaper. His cartoons were very patriotic, focusing on [[World War I]]. Disney dropped out of high school at the age of sixteen to join the [[United States Army|Army]], but the army rejected him because he was underage.<ref name="gabler36">Neal Gabler, "Walt Disney:The Triumph of the American Imagination" (2006), p. 36.</ref>
-After his rejection from the army, Walt and one of his friends decided to join the [[Red Cross]].<ref name="gabler37">Neal Gabler, "Walt Disney:The Triumph of the American Imagination" (2006), p. 37.</ref>  Soon after he joined The Red Cross, Walt was sent to France for a year, where he drove an ambulance, but not before the armistice was signed on November 11, 1918.<ref name="gabler380">Neal Gabler, "Walt Disney:The Triumph of the American Imagination" (2006), p. 38.</ref>
-In 1919, Walt, hoping to find work outside the Chicago O-Zell factory,<ref name="gabler42">Neal Gabler, "Walt Disney:The Triumph of the American Imagination" (2006), p. 42.</ref> left home and moved back to Kansas City to begin his artistic career.<ref name="gabler44">Neal Gabler, "Walt Disney:The Triumph of the American Imagination" (2006), p. 44.</ref> After considering becoming an actor or a newspaper artist, he decided he wanted to create a career in the newspaper, drawing political caricatures or comic strips. But when nobody wanted to hire him as either an artist or even as an ambulance driver, his brother [[Roy O. Disney|Roy]], who worked at a bank in the area, got a temporary job for him at the Pesmen-Rubin Art Studio through a bank colleague .<ref name="gabler44" /> At Pesmen-Rubin, Disney created ads for newspapers, magazines, and movie theaters.<ref name="gabler45">Neal Gabler, "Walt Disney:The Triumph of the American Imagination" (2006), p. 45.</ref>  It was here that he met a cartoonist named [[Ub Iwerks|Ubbe Iwerks]].<ref name="gabler46">Neal Gabler, "Walt Disney:The Triumph of the American Imagination" (2006), p. 46.</ref>  When their time at the Pesmen-Rubin Art Studio expired, they were both without a job, and they decided to start their own commercial company.<ref name="gabler48">Neal Gabler, "Walt Disney:The Triumph of the American Imagination" (2006), p. 48.</ref>
-In January 1920, Disney and Iwerks formed a short-lived company called, "Iwerks-Disney Commercial Artists". However, following a rough start, Disney left temporarily to earn money at Kansas City Film Ad Company, and was soon joined by Iwerks who was not able to run the business alone.<ref name="gabler51">Neal Gabler, "Walt Disney:The Triumph of the American Imagination" (2006), p. 51.</ref>  While working for the Kansas City Film Ad Company, where he made commercials based on [[cutout animation]], Disney took up an interest in the field of animation, and decided to become an animator.<ref name="gabler62">Neal Gabler, "Walt Disney:The Triumph of the American Imagination" (2006), p. 52.</ref> He was allowed by the owner of the Ad Company, A.V. Cauger, to borrow a camera from work, which he could use to experiment with at home. After reading a book by Edwin G. Lutz, called Animated Cartoons: How They Are Made, Their Origin and Development, he found cel animation to be much more promising than the cutout animation he was doing for Cauger. Walt eventually decided to open his own animation business,<ref name="gabler56">Neal Gabler, "Walt Disney:The Triumph of the American Imagination" (2006), p. 56.</ref> and recruited a fellow co-worker at the Kansas City Film Ad Company, [[Fred Harman]], as his first employee.<ref name="gabler56" /> Walt and Harman then secured a deal with local theater owner Frank L. Newman — arguably the most popular "showman" in the Kansas City area at the time<ref name="gabler57">Neal Gabler, "Walt Disney:The Triumph of the American Imagination" (2006), p. 57.</ref> — to screen their cartoons — which they titled "Laugh-O-Grams" — at his local theater.<ref name="gabler57" />
-===Laugh-O-Gram Studio===
-Presented as "Newman Laugh-O-Grams",<ref name="gabler57" />  Disney's cartoons became widely popular in the Kansas City area.<ref name="gabler58">Neal Gabler, "Walt Disney:The Triumph of the American Imagination" (2006), p. 58.</ref>  Through their success, Disney was able to acquire his own studio, also called [[Laugh-O-Gram Studio|Laugh-O-Gram]],<ref name="gabler64">Neal Gabler, "Walt Disney:The Triumph of the American Imagination" (2006), p. 64.</ref> and hire a vast number of additional animators, including Fred Harman's brother [[Hugh Harman]], [[Rudolf Ising]], and his close friend [[Ub Iwerks|Ubbe Iwerks]].<ref name="gabler6471">Neal Gabler, "Walt Disney:The Triumph of the American Imagination" (2006), p. 64-71.</ref>  Unfortunately, with all his high employee salaries unable to make up for studio profits, Walt was unable to successfully manage money.<ref name="gabler68">Neal Gabler, "Walt Disney:The Triumph of the American Imagination" (2006), p. 68.</ref> As a result, the studio became loaded with debt<ref name="gabler68" /> and wound up bankrupt.<ref name = "gabler72"/> Disney then set his sights on establishing a studio in the movie industry's capital city, Hollywood, California.<ref name="gabler76">Neal Gabler, "Walt Disney:The Triumph of the American Imagination" (2006), p. 75.</ref>
-===Hollywood===
-Disney and his brother pooled their money to set up a cartoon studio in Hollywood.<ref name="gabler78">Neal Gabler, "Walt Disney:The Triumph of the American Imagination" (2006), p. 78.</ref>
-Needing to find a distributor for his new [[Alice Comedies]] — which he started making while in Kansas City,<ref name="gabler72">Neal Gabler, "Walt Disney:The Triumph of the American Imagination" (2006), p. 72.</ref> but never got to distribute — Disney sent an unfinished print to New York distributor [[Margaret Winkler]], who promptly wrote back to him. She was keen on a distribution deal with Disney for more live-action/animated shorts based upon ''Alice's Wonderland''.<ref name="gabler80">Neal Gabler, "Walt Disney:The Triumph of the American Imagination" (2006), p. 80.</ref>
-====Alice Comedies====
-[[Virginia Davis]] (the live-action star of ''Alice’s Wonderland'') and her family were relocated at Disney's request from Kansas City to [[Hollywood]], as were Iwerks and his family. This was the beginning of the [[The Walt Disney Company|Disney Brothers' Studio]]. It was located on Hyperion Avenue in [[Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California|the Silver Lake district]], where the studio remained until 1939. In 1925, Disney hired a young woman named [[Lillian Disney|Lillian Bounds]] to ink and paint celluloid. After a brief period of dating her, the two got married the same year.
-The new series, ''[[Alice Comedies]]'', was reasonably successful, and featured both [[Dawn O'Day]] and Margie Gay as Alice. Lois Hardwick also briefly assumed the role of Alice. By the time the series ended in 1927, the focus was more on the animated characters, in particular a cat named Julius who resembled [[Felix the Cat]], rather than the live-action Alice.
-====Oswald the Lucky Rabbit====
-{{Main|Oswald the Lucky Rabbit}}
-By 1927, [[Charles Mintz]] had married Margaret Winkler and assumed control of her business, and ordered a new all-animated series to be put into production for distribution through [[Universal Pictures]]. The new series, ''[[Oswald the Lucky Rabbit]]'', was an almost instant success, and the character, Oswald — drawn and created by Iwerks — became a popular figure. The Disney studio expanded, and Walt hired back Harman, [[Rudolph Ising]], [[Carman Maxwell]], and [[Friz Freleng]] from Kansas City.
-In February 1928, Disney went to New York to negotiate a higher fee per short from Mintz. Disney was shocked when Mintz announced that not only he wanted to reduce the fee he paid Disney per short but also that he had most of his main animators, including Harman, Ising, Maxwell, and Freleng (notably, except Iwerks, who refused to leave Disney) under contract and would start his own studio if Disney did not accept the reduced production budgets.  Universal, not Disney, owned the Oswald trademark, and could make the films without Disney. Disney declined Mintz's offer and lost most of his animation staff.
-With most of his staff gone Disney now found himself on his own again.<ref name="gabler109">Neal Gabler, "Walt Disney:The Triumph of the American Imagination" (2006), p. 109.</ref>  It took Disney's company 78 years to get back the rights to the Oswald character. The [[Walt Disney Company]] reacquired the rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit from [[NBC Universal]] in 2006, through a trade for longtime ABC sports commentator [[Al Michaels]].<ref>[http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2324417 Stay 'tooned: Disney gets 'Oswald' for Al Michaels], at ESPN web site, retrieved January 4, 2010</ref>
-====Mickey Mouse====
-{{Main|Mickey Mouse}}
-After losing the rights to Oswald, Disney felt the need to develop a new character to replace him. He based the character on a mouse he had adopted as a pet while working in a Kansas City studio.<ref name="DisneyMuseum">{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-21|url=http://disney.go.com/disneyatoz/familymuseum/exhibits/articles/mickeymousegoldenage/index.html|title=The Golden Age of Mickey Mouse|publisher=[[Disney]]|author=Solomon, Charles}}</ref> Ub Iwerks reworked on the sketches made by Disney so that it was easier to animate it. However, Mickey's voice and personality was provided by Disney. In the words of a Disney employee, "Ub designed Mickey's physical appearance, but Walt gave him his [[soul]]."<ref name="DisneyMuseum"/> Besides Oswald and Mickey, a similar mouse-character is seen in ''Alice Comedies'' which featured a mouse named Ike the Mouse, and the first [[Flip the Frog]] cartoon called Fiddlesticks, which showed a Mickey Mouse look-alike playing fiddle. The initial films were animated by Iwerks, his name was prominently featured on the title cards. The mouse was originally named "Mortimer", but later christened "Mickey Mouse" by Lillian Disney who thought that the name Mortimer did not fit. Mortimer later became the name of Mickey's rival for Minnie, who was taller than his renowned adversary and had a Brooklyn accent.
-The first animated short with Mickey in it was titled, ''[[Plane Crazy]]'', which was, like all of Disney's previous works, a [[silent film]]. After failing to find a distributor for ''Plane Crazy'' or its follow-up, ''[[The Gallopin' Gaucho]]'', Disney created a Mickey cartoon with [[talking picture|sound]] called ''[[Steamboat Willie]]''. A businessman named [[Pat Powers (businessman)|Pat Powers]] provided Disney with both distribution and [[Cinephone]], a sound-[[synchronization]] process. ''Steamboat Willie'' became an instant success,<ref name="gabler128">Neal Gabler, "Walt Disney:The Triumph of the American Imagination" (2006), p. 128.</ref> and ''Plane Crazy'', ''The Galloping Gaucho'', and all future Mickey cartoons were released with soundtracks.  Disney himself provided the vocal effects for the earliest cartoons and performed as the [[voice actor|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, and Cinephone became the new distributor for Disney's early sound cartoons as well.<ref name="gabler129">Neal Gabler, "Walt Disney:The Triumph of the American Imagination" (2006), p. 129.</ref> Mickey soon eclipsed Felix the Cat as the world's most popular cartoon character.<ref name="DisneyMuseum"/> By 1930, Felix, now in sound, had faded from the screen, as his sound cartoons failed to gain attention.<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-21|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g1epc/is_tov/ai_2419100434|title= Felix the Cat |publisher=St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture |author=Gordon, Ian}}</ref> Mickey's popularity would now skyrocket in the early 1930s.<ref name="DisneyMuseum"/>
-====Silly Symphonies====
-Following the footsteps of ''Mickey Mouse series'', a series of musical shorts titled, ''[[Silly Symphonies]]'' was released in 1929. The first of these was titled ''[[The Skeleton Dance]]'' and was entirely drawn and animated by Iwerks, who was also responsible for drawing the majority of cartoons released by Disney in 1928 and 1929. Although both series were successful, the Disney studio was not seeing its rightful share of profits from Pat Powers,<ref name="gabler142">Neal Gabler, "Walt Disney:The Triumph of the American Imagination" (2006), p. 142.</ref> and in 1930, Disney signed a new distribution deal with [[Columbia Pictures]]. The original basis of the cartoons were musical novelty, and Carl Stalling wrote the score for the first Silly Symphony cartoons as well.<ref name=DisneyMuseum2>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-21|url=http://disney.go.com/disneyatoz/familymuseum/exhibits/articles/sillysymphonies/index.html|title=THE BIRTH OF THE SILLY SYMPHONIES  |publisher=[[Disney]]|author=Merritt, Russell}}</ref>
-Iwerks was soon lured by Powers into opening his own studio with an exclusive contract. Later, Carl Stalling would also leave Disney to join Iwerks' new studio.<ref name=Islandnet-Chronology>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-21|url=http://www.islandnet.com/~kpolsson/disnehis/disn1930.htm|title=Chronology of the Walt Disney Company|publisher=Island Net}}</ref> Iwerks launched his ''[[Flip the Frog]]'' series with first voice cartoon in color, "Fiddlesticks," filmed in two-strip Technicolor. Iwerks also created two other series of cartoons, the ''[[Willie Whopper]]'' and the ''[[Comicolor]]''. In 1936, Iwerks shut his [[Ub Iwerks Studio|studio]] to work on various projects dealing with animation technology. He would return to Disney in 1940 and, would go on to pioneer a number of film processes and specialized animation technologies in the studio's research and development department.
-By 1932, Mickey Mouse had become quite a popular cinema character, but ''Silly Symphonies'' was not as successful. The same year also saw competition for Disney grow worse as [[Max Fleischer]]'s flapper cartoon character, [[Betty Boop]], would gain more popularity among theater audiences.<ref>{{cite journal|accessdate=2008-05-21|url=http://www.awn.com/mag/issue2.4/AWNMag2.4.pdf|author= Langer, Mark|title=Popeye From Strip To Screen|publisher=[[Animation Magazine]]|date=July 1997|volume=2|issue=4|pp=17–19|format=[[PDF]]}}</ref> Fleischer was considered to be Disney's main rival in the 1930s,<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-21|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9106382/Fleischer-brothers|title=Fleischer brothers|publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]}}</ref> and was also the father of [[Richard Fleischer]], whom Disney would later hire to direct his 1954 film ''[[20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954 film)|20,000 Leagues Under the Sea]]''. Meanwhile, Columbia Pictures dropped the distribution of Disney cartoons and was replaced by United Artists.<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-21|url=http://www.islandnet.com/~kpolsson/disnehis/disn1932.htm|title=Chronology of the Walt Disney Company|publisher=Island Net}}</ref> In late 1932, [[Herbert Kalmus]], who had just completed work on the first three-strip technicolor camera,<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-21|url=http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/oldcolor/technicolor4.htm|title=System 4|publisher=Widescreen Museum}}</ref> approached Walt and convinced him to redo ''[[Flowers and Trees]]'', which was originally done in black and white, with three-strip [[Technicolor]].<ref name="Tech">{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-21|url=http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/oldcolor/technicolor5.htm|title=System 4|publisher=Widescreen Museum}}</ref> ''Flowers and Trees'' would go on to be a phenomenal success and would also win the first [[Academy Award for Animated Short Film|Academy Award for Best Short Subject: Cartoons]] for 1932. After ''Flowers and Trees'' was released, all future ''Silly Symphony'' cartoons were done in color as well. Disney was also able to negotiate a two-year deal with Technicolor, giving him the sole right to use three-strip Technicolor,<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-21|url=http://www.mbam.qc.ca/disney/index_en.html|title=Walt Disney at the Museum?|publisher=[[Montreal Museum of Fine Arts]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-21|url=http://www.fpsmagazine.com/review/070312onceupon.php|title=Once Upon a Time: Walt Disney: The Sources of Inspiration for the Disney Studios|publisher=[[fps magazine]]}}</ref> which would also eventually be extended to five years as well.<ref name="DisneyMuseum2" /> Through ''Silly Symphonies'', Disney would also create his most successful cartoon short of all time, ''[[The Three Little Pigs]]'', in 1933.<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-21|url=http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/cteq/03/29/3_little_pigs.html|title=Huffing and Puffing
-about Three Little Pigs|publisher=Senses of Cinema|author=Danks, Adrian}}</ref> The cartoon ran in theaters for many months, and also featured the hit song that became the anthem of the Great Depression, "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf".<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-21|url=http://disney.go.com/vault/archives/movies/pigs/pigs.html|title=Three Little Pigs|publisher=[[Disney]]}}</ref>
-[[Image:Elias.JPG|right|thumb|Walt Disney's star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]].]]
-===First Academy Award===
-In 1932, Disney received a special Academy Award for the creation of "Mickey Mouse", whose series was made into color in 1935 and soon launched [[Spin-off (media)|spin-off]] series for supporting characters such as [[Donald Duck]], [[Goofy]], and [[Pluto (dog)|Pluto]]; Pluto and Donald would immediately get their individual cartoons in 1937,<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-21|url=http://www.islandnet.com/~kpolsson/disnehis/disn1937.htm|title=Chronology of the Walt Disney Company|publisher=Island Net}}</ref> and Goofy would get solo cartoons in 1939 as well.<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-21|url=http://members.tripod.com/~kariv/bio.html|title=GOOFY BIOGRAPHY|publisher=[[Tripod.com]]}}</ref> Of all of Mickey's partners, Donald Duck—who first teamed with Mickey in the 1934 cartoon, ''[[Orphan's Benefit]]''—was arguably the most popular, and went on to become Disney's second most successful cartoon character of all time.<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-21|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9096160/Donald-Duck|title=Donald Duck|publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]}}</ref>
-===Children===
-The Disneys' first attempt at [[pregnancy]] ended up in Lillian having a [[miscarriage]]. When Lillian Disney became pregnant again, she gave birth to a daughter, [[Diane Marie Disney]], on December 18, 1933. The Disneys adopted [[Sharon Mae Disney]] (December 31, 1936 – February 16, 1993).<ref>[http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com Social Security Death Index]</ref>
-==1937–1941: The Golden Age of Animation==
-==="Disney's Folly": ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs''===
-[[Image:Walt Disney Snow white 1937 trailer screenshot (13).jpg|left|thumb|Walt Disney introduces each of the Seven Dwarfs in a scene from the original 1937 ''[[Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film)|Snow White]]'' theatrical trailer.]] After the creation of two cartoon series, Disney soon began plans for a full-length feature in 1934. In 1935, opinion polls showed that another cartoon series, ''[[Popeye the Sailor]]'', produced by Max Fleischer, was more popular than Mickey Mouse.<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-21|url=http://forums.goldenagecartoons.com/showthread.php?t=2907|title=Popeye's Popularity – Article from 1935  |publisher=Golden Age Cartoons}}</ref> Disney was, however, able to put Mickey back on top, and also increase Mickey's popularity further by colorizing him and partially redesigning him into what was considered to be his most appealing design up to this point in time.<ref name="DisneyMuseum" /> When the film industry came to know about Disney's plans to produce an ''animated'' feature-length version of ''[[Snow White]]'', they dubbed the project as "''Disney's Folly''" and were certain that the project would destroy the Disney Studio. Both Lillian and Roy tried to talk Disney out of the project, but he continued plans for the feature. He employed [[Chouinard Art Institute]] professor Don Graham to start a training operation for the studio staff, and used the ''Silly Symphonies'' as a platform for experiments in realistic human animation, distinctive character animation, special effects, and the use of specialized processes and apparatus such as the [[multiplane camera]]; Disney would first use this new technique in the 1937 ''Silly Symphonies'' short ''[[The Old Mill]]''.<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-21|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20070710012642/http://www.justdisney.com/walt_disney/biography/long_bio.html|title=Walt Disney, Biography|publisher=Just Disney}}</ref>
-All of this development and training was used to elevate the quality of the studio so that it would be able to give the feature film the quality Disney desired. ''[[Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film)|Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs]]'', as the feature was named, was in full production from 1934 until mid-1937, when the studio ran out of money. To acquire the funding to complete ''Snow White'', Disney had to show a rough cut of the motion picture to loan officers at the [[Bank of America]], who gave the studio the money to finish the picture. The finished film premiered at the Carthay Circle Theater on December 21, 1937; at the conclusion of the film, the audience gave ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' a standing ovation. ''Snow White'', the first animated feature in America and Technicolor, was released in February 1938 under a new distribution deal with [[RKO Radio Pictures]]; RKO had previously been the distributor for Disney cartoons in 1936, after it closed down the Van Beuren Studios in exchange for distribution.<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-21|url=http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue08/reviews/vanbeuren/|title=Cartoons that Time Forgot|publisher=Images Journal}}</ref> The film became the most successful motion picture of 1938 and earned over $8 million in its original theatrical release.
-===The Golden Age of Animation===
-The success of ''Snow White'', (for which Disney received one full-size, and seven miniature Oscar statuettes) allowed Disney to build a new campus for the [[Walt Disney Studios (Burbank)|Walt Disney Studios]] in [[Burbank, California|Burbank]], which opened for business on December 24, 1939; ''Snow White'' was not only the peak of Disney's success, but it also ushered in a period that would later be known as the Golden Age of Animation for Disney.<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-21|url=http://www.animationusa.com/resources/aboutdisney.html|title=Walt Disney Studio Biography |publisher=Animation USA}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-21|url=http://disney.go.com/disneyatoz/familymuseum/exhibits/articles/goldenage/index.html|title=The Golden Age of Animation  |publisher=[[Disney]]}}</ref> The feature animation staff, having just completed ''[[Pinocchio (1940 film)|Pinocchio]]'', continued work on ''[[Fantasia (film)|Fantasia]]'' and ''[[Bambi]]'' and the early production stages of ''[[Alice in Wonderland (1951 film)|Alice in Wonderland]]'' and ''[[Peter Pan (1953 film)|Peter Pan]]'' while the shorts staff continued work on the ''Mickey Mouse'', ''Donald Duck'', ''Goofy'', and ''Pluto'' cartoon series, ending the ''Silly Symphonies'' at this time. Animator Fred Moore had redesigned Mickey Mouse in the late 1930s, when Donald Duck began to gain more popularity among theater audiences than Mickey Mouse.<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-21|url=http://www.bcdb.com/bcdb/cartoon.cgi?film=15&m=r|title=Fantasia Review|publisher=The Big Cartoon Database}}</ref>
-''Pinocchio'' and ''Fantasia'' followed ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' into the movie theaters in 1940, but both were financial disappointments. The inexpensive ''[[Dumbo]]'' was planned as an income generator, but during production of the new film, most of the animation staff [[Disney animators' strike|went on strike]], permanently straining the relationship between Disney and his artists.
-==1941–1945: During World War II==
-Disney and a group of animators were sent to South America in 1941 by the U.S. State Department as part of its [[Good Neighbor policy]], and guaranteed financing for the resulting movie, ''[[Saludos Amigos]]''.<ref>[http://www.waltandelgrupo.com/ Walt & El Grupo] (documentary film, 2008).</ref>
-Shortly after the release of ''Dumbo'' in October 1941, the United States entered [[World War II]]. The [[U.S. Army]] contracted most of the Disney studio's facilities and had the staff create training and instructional films for the military, home-front morale-boosting shorts such as ''[[Der Fuehrer's Face]]'' and the feature film ''[[Victory Through Air Power (film)|Victory Through Air Power]]'' in 1943. However, the military films did not generate income, and the feature film ''[[Bambi]]'' underperformed when it was released in April 1942. Disney successfully re-issued ''Snow White'' in 1944, establishing a [[Disney Vault|seven-year re-release tradition]] for Disney features. In 1945, ''[[The Three Caballeros]]'' was the last animated feature by Disney during the war period.
-In 1944, [[William Benton (senator)|William Benton]], [[publisher]] of the ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'', had entered into unsuccessful negotiations with Disney to make six to twelve educational films annually. Disney was asked by the US [[Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs]], Office of Inter-American Affairs (OIAA), to make an educational film about the [[Amazon Basin]] and it resulted in the 1944 animated short, ''The Amazon Awakens''.<ref>Gabler, 2006, p.444</ref><ref>Cramer, Gisela; Prutsch, Ursula, [http://hahr.dukejournals.org/cgi/content/citation/86/4/785 "Nelson A. Rockefeller's Office of Inter-American Affairs (1940–1946) and Record Group 229"], ''Hispanic American Historical Review'' 2006 86(4):785–806; DOI:10.1215/00182168-2006-050. Cf. p.795 and note 28.</ref><ref>Bender, Pennee.  "Hollywood Meets South American and Stages a Show" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Studies Association. 2009-05-24 <http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p114070_index.html></ref><ref>Niblo, Stephen R., [http://books.google.com/books?id=WKs-UoFtbTYC&printsec=frontcover "Mexico in the 1940s: Modernity, Politics, and Corruption"], Wilimington, Del. : Scholarly Resources, 1999. ISBN 0842027947. Cf. "Nelson Rockefeller and the Office of Inter-American Affairs", p.333</ref><ref>Leonard, Thomas M.; Bratzel, John F., [http://books.google.com/books?id=YA6-HTSJv5MC&printsec=frontcover ''Latin America during World War II''], Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2007. ISBN 978-0742537415. Cf. p.47.</ref>
-==1945–1955: Disney in the post-war Period==
-The Disney studios also created inexpensive package films, containing collections of cartoon shorts, and issued them to theaters during this period. This includes ''[[Make Mine Music]]'' (1946), ''[[Melody Time]]'' (1948), ''[[Fun and Fancy Free]]'' (1947) and ''[[The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad]]'' (1949). The latter had only two sections: the first based on ''[[The Wind in the Willows]]'' by [[Kenneth Grahame]], and the second based on ''[[The Legend of Sleepy Hollow]]'' by [[Washington Irving]]. During this period, Disney also ventured into full-length dramatic films that mixed live action and animated scenes, including ''[[Song of the South]]'' and ''[[So Dear to My Heart]]''. After the war ended, Mickey's popularity would also fade as well.<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-21|url=http://disney.go.com/disneyatoz/familymuseum/exhibits/articles/mickeymousepostwar/index.html|title=Mickey in the Post-War Era|publisher=[[Disney]]|author=Solomon, Charles}}</ref>
-By the late 1940s, the studio had recovered enough to continue production on the full-length features ''[[Alice in Wonderland (1951 film)|Alice in Wonderland]]'' and ''[[Peter Pan (1953 movie)|Peter Pan]]'', both of which had been shelved during the war years, and began work on ''[[Cinderella (1950 film)|Cinderella]]'', which became Disney's most successful film since ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs''. The studio also began a series of live-action nature films, titled ''True-Life Adventures'', in 1948 with ''On Seal Island''. Despite rebounding success through feature films, Disney's animation shorts were no longer as popular as they used to be, and people began to instead draw attention to Warner Bros and their animation star [[Bugs Bunny]]. By 1942, [[Leon Schlesinger Productions]], which produced the Warner Bros. cartoons, had become the country's most popular animation studio.<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-21|url=http://www.animationusa.com/resources/aboutwb.html|title=Warner Bros. Studio Biography |publisher=Animation USA}}</ref> However, while Bugs Bunny's popularity rose in the 1940s, so did Donald Duck's;<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-21|url=http://www.sandcastlevi.com/movies/disneyh5.htm|title=Disney's Animated Classics|publisher=Sandcastle VI}}</ref> Donald would also replace Mickey Mouse as Disney's star character by 1949.<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-21|url=http://petcaretips.net/donald-duck.html|title=Donald Duck|publisher=Pet Care Tips}}</ref>
-During the mid-1950s, Disney produced a number of [[educational film]]s on the space program in collaboration with [[NASA]] rocket designer [[Wernher von Braun]]: ''Man in Space'' and ''Man and the Moon'' in 1955, and ''Mars and Beyond'' in 1957.
-[[Image:Walt Disney and Dr. Wernher von Braun - GPN-2000-000060.jpg|thumb|left|Walt Disney meets [[Wernher von Braun]] in 1954.]]
-===Testimony before Congress===
-Disney was a founding member of the [[Anti-communism|anti-communist]] [[Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals]].{{cite}} In 1947, during the early years of the [[Cold War]],<ref name=CNN>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-21|url=http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/episodes/06/documents/huac/disney.html|title=Testimony of Walter E. Disney before HUAC|publisher=[[CNN]]|date=1947-10-24}}</ref> Disney testified before the [[House Un-American Activities Committee]], where he branded [[Herbert Sorrell]], [[David Hilberman]] and [[William Pomerance]], former animators and [[trade union|labor union]] organizers, as [[Communist]] agitators. All three men denied the allegations. According to Peter Schweizer, an author of the time, [[Archives]] of the [[Soviet Union]] released by the Russian government implicate Sorrell as a Communist [[spy]].<ref> Schweizer, Peter (2002) Reagan's War: The Epic Story of His Forty-Year Struggle and Final Triumph Over Communism Doubleday, New York, ISBN 0-385-50471-3</ref>  However, Sorrell testified before the HUAC in 1946 but there was insufficient evidence to link him to the Communist Party.<ref> Cogley, John (1956) Report on Blacklisting, Volume I, Movies Fund for the Republic, New York, p. 34 OCLC 3794664; reprinted in 1972 by Arno Press, New York ISBN 0-405-03915-8</ref><ref> "Communist brochure" Screen Actors Guild accessed October 20, 2008</ref> Disney accused the [[Screen Actors Guild]] of being a Communist front, and charged that the 1941 strike was part of an organized Communist effort to gain influence in Hollywood.<ref name=CNN/>
-==1955–1966: Theme parks and beyond==
-===Planning Disneyland===
-[[Image:6308-AnaheimDisneyLand-NW to SE View.jpg|thumb|left|Aerial view August, 1963 looking SE. New Melodyland Theater at the top. The Santa Ana Freeway (I-5) upper left corner. [[Disneyland Park (Anaheim)|Disneyland]]]]
-On a business trip to Chicago in the late-1940s, Disney drew sketches of his ideas for an [[amusement park]] where he envisioned his employees spending time with their children. He got his idea for a children's theme park after visiting [[Children's Fairyland]] in [[Oakland, California]]. This plan was originally meant for a plot located south of the Studio, across the street. The original ideas developed into a concept for a larger enterprise that was to become [[Disneyland Park (Anaheim)|Disneyland]]. Disney spent five years of his life developing Disneyland and created a new subsidiary of his company, called [[WED Enterprises]], to carry out the planning and production of the park. A small group of Disney studio employees joined the Disneyland development project as engineers and planners, and were dubbed [[Walt Disney Imagineering#Imagineers|Imagineer]]s.
-When describing one of his earliest plans to [[Herbert Ryman|Herb Ryman]] (who created the first aerial drawing of Disneyland which was presented to the [[Bank of America]] while requesting for funds), Disney said, "Herbie, I just want it to look like nothing else in the world. And it should be surrounded by a train."<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-21|url=http://disneyspace.tripod.com/id1.html|title=Walt Disney Quotes|publisher=[[Tripod.com]]}}</ref> Entertaining his daughters and their friends in his backyard and taking them for rides on his [[Carolwood Pacific Railroad]] had inspired Disney to include a railroad in the plans for Disneyland.
-===Disneyland grand opening===
-[[Image:Waltopening.jpg‎|thumb|right|px300|Walt Disney giving the opening day speech July 17, 1955.]]Disneyland officially opened July 17, 1955. Among the thousands of people who came out for the opening were [[Ronald Reagan]], [[Bob Cummings]] and  [[Art Linkletter]], who shared cohosting duties, as well as the mayor of Anaheim. Walt gave the following opening day speech:
-{{cquote|To all who come to this happy place; welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past ... and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams and the hard facts that have created America ... with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world.}}
-===Carolwood Pacific Railroad===
-[[Image:LillybelleDland.jpg|thumb|The Lilly Belle on display at Disneyland Main Station in 1993. The caboose's woodwork was done entirely by Walt himself.]]
-{{Main|Carolwood Pacific Railroad}}
-During 1949, Disney and his family moved to a new home on a large piece of property in the [[Holmby Hills]] district of [[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles]], [[California]]. With the help of his friends [[Ward Kimball|Ward and Betty Kimball]], owners of their own [[backyard railroad]], Disney developed blueprints and immediately set to work on creating a miniature [[live steam]] railroad for his backyard. The name of the railroad, [[Carolwood Pacific Railroad]], originated from the address of his home that was located on Carolwood Drive. The railroad's half-mile long layout included a {{convert|46|ft|m|sing=on}}-long trestle, loops, overpasses, gradients, an elevated berm, and a {{convert|90|ft|m|sing=on}} tunnel underneath Mrs. Disney's flowerbed. He named the miniature working steam locomotive built by [[Roger E. Broggie]] of the [[Walt Disney Company#Studio Entertainment|Disney Studios]] ''Lilly Belle'' in his wife's honor. He had his attorney draw up right-of-way papers giving the railroad a permanent, legal easement through the garden areas, which his wife dutifully signed; However, there is no evidence of the documents ever recorded as a restriction on the property's title.
-===Expanding into new areas===
-As Walt Disney Productions began work on Disneyland, it also began expanding its other entertainment operations. In 1950, ''[[Treasure Island (1950 film)|Treasure Island]]'' became the studio's first all-live-action feature, and was soon followed by ''[[20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954 film)|20,000 Leagues Under the Sea]]'' (in [[CinemaScope]], 1954), ''[[Old Yeller (1957 film)|Old Yeller]]'' (1957), ''[[The Shaggy Dog (1959 film)|The Shaggy Dog]]'' (1959), ''[[Pollyanna (1960 film)|Pollyanna]]'' (1960), ''[[Swiss Family Robinson (1960 film)|Swiss Family Robinson]]'' (1960), ''[[The Absent-Minded Professor]]'' (1961), and ''[[The Parent Trap (1961 film)|The Parent Trap]]'' (1961). The Walt Disney Studio produced its first TV special, ''[[One Hour in Wonderland]]'', in 1950. Disney began hosting a [[Walt Disney anthology series|weekly anthology series]] on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] named ''[[Disneyland TV show|Disneyland]]'' after the park, where he showed clips of past Disney productions, gave tours of his studio, and familiarized the public with Disneyland as it was being constructed in [[Anaheim, California|Anaheim]], [[California]]. The show also featured a Davy Crockett miniseries, which started a craze among the American youth known as the Davy Crockett craze, in which millions of coonskin caps and other Crockett memorabilia were sold across the country.<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-21|url=http://disney.go.com/disneyatoz/familymuseum/exhibits/articles/tvworldsofdisney/index.html|title=The Television Worlds of Disney – PART II|publisher=[[Disney]]|author=Cotter, Bill}}</ref> In 1955, the studio's first daily television show, ''[[Mickey Mouse Club]]'' debuted, which would continue in many various incarnations into the 1990s.
-As the studio expanded and diversified into other media, Disney devoted less of his attention to the animation department, entrusting most of its operations to his key animators, whom he dubbed the [[Nine Old Men]]. During Disney's lifetime, the animation department created the successful ''[[Lady and the Tramp]]'' (in [[CinemaScope]], 1955), ''[[Sleeping Beauty (1959 film)|Sleeping Beauty]]'' (in [[Super Technirama]] [[70mm]], 1959), ''[[One Hundred and One Dalmatians]]'' (1961), and ''[[The Sword in the Stone (film)|The Sword in the Stone]]'' (1963).
-Production on the short cartoons had kept pace until 1956, when Disney shut down the shorts division. Special shorts projects would continue to be made for the rest of the studio's duration on an irregular basis. These productions were all distributed by Disney's new subsidiary, [[Buena Vista Distribution]], which had assumed all distribution duties for Disney films from [[RKO]] by 1955. [[Disneyland Park (Anaheim)|Disneyland]], one of the world's first [[theme park]]s, finally opened on July 17, 1955, and was immediately successful. Visitors from around the world came to visit Disneyland, which contained attractions based upon a number of successful Disney properties and films.
-After 1955, the show, ''Disneyland'' came to be known as ''Walt Disney Presents''. The show transformed from black-and-white to color in 1961 and changed its name to ''Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color'', moving from ABC to NBC,<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-21|url=http://www.islandnet.com/~kpolsson/disnehis/disn1961.htm|title=Chronology of the Walt Disney Company|publisher=Island Net}}</ref> and eventually evolving into its current form as ''[[Walt Disney anthology series|The Wonderful World of Disney]]''. It continued to air on NBC until 1981, when CBS picked it up.<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-21|url=http://www.islandnet.com/~kpolsson/disnehis/disn1981.htm|title=Chronology of the Walt Disney Company|publisher=Island Net}}</ref> Since then, it has aired on ABC, NBC, Hallmark Channel and Cartoon Network via separate broadcast rights deals. During its run, the Disney series offered some recurring characters, such as [[Roger Mobley]] appearing as the [[newspaper]] reporter and sleuth "Gallegher", based on the writing of [[Richard Harding Davis]].
-Disney had already formed his own music publishing division back in 1949. In 1956, partly inspired by the huge success of the television theme song [[The Ballad of Davy Crockett]], he created a company-owned record production and distribution entity called [[Disneyland Records]].
-===Early 1960s successes===
-[[Image:Shermans042.jpg|thumb|left|(Left to right) [[Robert B. Sherman]], [[Richard M. Sherman]] and Walt Disney sing "[[There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow]]" (1964)]]
-By the early 1960s, the Disney empire was a major success, and Walt Disney Productions had established itself as the world's leading producer of family entertainment. Walt Disney was the Head of Pageantry for the [[1960 Winter Olympics]].
-After decades of pursuing, Disney finally procured the rights to [[P.L. Travers]]' books about a magical nanny. ''[[Mary Poppins (film)|Mary Poppins]]'', released in 1964, was the most successful Disney film of the 1960s and featured a memorable song score written by Disney favorites, the [[Sherman Brothers]]. The same year, Disney debuted a number of exhibits at the [[1964 New York World's Fair]], including [[sound reproduction|Audio]]-[[Animatronic]] figures, all of which were later integrated into attractions at Disneyland and a new theme park project which was to be established on the [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]].
-Though the studio probably would've made great competition with [[Hanna-Barbera]], Disney had decided not to enter the race for producing Saturday morning cartoon series on television (which Hanna-Barbera had done at the time), because with the expansion of Disney's empire and constant production of feature films, there would be too much for the budget to handle. Thus, the studio had not produced any Saturday morning cartoons until 1985, when Michael Eisner was the president of the corporation.{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}}
-===Plans for Disney World and EPCOT===
-Disney World was to include a larger, more elaborate version of Disneyland which was to be called the Magic Kingdom. It would also feature a number of golf courses and resort hotels. The heart of Disney World, however, was to be the Experimental Prototype City (or Community) of Tomorrow, or [[Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (concept)|EPCOT]] for short.
-===Mineral King Ski Resort===
-Walt Disney had plans for a [[ski resort]] in Mineral King for a while, called [[Mineral King#Walt Disney Ski Resort|Walt Disney Ski Resort]]. During the early to mid 1960s, Disney brought in experts like the renowned Olympic ski coach and ski-area designer [[Willy Schaeffler]], who helped plan a visitor village, ski runs and ski lifts among the several bowls surrounding the valley. Plans finally moved into action in the mid 1960s, but Walt died before the actual work had started. Disney's death and the actions from preservationists made sure the resort was never built.
-===Death===
-{{anchor|Death}}
-In late 1966 Disney was scheduled to undergo neck surgery for an old polo injury;<ref name="Wadisea">{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-21|url=http://disney.go.com/disneyatoz/familymuseum/exhibits/articles/waltspassing/index.html|title=The Day Walt Died |publisher=[[Disney]]}}</ref> he had played frequently at the Riveria Club in Hollywood for many years.<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-21|url=http://www.mouseplanet.com/articles.php?art=ww070711ws|title=Horsing Around With Walt and Polo|publisher=Mouse Planet}}</ref> On November 2, 1966, during pre-surgery X-rays, doctors at [[Providence St. Joseph Medical Center]] across the street from the Disney Studio discovered that Disney had an [[lung cancer|enormous tumor on his left lung]].<ref name="Wa tumor">{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-21|url=http://www.islandnet.com/~kpolsson/disnehis/disn1966.htm|title=Chronology of the Walt Disney Company|publisher=Island Net}}</ref> Five days later, Disney went back to the hospital for surgery, but the tumor had spread to such great extent that doctors had to remove his entire left lung.<ref name="Wa tumor" /> The doctors then told Disney that he only had six months to a year to live.<ref name="Wa tumor" /> After several [[chemotherapy]] sessions, Disney and his wife spent a short amount of time in [[Palm Springs, California]] before returning home.<ref name="Wadisea" /> On November 30, 1966, Disney collapsed in his home, but was revived by [[paramedic]]s, and was taken back to the hospital, where he died<ref name="Wadisea" /> on December 15, 1966 at 9:30 a.m., ten days after his 65th birthday. The last thing he reportedly wrote before his death was the name of actor [[Kurt Russell]], but even Russell himself does not know what Disney meant.<ref name="KR_Last_Word">{{cite web|accessdate=2007-04-24|url=http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2007/04/24/kurt_russell_confirms_that_walt_disney_s|title=Kurt Russell Confirms Disney's Last Words|publisher=Star Pulse}}</ref>
-Disney was cremated on December 17, 1966 and his ashes reside at the [[Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)|Forest Lawn Memorial Park]] in [[Glendale, California|Glendale]], [[California]]. [[Roy O. Disney]] continued to carry out the Florida project, insisting that the name be changed to [[Walt Disney World Resort|Walt Disney World]] in honor of his brother.
-The final productions in which Disney had an active role were the animated feature ''[[The Jungle Book (1967 film)|The Jungle Book]]'' and the live-action musical comedy ''[[The Happiest Millionaire]]'', both released in 1967. Songwriter [[Robert B. Sherman]] said about the last time he saw Disney:
-{{cquote|He was up in the third floor of the animation building after a run-through of ''The Happiest Millionaire''. He usually held court in the hallway afterward for the people involved with the picture. And he started talking to them, telling them what he liked and what they should change, and then, when they were through, he turned to us and with a big smile, he said, 'Keep up the good work, boys.' And he walked to his office. It was the last we ever saw of him.<ref>{{cite book | first = K&R | last = Greene | title = Inside The Dream: The Personal Story Of Walt Disney | year = 2001 | page = 180 | isbn = 0786853506| publisher = Disney Editions}}</ref>}}
-A long-standing [[urban legend]] maintains that Disney was [[cryonic|cryogenically]] frozen, and his frozen corpse was stored underneath the [[Pirates of the Caribbean (theme park ride)|Pirates of the Caribbean]] ride at Disneyland.<ref name = Snopes>{{cite web|title= Suspended Animation | publisher = [[Snopes.com]] |url= http://www.snopes.com/disney/waltdisn/frozen.asp|accessdate=2008-05-21 | date = 2007-08-24 | last = Mikkelson | first = B & DP}}</ref> The [[James Bedford|first known instance of cryogenic freezing of a corpse]] occurred a month later, in January 1967.<ref name = Snopes/>
-==1967–present: legacy==
-===Continuing the vision===
-[[Image:Disneyland plaque.jpg|right|thumb|Plaque at the entrance that embodies the intended spirit of Disneyland by Walt Disney: to leave reality and enter fantasy]]
-After Walt Disney's death, Roy Disney returned from retirement to take full control of Walt Disney Productions and WED Enterprises. In October that year, the families of Walt and Roy met in front of [[Cinderella Castle]] at the Magic Kingdom to officially open the Walt Disney World Resort.
-After giving his dedication for Walt Disney World, Roy asked Lillian Disney to join him. As the orchestra played "[[When You Wish Upon a Star]]", she stepped up to the podium accompanied by Mickey Mouse. He then said, "Lilly, you knew all of Walt's ideas and hopes as well as anybody; what would Walt think of it [Walt Disney World]?". "I think Walt would have approved," she replied.<ref>{{cite web|author=  Griffiths, Bill|title=Grand opening of Walt Disney world|url=http://www.startedbyamouse.com/archives/GrandOpeningWDW01.shtml|accessdate=2008-05-21}}</ref> Roy died from a cerebral hemorrhage on December 20, 1971, the day he was due to open the Disneyland Christmas parade.
-[[Image:Disney1968.jpg|left|thumb|1968 US postage stamp]]
-During the second phase of the "Walt Disney World" theme park, EPCOT was translated by Disney's successors into [[EPCOT Center]], which opened in 1982. As it currently exists, EPCOT is essentially a living [[world's fair]], different from the actual functional city that Disney had envisioned. In 1992, Walt Disney Imagineering took the step closer to Walt's vision and dedicated [[Celebration, Florida|Celebration]], [[Florida]], a town built by the Walt Disney Company adjacent to Walt Disney World, that hearkens back to the spirit of EPCOT. EPCOT was also originally intended to be devoid of Disney characters which initially limited the appeal of the park to young children but the company later changed this policy.
-===The Disney entertainment empire===
-Today, 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. As of 2007, the company has an annual revenue of over U.S. $35 billion.<ref>{{cite web|title= Walt Disney corporate website|url= http://corporate.disney.go.com/investors/index.html|accessdate=2008-05-21|publisher=[[Disney]]}}</ref>
-===Disney Animation today===
-[[Traditional animation|Traditional hand-drawn animation]], with which Walt Disney started his company, was, for a time, no longer produced at the [[Walt Disney Animation Studios]]. After a stream of financially unsuccessful traditionally animated features in the early 2000s, the two satellite studios in [[Paris, France|Paris]] and [[Orlando, Florida|Orlando]] were closed, and the main studio in [[Burbank, California|Burbank]] was converted to a computer animation production facility. In 2004, Disney released what was announced as their final "traditionally animated" feature film, ''[[Home on the Range (movie)|Home on the Range]]''. However, since the 2006 acquisition of [[Pixar]], and the resulting rise of [[John Lasseter]] to Chief Creative Officer, that position has changed, and the largely successful 2009 film ''[[The Princess and the Frog]]'' has marked Disney's return to traditional hand-drawn animation.
-===CalArts===
-[[Image:Walter Elias Disney.jpg|right|thumb|The statue "Partners" located on [[Main Street, U.S.A.]] in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]], [[Florida]].]]
-In his later years, Disney devoted substantial time towards funding [[The California Institute of the Arts]] (CalArts). It was formed in 1961 through a merger of the [[Los Angeles Conservatory of Music]] and the [[Chouinard Art Institute]], which had helped in the training of the animation staff during the 1930s. When Disney died, one-fourth of his estate went towards CalArts, which helped in building its campus. In his [[Will (law)|will]], Disney paved the way for creation of several charitable trusts which included one for the California Institute of the Arts and other for the Disney Foundation.<ref>{{cite web|title= Walt Disney's will|url= http://www.doyourownwill.com/disney.asp|accessdate=2008-01-03|publisher=Do Your Own Will}}</ref> He also donated {{convert|38|acre|km2|3|abbr=on}} of the Golden Oaks ranch in [[Valencia, California|Valencia]] for the school to be built on. CalArts moved onto the Valencia campus in 1972.
-In an early admissions bulletin, Disney explained:
-{{cquote|A hundred years ago, [[Richard Wagner|Wagner]] conceived of a perfect and all-embracing art, combining music, drama, painting, and the dance, but in his wildest imagination he had no hint what infinite possibilities were to become commonplace through the invention of recording, radio, cinema and television. There already have been geniuses combining the arts in the mass-communications media, and they have already given us powerful new art forms. The future holds bright promise for those who imaginations are trained to play on the vast orchestra of the art-in-combination. Such supermen will appear most certainly in those environments which provide contact with all the arts, but even those who devote themselves to a single phase of art will benefit from broadened horizons.<ref>{{cite book|title=Sunshine Muse: Art on the West Coast, 1945–1970|author=Plagens, Peter|page=159|year=2000|publisher=[[University of California Press]]|isbn=0520223926}}</ref>}}
-==Academy Awards==
-Walt Disney holds the records for number of Academy Award nominations (with fifty-nine) and number of awarded Oscars (twenty-six, below). Four of his Oscars were special awards, and one, his last, was granted posthumously.
-*'''1932''': Best Short Subject, Cartoons for: [[Flowers and Trees]] (1932)
-*'''1932''': Honorary Award for: creation of [[Mickey Mouse]].
-*'''1934''': Best Short Subject, Cartoons for: [[Three Little Pigs]] (1933)
-*'''1935''': Best Short Subject, Cartoons for: [[The Tortoise and the Hare]] (1934)
-*'''1936''': Best Short Subject, Cartoons for: Three Orphan Kittens (1935)
-*'''1937''': Best Short Subject, Cartoons for: The Country Cousin (1936)
-*'''1938''': Best Short Subject, Cartoons for: The Old Mill (1937)
-*'''1939''': Best Short Subject, Cartoons for: Ferdinand the Bull (1938)
-*'''1939''': Honorary Award for ''[[Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film)|Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs]]'' (1937) The citation read: ''"For [[Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film)|Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs]], recognized as a significant screen innovation which has charmed millions and pioneered a great new entertainment field"'' (the award was one statuette and seven miniature statuettes)<ref name="academyaward"/>
-*'''1940''': Best Short Subject, Cartoons for: Ugly Duckling (1939)
-*'''1941''': Honorary Award for: [[Fantasia (film)|Fantasia]] (1940), shared with: William E. Garity and J.N.A. Hawkins. The citation for the certificate of merit read: ''"For their outstanding contribution to the advancement of the use of sound in motion pictures through the production of ''Fantasia''"''<ref name="academyaward"/>
-*'''1942''': Best Short Subject, Cartoons for: Lend a Paw (1941)
-*'''1943''': Best Short Subject, Cartoons for: Der Fuehrer's Face (1942)
-*'''1949''': Best Short Subject, Two-reel for: Seal Island (1948)
-*'''1949''': [[Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award]]
-*'''1951''': Best Short Subject, Two-reel for: Beaver Valley (1950)
-*'''1952''': Best Short Subject, Two-reel for: Nature's Half Acre (1951)
-*'''1953''': Best Short Subject, Two-reel for: Water Birds (1952)
-*'''1954''': Best Documentary, Features for: The Living Desert (1953)
-*'''1954''': Best Documentary, Short Subjects for: The Alaskan Eskimo (1953)
-*'''1954''': Best Short Subject, Cartoons for: Toot Whistle Plunk and Boom (1953)
-*'''1954''': Best Short Subject, Two-reel for: Bear Country (1953)
-*'''1955''': Best Documentary, Features for: The Vanishing Prairie (1954)
-*'''1956''': Best Documentary, Short Subjects for: Men Against the Arctic
-*'''1959''': Best Short Subject, Live Action Subjects for: Grand Canyon
-*'''1969''': Best Short Subject, Cartoons for: Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day
-==Other honors==
-Walt Disney was the inaugural recipient of a star on the [[Anaheim walk of stars]]. The star was awarded in honor of Disney's significant contributions to the city of [[Anaheim, California]], specifically, [[Disneyland Park (Anaheim)|Disneyland]], which is now the [[Disneyland Resort]]. The star is located at the pedestrian entrance to the Disneyland Resort on Harbor Boulevard. Disney has two stars on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]], one for motion pictures and the other for television.
-Walt Disney received the [[Congressional Gold Medal]] on May 24, 1968 (P.L. 90-316, 82 Stat. 130–131) and the [[Légion d'Honneur]] in France in 1935.<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-21|url=http://www.bedetheque.com/auteur-6857-BD-Disney-Walt.html|title=Disney, Walt|publisher=Bedetheque|language=French}}</ref> In 1935, Walt received a special medal from the [[League of Nations]] for creation of Mickey Mouse, held to be Mickey Mouse award.<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-21|url=http://hometown.aol.com/seramary/myhomepage/movies.html|title=Minnie's Cheat Sheet to my Website|publisher=[[AOL]]}}</ref> He also received the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] on September 14, 1964.<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-21|url=http://www.medaloffreedom.com/WaltDisney.htm|title=Medal of Freedom |publisher=[[Presidential Medal of Freedom]]}}</ref> On December 6, 2006, California Governor [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]] and First Lady [[Maria Shriver]] inducted Walt Disney into the [[California Hall of Fame]] located at [[The California Museum for History, Women, and the Arts]].
-A [[minor planet]], [[4017 Disneya]], discovered in 1980 by [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] astronomer [[Lyudmila Georgievna Karachkina]], is named after him.<ref>{{cite book | last = Schmadel | first = Lutz D.|title = Dictionary of Minor Planet Names | page = 342  | year = 2003 | publisher = [[Springer Science+Business Media]] | location = New York | url = http://books.google.com/books?q=4017+Disneya | isbn=3540002383}}</ref>
-The [[Walt Disney Concert Hall]] in Los Angeles, California, opened in 2003, was named in his honor.
-Beginning in 1993, [[HBO]] began to develop a Walt Disney [[biographical film|biopic]] under the direction of [[Frank Pierson]] with [[Lawrence Turman]]. The project never materialized and was soon abandoned.<ref>{{cite news | author = David Rooney | url = http://www.variety.com/article/VR119623 | title = Disney wins Houston and Washington teaming ... | work = [[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] | date = 1994-03-03 | accessdate = 2009-03-31}}</ref>
-In the [[alternate history]] novels of [[L. Neil Smith]] focusing on the [[Republic of Texas]], Walt Disney is President of the California Alliance, also a sovereign nation alongside Texas and the [[Confederated States of America|Confederacy]].
-Disney was a National Patron of [[Delta Omicron]], an international professional music fraternity.<ref>[http://delta-omicron.org/news/archives_old.html Delta Omicron]</ref>{{Failed verification|date=April 2010}}<!--Unless he used the pseudonym "William Stone", Disney's induction is not mentioned at this external website.-->
-{{Start box}}
-{{Succession box
-| before = None
-| title = [[Mickey Mouse|Voice of Mickey Mouse]]
-| years= 1928–1947
-| after= [[Jimmy MacDonald (sound effects artist)|Jimmy MacDonald]]}}
-{{end box}}
-==See also==
-*[[Disney family]]
-*[[The Mickey Mouse Club]]
-*[[The Walt Disney Family Museum]]
-*[[Walt Disney anthology television series]]
-==Notes==
-{{reflist|2}}
-==References==
-* {{Cite book|first=Bob|last=Thomas|title=Walt Disney: An American Original|publisher=[[Hyperion (publisher)|Hyperion]]|year=1994|location=New York|isbn=0-7868-6027-8}}
-==Further reading==
-* Barrier, Michael (1999). ''Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in Its Golden Age''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-516729-5.
-* [[Michael Broggie|Broggie, Michael]] (1997, 1998, 2005). ''Walt Disney's Railroad Story''. Virginia Beach, Virginia. Donning Publishers. ISBN 1-56342-009-0
-* Eliot, Marc (1993). ''[[Walt Disney: Hollywood's Dark Prince]]''. Carol. ISBN 1-55972-174-X
-* [[Leonard Mosley|Mosley, Leonard]]. ''Disney's World: A Biography'' (1985, 2002). Chelsea, MI: Scarborough House. ISBN 0-8128-8514-7.
-* [[Neal Gabler|Gabler, Neal]]. ''Walt Disney: The Triumph of American Imagination'' (2006). New York, NY. Random House. ISBN 0-679-43822-X
-* [[Richard Schickel|Schickel, Richard]], and [[Ivan R. Dee|Dee, Ivan R.]] (1967, 1985, 1997). ''The Disney Version: The Life, Times, Art and Commerce of Walt Disney''. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, Publisher. ISBN 1-56663-158-0.
-* [[Robert B. Sherman|Sherman, Robert B.]] and [[Richard M. Sherman|Sherman, Richard M.]] (1998) "Walt's Time: From Before to Beyond" ISBN 0-9646059-3-7.
-* [[Bob Thomas (journalist)|Thomas, Bob]] (1991). ''Disney's Art of Animation: From Mickey Mouse to Beauty and the Beast''. New York: Hyperion. ISBN 1-56282-899-1
-* Watts, Steven, ''[[The Magic Kingdom: Walt Disney and the American Way of Life]]'', University of Missouri Press, 2001, ISBN 0826213790
-==External links==
-{{wikiquote}}
-*{{Inducks author|Walt+Disney|Walt Disney}}
-* {{imdb|0000370|Walt Disney}}
-* {{Tcmdb name|id=50875|name=Walt Disney}}
-*{{cite journal
-| first =
-| last =
-| authorlink =
-| coauthors =
-| year =1997
-| month =May 12
-| title =The Hollywood Blacklist
-| journal =Talk of the Nation
-| volume =
-| issue =
-| pages =
-| id =
-| url =http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1010644
-}}  Discusses Walt Disney's attitude towards unions and communism.
-* [http://disney.go.com/disneyatoz/waltdisney/ Walt Disney Family Museum]
-* [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6405745 Neal Gabler, Inside Walt Disney]
-* {{cite web |url=http://www.anaheimwalkofstars.com/index.php |title= Anaheim Walk of Stars |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070402224417/http://www.anaheimwalkofstars.com/index.php |archivedate=2007-04-02}}
-*[http://disney.go.com/disneyatoz/familymuseum/exhibits/familyfriends/robertstack/index.html Interview with Robert Stack About Walt Disney's Involvement in Polo]
-* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=284 Walt Disney Gravesite]
-*[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,35518,00.html Disney's Fantastic Voyage]
-{{Disneyland Resort}}
-{{Disney theatrical animated features}}
-{{Disney direct-to-video animated features}}
-{{Disney}}
-{{Thalberg Award}}
-{{Persondata
-|NAME        =Disney, Walter Elias
-|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
-|SHORT DESCRIPTION=Producer, director and animator
-|DATE OF BIRTH=December 5, 1901
-|PLACE OF BIRTH=Chicago, [[Illinois]], United States
-|DATE OF DEATH=December 15, 1966
-|PLACE OF DEATH=[[Los Angeles, California]], United States
-}}
-{{DEFAULTSORT:Disney, Walt}}
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