Walt Disney was born on this day (December 5) in 1901 in Chicago - although there is a legend that says that Disney's birthplace is Mojaka (Almeria). Walter Elias Disney, known worldwide as Walt Disney, was a cartoonist, magnate and visionary who became a symbol of 20th century North American culture. Although Disney was said to be a man full of dreams, an ambitious perfectionist, when he gave life to one of his most recognizable creations, Mickey Mouse, more than nine decades ago, he probably could not imagine the fame that his characters would achieve.
At the age of 16, he enrolled at the Art Institute in Chicago in 1917, took a drawing course and became a draftsman of "patriotic themes" during the First World War. After that success and after the war years, Disney founded its studio in Kansas and hired several animators,however, the company did not survive due to financial problems. With his brother Roy, he opened another studio in the capital of film - Los Angeles . This is where Disney's first character came into being - the happy rabbit Oswald. However, due to difficulties with brand protection and lack of budget, Disney had to start from scratch.
The rabbit was replaced by a mouse, and history was created, Mickey Mouse was born. Until 1947, Walt gave his voice to Mickey. An employee of the company said that Disney "breathed the soul" of a famous mouse. Mickey certainly retaliated with the right measure - he won many awards and, most importantly, brought him timeless fame.
During a trip to New York, Disney imagined his most famous creation, which he originally called Mortimer, but at the suggestion of his wife, he later named Mickey. Authorship of Mickey Mouse has long been the subject of debate and there are some researchers who suggest that the creator of the most famous mouse was Ab Iverks.
Mickey Mouse premiered on May 15, 1928, in the short silent animated film Plane Crazy, but the film did not arouse much interest. Thanks to the help of businessman Pat Powers, Disney made a sound film called Steamer Willie. The film was a great success, and since then all Disney films have been sound, and Disney himself gave voice to his heroes, Mickey Mouse, until 1947.
The famous characters Paja Patak, Šilja, Pluto soon appeared in a series of short musical animated films. "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is Disney's first feature-length animated film, made in 1937, followed by "Pinocchio" with varying financial success. "," Fantasy "," Dambo "," Bambi "…
In the late 1940s, American billionaire and investor Howard Hughes offered Disney an interest-free loan of one million dollars in exchange for help in the film sector. With that money, Disney launched eighteen new projects, including "Cinderella", "Alice in Wonderland", "Peter Pan".
Interestingly, the director of the FBI, Edgar Hoover, tried to "recruit" Disney, in order to become an agent and report on subversive elements in the world of celluloid. In the end, in 1940, Disney seems to have agreed to this "collaboration". The cartoonist was also associated with the Society of Independent Film Producers and the Association of Independent Producers and Filmmakers, who opposed the absolute dominance of major Hollywood studios, starring both Orson Welles and Charlie Chaplin.
Walt Disney was addicted to nicotine, but he never allowed himself to smoke in front of children. In 1966, Disney was diagnosed with cancer of the left lung, which was removed. He was active for some time after the operation, but he died on December 15, 1966. The legend of Walt Disney's cryogenization (preservation of the human body through freezing, as a possibility of healing or maintaining youth - an assumption that is often the subject of humor) has spread over the years and still a large number of people take this misinformation seriously and believe in it… 😉
I wrote, not so long ago, an article about him. We still don't know enough about that man. He made our childhood more beautiful