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Walt Disney was a famous American entrepreneur, cartoonist, animator, voice actor, and film producer. He won 22 Academy Awards and received 59 nominations.
Walt Disney was born in Chicago, Illinois on December 5, 1901. When he was four years old, his family moved to a farm in Missouri. Walt enjoyed living on the farm with his three older brothers and his younger sister. He developed a passion for drawing and art at an early age.
When he was eight years old, Walt’s family moved to Kansas City. Walt continued to draw and took art classes on the weekends. At the age of ten, he discovered the world of theatre and cinema and fell in love with it.
When he was a teenager, Walt’s family moved to Chicago. Walt attended the Chicago Art Institute and drew for the school newspaper. At the age of 16, Walt decided he wanted to help fight in WWI. But he was too young to join the army. So, he left school and joined the Red Cross. He drove ambulances for the Red Cross in France for a year after the end of the conflict.
Walt returned to the US in 1919 and, in 1920, he created his own animation company in Kansas City. Although the cartoons became very popular, the business did not make enough money and Walt had to declare bankruptcy. Walt was not discouraged and, in 1923, he decided to move to Hollywood, California, where he opened a new business with his brother Roy, called Disney Brothers' Studio. They developed a character named Oswald the Lucky Rabbit which became popular very quickly. The business was a success. However, Universal Studios took control of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and took almost all of Disney's animators. Walt Disney had to start again.
Walt Disney married Lillian Bounds in 1925. They had a daughter, Diane, in 1933, and later adopted another daughter, Sharon.
In 1928 Walt Disney created the first animated film to have sound, with a new character named Mickey Mouse. The film was a great success and Disney continued to work, creating new characters such as Donald Duck, Goofy, and Pluto.
In 1932, Walt Disney decided to make a long animated film called Snow White. It took five years to complete the film which was finally released in 1937. The film was a huge box office success and became the top film of 1938. With the money from Snow White Walt Disney built a movie studio and began to produce more animated movies including Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, Bambi, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan.
During World War II, Walt Disney's movie production slowed down because he worked on training and propaganda films for the U.S. government. After the war, Disney began to produce live action films in addition to animated films. His first big live action film was Treasure Island in 1950.
In the late 1940s, Walt Disney had the idea to create an amusement park based on his movies. Disneyland opened in 1955 in California followed by Disney World in 1971 in Florida.
Walt Disney died from lung cancer on December 15, 1966, in California.
