Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Lucrare de atestat
Mai 2011
1
Table of Contents
2
I. Argument___________________________________________________________4 II. Introduction_________________________________________________________5 III. General information___________________________________________________6 IV. Early life____________________________________________________________7 1. Laugh-O-Gram Studio_______________________________________________9 2. Hollywood________________________________________________________ 9 V. Creation of Mickey Mouse_____________________________________________10 1. Personality_______________________________________________________11 2. Couple Mickey-Minnie Mouse_______________________________________11 3. First Academy Awards ____________________________________________13 4. Feature films ___________________________________________________13 5. Later Mickey Mouse Histor________________________________________15 6. Recent popularity of Mickey _______________________________________16 VI. "Disney's Folly":Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs_________________________17 1. The Golden Age of Animation_______________________________________18 2. Disney in the post-war period________________________________________19 3. Death of Walt Disney______________________________________________19 VII. Disney pricesses ___________________________________________________20 VIII. Disney Animation today_____________________________________________23 1. Disney Parks_____________________________________________________23 IX. Academy Awards__________________________________________________24 X. Conclusion _______________________________________________________26 XI. Bibliography______________________________________________________27
I. Argument
3
There are multiple reasons why I've decided to approach this theme. It was definitely a topic that made people lives better because Disney represents a symbol of magic, fun, happiness and optimism. I love watching Disney cartoons with my little sister and because of this I thought that it might be a good opportunity to know more about Walt Disney who brought many of our favorite fairy tales to life and therefore to find out how our favorite characters are created. Also, I was very interested in finding out about the great impact the Disney cartoons had on society. It is said that a thousand words are not worth as much as pictures or numbers, for example, over 600 animated films, 950 medals and awards, 32 Academy Awards and seven Emmys, then: the first animated sound film, the first color cartoon, the first film that combines people with comic characters. By this we summarized 43 years of Walt Disneys lives, American visionary who transformed the entertainment industry in what it is today. What would the world nowadays look like without Walt Disney? It would be too sad for us to imagine the world without his magic cartoons. In fact, we could say that it is impossible. What would our childhood look like without Mickey Mouse and his friends, wag Donald, sympathetic Pluto, or without the peerless classic animated movies like "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", "Bambi", "Dumbo", and "Pinocchio" ? There's no doubt that Disney cartoons had a great impact on all of humanity. Mickey, the mouse that everybody knows, loves, and adores was created in 1928, and appeared for the first time on screen in Steamboat Willie in November 1928. Decades ago, but still children everywhere are so familiar with this lively and lovely mouse even to this date. Therefore, Disneys films have been made with sound tracks in 14 languages to be shown around the world. With Mickey Mouses success, Walt added supporting characters like Donald Duck, Goofy, and Pluto. Mickey and his friends have made millions of children (including ourselves) smiled, giggled, and laughed. They are our friends whom have accompanied us through our childhood and will continue to do so with our children and most absolutely will accompany our childrens children as well. Such is the magnificent and powerful dream of Walt Disney coming true even long after he passed away. The dream that he once envisioned to continue growing and unending as long as theres imagination left in the world.
II. Introduction
4
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney (December 5, 1901 December 15, 1966) was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international 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 USD $35 billion. 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 some of the world's most famous fictional characters including Mickey Mouse, a character for which Disney himself was the original voice. He has been awarded four honorary Academy Awards and has won twentytwo competitive Academy Awards out of fifty-nine nominations, including a record four in one year, giving him more awards and nominations than any other individual. He also won seven Emmy Awards. He is the namesake for Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resort theme parks in the United States, as well as the international resorts Tokyo Disney, Disneyland Paris, and Disneyland Hong Kong. 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 Disney inaugurated the Magic Kingdom on October 1, 1971. Walt Disney is a legend, a folk hero of the 20th century. His worldwide popularity was based upon the ideals which his name represents: imagination, optimism, creation, and self-made success in the American tradition. Walt Disney did more to touch the hearts, minds, and emotions of millions of Americans than any other person in the past century. Through his work he brought joy, happiness, and a universal means of communication to the people of every nation. He brought us closer to the future, while telling us of the past, it is certain, that there will never be such as great a man, as Walt Disney.
Walt Disney Born: December 5, 1901, Hermosa, Chicago, Illinois, United States Died: December 15, 1966 (aged 65), Burbank, California, U.S. Interred: Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California Nationality: American Occupation: Film producer Co-founder of Walt Disney Company, formerly known as Walt Disney Productions Years active: 19201966 Religion: Christian Spouse: Lillian Bounds (19251966) Children: Diane Marie Disney, Sharon Mae Disney Parents: Elias Disney, Flora Call Disney Relatives: Herbert Arthur Disney (brother), Raymond Arnold Disney (brother), Roy Oliver Disney (brother), Ruth Flor Disney (sister), Ronald William Miller (son-in-law), Robert Borgfeldt Brown (son-in-law), Roy Edward Disney (nephew). Signature:
Walter Elias Disney was born on December 5, 1901 in Chicago Illinois, to his father, Elias Disney, an Irish-Canadian, and his mother, Flora Call Disney, who was of German-American descent. Walt was one of five children, four boys and a girl. In 1906, when Walt was four, Elias and his family moved to a farm in Marceline, Missouri, where his brother Roy had recently purchased farmland. Walt lived out most of his childhood here. Walt had a very early interest in drawing, and art. When he was seven years old, he sold small sketches, and drawings to nearby neighbors. Instead of doing his school work Walt doodled pictures of animals, and nature. His knack for creating enduring art forms took shape when he talked his sister, Ruth, into helping him paint the side of the family's house with tar. Close to the Disney family farm, there were Santa Fe Railroad tracks that crossed the countryside. Often Walt would put his ear against the tracks, to listen for approaching trains. Walt's uncle, Mike Martin, was a train engineer who worked the route between Fort Madison, Iowa, and Marceline. Walt later worked a summer job with the railroad, selling newspapers, popcorn, and sodas to travelers. In 1917, Elias acquired shares in the O-Zell jelly factory in Chicago and moved his family back there. Besides his other interests, Walt attended McKinley High School in Chicago. There, Disney divided his attention between drawing and photography, and contributing to the school paper. At night he attended the Academy of Fine Arts, to better his drawing abilities. During these "carefree years" of country living young Walt began to love, and appreciate nature and wildlife, and family and community, which were a large part of agrarian living. Though his father could be quite stern, and often there was little money, Walt was encouraged by his mother, and older brother, Roy. Even after the Disney family moved to Kansas City, Walt continued to develop and flourish in his talent for artistic drawing. Besides drawing, Walt had picked up a knack for acting and performing. At school he began to entertain his friends by imitating his silent screen hero, Charlie Chaplin. At his teachers invitation, Walt would tell his classmates stories, while illustrating on the chalk board. Later on, against his fathers permission, Walt would sneak out of the house at night to perform comical skits at local theaters.
7
During the fall of 1918, Disney attempted to enlist for military service. Rejected because he was under age, only sixteen years old at the time, Walt joined the Red Cross and was sent overseas to France, where he spent a year driving an ambulance and chauffeuring Red Cross officials. His ambulance was covered from stem to stern, not with stock camouflage, but with Disney cartoons. In 1919, Walt, hoping to find work outside the Chicago O-Zell factory, left home and moved back to Kansas City to begin his artistic career. 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, who worked at a bank in the area, got a temporary job for him at the Pesmen-Rubin Art Studio through a bank colleague. At Pesmen-Rubin, Disney created ads for newspapers, magazines, and movie theaters. It was here that he met a cartoonist named Ubbe Iwerks. 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. 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. 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. 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, and recruited a fellow co-worker at the Kansas City Film Ad Company, Fred Harman, as his first employee. 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 to screen their cartoons which they titled "Laugh-O-Grams" at his local theater.
Hugh Harman, Rudolf Ising, and his close friend Ubbe Iwerks. Unfortunately, with all his high employee salaries unable to make up for studio profits, Walt was unable to successfully manage money. As a result, the studio became loaded with debt and wound up bankrupt. Disney then set his sights on establishing a studio in the movie industry's capital city, Hollywood, California.
IV. 3. Hollywood
Disney and his brother pooled their money to set up a cartoon studio in Hollywood. Needing to find a distributor for his new Alice Comedies which he started making while in Kansas City, 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. Virginia Davis (the live-action star of Alices 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 Disney Brothers' Studio. It was located on Hyperion Avenue in the Silver Lake district, where the studio remained until 1939. In 1925, Disney hired a young woman named Lillian Bounds to ink and paint celluloid. After a brief period of dating her, the two got married the same year. Later on they would be blessed with two daughters, Diane and Sharon. 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.
Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character who has become an icon for The Walt Disney Company. Mickey Mouse was created in 1928 by Walt Disney. The anthropomorphic mouse has evolved from being simply a character in animated cartoons and comic strips to become one of the most recognizable symbols in the world. Mickey is currently the main character in the Disney Channel's Disney Junior series "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse". Mickey is the leader of The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, with help from Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, and other friendly friends of his. 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 his Laugh-O-Gram studio in Kansas City. Ub Iwerks reworked the sketches made by Disney so the character was easier to animate. However, Mickey's voice and personality was provided by Disney until 1947. In the words of a Disney employee, "Ub designed Mickey's physical appearance, but Walt gave him his soul." 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, and 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 sound called Steamboat Willie. A businessman named Pat Powers provided Disney with both distribution and Cinephone, a sound-synchronization process. Steamboat Willie became an instant success, and Plane Crazy, The Galloping Gaucho, and all future Mickey cartoons were released with soundtracks. 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.
V.1.
Personality
Mickey's personality has had one of the biggest changes in Disney history. In his first cartoon, Plane Crazy, Mickey was mischievous, rude and foolish. Walt's character was unpopular to this and was changed to a more heroic character. As a result, Mickey became heroic and comical. Mickey will save almost anyone in danger, especially Minnie Mouse, his leading lady. Mickey
10
and Minnie's relationship has had many troubles in it throughout the years, but the duo always seem to work things out. Although his personality changed, Mickey still kept his aggressive personality shown mostly in the presence of his rival, Mortimer Mouse. Mortimer was Minnie's love before Mickey and will do anything to get her back. Mickey and Mortimer both hate each other and usually battle for Minnie's affections. Mickey's popularity led to a rivalry with Donald Duck. Mickey has no clue about the rivalry and always counts Donald as one of his best friends. Mickey sees Goofy as a close friend and personal sidekick. Mickey and Goofy both have forgetful personalities which usually land the two in much trouble. Mickey's absolute best friend is his dog Pluto. Overall Mickey is an imaginative, fun, comical mouse always looking for a new magical adventure.
Mickey and Minnie debuted together in Plane Crazy, first released on May 15, 1928. Minnie is invited to join Mickey in the first flight of his aircraft. She accepts the invitation but not his request for a kiss in mid-flight. Mickey eventually forces Minnie into a kiss but this only result in her parachuting out of the plane. This first film depicted Minnie as somewhat resistant to the demanding affection of her potential boyfriend and capable of escaping his grasp. The next film featuring the couple was The Gallopin' Gaucho. It was the second of their series to be produced but only the third to be released on December 30, 1928. In it, Minnie was employed as the barmaid and dancer of Cantina Argentina, a bar and restaurant established in the pampas of Argentina. She performs the tango for Mickey the gaucho and Black Pete the outlaw. Both flirt with her but the latter intends to abduct her while the former obliges in saving the "damsel in distress" from the villain. All three characters acted as strangers first being introduced to each other. The commercial success of Steamboat Willie helped introduce Mickey and Minnie into the audience. Twelve more films featuring Mickey were produced in 1929. But Minnie only costarred in seven of them and was mentioned in an eighth. The first of them was The Barn Dance, first released on March 14, 1929. Minnie stands at the center of attention as Mickey and Pete rival each other in order to win her favor. Both offer to
11
pick her up for the dance but she chooses Pete's newly purchased automobile over Mickey's horse-cart. When the automobile breaks down she resorts to go with Mickey. The latter proves a clumsy dancing partner, repeatedly stepping on her feet, and so she turns to Pete again. She is surprised when Mickey asks for another dance and seems to be light on his feet. However she is disgusted when Pete points that his rival had placed a balloon in his shorts. She resumed dancing with Pete while Mickey is reduced to crying on the dance floor. Minnie proves to be rather demanding as a partner in a romantic relationship. Mickey obviously has yet to claim her as his girlfriend by this point. The Opry House, first released on March 28, 1929, was the first short to feature Mickey but not Minnie. A poster, however, mentions Minnie as being a member of the "Yankee Doodle Girls." This later group of female performers remained as unseen characters and were apparently shortlived. Minnie appears again in When the Cat's Away, first released on April 11, 1929. 'She is attending a party with Mickey along with several other mice. The short was unusual in the depiction of Mickey and Minnie with the size and part of the behavior common in regular mice. The set standard both before and after this short was to depict them as having the size of a rather short human being. Minnie was seen again in The Plow Boy, first released on May 9, 1929, where she is featured as a farm girl and gets Mickey to milk her cow Clarabelle for her. When Mickey presents her with a bucket full of milk and proceeds to kiss her, Minnie answers by knocking the bucket on his head. This in front of his horse Horace Horsecollar who is just making his debut. Minnie obviously was not very appreciative of Mickey's affection at the time Their attempt at farming life would prove short-lived. Their next appearance in The Karnival Kid (May 23, 1929) cast Mickey as a hot dog vendor and Minnie as a carnival "shimmy" Dancer. Minnie then appears as a fiddle player in Mickey's Choo Choo (June 26, 1929). Her next appearance was arguably more significant. Mickey's Follies (June 26, 1929), featured the first performance of the song, "Minnie's Yoo Hoo." "The guy they call little Mickey Mouse" for the first time addresses an audience to explain that he has "Got a sweetie" who is "Neither fat nor skinny" and proudly proclaims that "She's my little Minnie Mouse". Mickey then proceeds in explaining his reaction to Minnie's call. The song firmly establishes Mickey and Minnie as a couple and expresses the importance Minnie holds for her partner. The song would go on to become the theme song to their series as well as the theme to a Disney prime-time television series, The Mouse Factory.
12
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 series for supporting characters such as Donald Duck, Goofy, and Pluto; Pluto and Donald would immediately get their individual cartoons in 1937, and Goofy would get solo cartoons in 1939 as well. Of all of Mickey's partners, Donald Duckwho first teamed with Mickey in the 1934 cartoon, Orphan's Benefitwas arguably the most popular, and went on to become Disney's second most successful cartoon character of all time.
13
Mickey reappears in the sequel. In the film, Mickey and Pluto have an argument and Pluto runs away. Mickey spends the entire day trying to find him with little luck and in the end Mickey reunites with Pluto with the help of Santa Claus.
House of Mouse
Mickey is the owner of the popular night club in downtown ToonTown. Mickey strives to keep the club profitable to keep safe from Pete while making sure himself is entertaining. Like his previous series, Mickey is mischievous and often gets the club in hot water because of that such as the episode where he spent the club's rent on a large order of cheese. In Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse, Mickey and the guest are trapped inside the club on Christmas Eve. Mickey suggests they throw a Christmas bash at the club. While the guests enjoy themselves by watching cartoons and socializing, Mickey and the employees try to get Donald into the Christmas spirit. With the guidance of Jiminy Cricket, Mickey is able to shed light on Donald making it a merry Christmas for everyone. In Mickey's House of Villains, the club is taken over by the Disney Villains led by Jafar and it's up to Mickey and friends to save the day. Mickey becomes a sorcerer and battles Jafar winning back the club.
14
15
Mickey has starred in the theatrical feature film: the "Mickey and the Beanstalk" segment of Fun and Fancy Free (1947). He has also starred in two half-hour theatrical featurettes, Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983, screened in front of a re-issue of The Rescuers) (1990, screened in front of The Rescuers Down Under). Many television programs have centered around Mickey, such as the recent shows Mickey Mouse Works and House of Mouse. For many years, Mickey Mouse has served as the mascot for The Walt Disney Company, alongside Jiminy Cricket and Tinker Bell.
Walt Disney introduces each of the Seven Dwarfs in a scene from the original 1937 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. 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 that point in time. When the film industry came to know about Disney's plans to produce an animated featurelength version of Snow White, they dubbed the project "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 multi-plane camera; Disney would first use this new technique in the 1937 Silly Symphonies short The Old Mill. 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, 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. The film became the most successful motion picture of 1938 and earned over $8 million in its original theatrical release.
17
1942. Disney successfully re-issued Snow White in 1944, establishing a 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, publisher of the Encyclopedia 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.
18
department personnel, and was taken back to the hospital, where he died 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. Disney was cremated on December 17, 1966, and his ashes reside at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. Roy O. Disney continued to carry out the Florida project, insisting that the name be changed to Walt Disney World in honor of his brother. of her film; the male counterparts known as "Disney Princes". Snow White, Aurora, Ariel, Jasmine, and Rapunzel are born of royal heritage as daughters of kings and queens. Pocahontas can be considered as being of royal heritage, as she is the daughter of a chief and considered Native American royalty by the English. Cinderella, Belle, and Tiana become royalty by marriage. The final productions in which Disney had an active role were the animated features The Jungle Book and Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, and the live-action musical comedy The Happiest Millionaire, both released in 1967.
of a chief and considered Native American royalty by the English. Cinderella, Belle, and Tiana become royalty by marriage.
Snow White
The character of Snow White first originated in a Brothers Grimm fairytale about a beautiful German princess with a jealous stepmother. She was born on March 11. In 1937, Walt Disney turned this classic fairytale into his very first animated feature film. Her true love is a nameless handsome prince, who breaks her slumber kiss sealed with a kiss of true love. She befriends the seven dwarfs during her stay at their cottage. She is the youngest of the Disney princesses, being 14 years old.
Cinderella
The best-known version of Cinderella is the fairytale by Charles Perrault in 1697, which was based on an earlier version by Giambattista Basile in 1634. She was born on June 30. In 1950, it was turned into an animated feature-length film by Walt Disney. Her stepmother turned her into the family's sole servant after the passing of her father. With magical help from her Fairy Godmother, she attends the ball and meets the prince of her kingdom, and eventually marries him, thus freeing her from her life of servitude. Cinderella is one of the oldest Disney princesses, being about 16-19 years old.
Belle
French commoner who is the heroine of the 1991 animated classic Beauty and the Beast, her name is translated from the French word for "beauty". She was born on October 10. She trades her freedom for her father's with the Beast and becomes his prisoner, but she soon learns to see the good hidden behind his hideous appearance and falls in love with him over time. By confessing her love at the end of the movie, the Beast is turned back into a human along with his enchanted servants and Belle becomes his queen.
Aurora
21
Best known as the heroine of the 1959 animated classic Sleeping Beauty, she was born on November 4. She is 16 years old. Although her dress changes from blue to pink (thanks to two of her guardians, Merriweather and Flora) she is most commonly seen wearing pink. She was cursed at birth by an evil witch called Maleficent, who predicted her death on her 16th birthday. One of the three good fairies, Merryweather, softened the curse by changing her death to a deep slumber that will only be awakened by the kiss of true love. By falling in love with Prince Phillip, the prince of a neighboring kingdom, she is freed from the curse by the end of the film after the evil witch is defeated.
Pocahontas
Disneys Pocahontas is based on the real-life Native American princess. She was born on December 20. She falls in love with a man named John Smith, who helps her prevent a war from commencing between their people. At the end of the film, John is wounded and sent back to London for treatment, and so they lose contact with one another. Years later, Pocahontas travels to London as her people's representative to prevent a potential war between the English and the Native Americans. Though they succeed in stopping the conflict, Pocahontas finds her path different from John Smith's and sails back to her country with her new lover, John Rolfe.
Tiana
Tiana is the heroine of the 2009 animated film The Princess and the Frog and is the first Princess of African-American decent. She was born on August 25. She dreams of opening her own restaurant through hard work. By kissing Prince Naveen in frog form, she is turned into a frog (because the magic can only be broken by a princess) and they are forced to set on a journey to find a way to undo the magic. Eventually, she finds herself falling for the handsome, but spoiled prince and willingly sacrifices her own humanity to be with him. By marrying the prince, Tiana becomes a real princess and so breaks the spell with a kiss. They have their own restaurant at the end of the film.
record labels, eleven cable television networks, and one terrestrial television network. As of 2007, the company has annual revenue of over U.S. $35 billion. 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 and Orlando were closed, and the main studio in 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. 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.
Ever since Disneyland first opened in 1955, Mickey and the gang have been an important part of the Disney theme park experience. Today, they can be seen everyday in shows, parades, and meet-and-greet opportunities at all 11 Disney theme parks worldwide. He is the most requested character in the parks. Classic cartoons staring the beloved characters are also screened in the Main Street Cinema at Disneyland and the Town Square Exposition Hall at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom. Back in Disneyland's old Adventure Thru Inner Space, most of the molecules were shaped around Mickey heads.
23
This display case in the lobby of the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco shows many of the Academy Awards he won, including the distinctive special award at the bottom for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Walt Disney holds the records for the most number of Academy Award nominations (with fiftynine) and number of awarded Oscars (twenty-two). He has also earned four honorary Oscars. His last competitive Academy Award was posthumous.
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) The citation read: "For 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) 1940: Best Short Subject, Cartoons for: Ugly Duckling (1939) 1941: Honorary Award for: 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" 1942: Best Short Subject, Cartoons for: Lend a Paw (1941)
24
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 (Honorary 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
25
X. Conclusion
Walt Disney is a legend, a folk hero of the 20th century. His worldwide popularity was based upon the ideals which his name represents: imagination, optimism, creation, and self-made success in the American tradition. Walt Disney did more to touch the hearts, minds, and emotions of millions of Americans than any other person in the past century. Through his work he brought joy, happiness, and a universal means of communication to the people of every nation. He brought us closer to the future, while telling us of the past, it is certain, that there will never be such as great a man, as Walt Disney. Mickey, the mouse that everybody knows, loves, and adores was created in 1928, and appeared for the first time on screen in Steamboat Willie in November 1928. Decades ago, but still children everywhere are so familiar with this lively and lovely mouse even to this date. Therefore, Disneys films have been made with sound tracks in 14 languages to be shown around the world. With Mickey Mouses success, Walt added supporting characters like Donald Duck, Goofy, and Pluto. Mickey and his friends have made millions of children (including ourselves) smiled, giggled, and laughed. They are our friends whom have accompanied us through our childhood and will continue to do so with our children and most absolutely will accompany our childrens children as well. Such is the magnificent and powerful dream of Walt Disney coming true even long after he passed away. The dream that he once envisioned to continue growing and unending as long as theres imagination left in the world There's no doubt that Disney cartoons had a great impact on all of humanity. Try to imagine a world without Walt Disney. It would be too sad for us to imagine a world without his magic, creativity, and optimism. Walt Disney transformed the entertainment industry, into what we know today. In conclusion, Walt Disney, a great man using his ingenuity and creativity managed to bring a sparkle of animated joy, remaining in the hearts of children around the world even nowadays. Walt's optimism came from his unique ability to see the entire picture. His views and visions, came from the fond memory of yesteryear, and persistence for the future. Walt loved history. As a result of this, he didn't give technology to us piece by piece, he connected it to his ongoing mission of making life more enjoyable, and fun. Walt was our bridge from the past to the future. During his 43-year Hollywood career, which spanned the development of the motion picture
26
industry as a modern American art, Walter Elias Disney established himself and his innovations as a genuine part of Americana.
XI. Bibliography
1. Disney A to Z: The Official Encyclopedia, Third Edition, by Dave Smith, page 33 2. "Walt Disney, the man behind the mouse". Chicago Sun-Times 200909-27. Retrieved 2010-10-21. 3. http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/The_DisneyWiki 4. http://www.justdisney.com/walt_disney/biography/long_bio.html 5. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000370/bio 6. http://disney.go.com 7. Encyclopedia book of personalities A-Z
27
28