December 5, 2016 marks the 115th anniversary of the birth of Mr. Walt Disney, the "father of Mickey Mouse."
Today's Disney Company has long become a huge media empire, with several well-known large companies such as Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and ABC, as well as "Pirates of the Caribbean", "Avengers", "Star Wars" and other super gold-sucking big IP. It can be said that the dreams created by Disney have affected generations of children and adults around the world. And all of this began with a mouse.
<h1>Growing up: Using a paintbrush to make up for the shortcomings of childhood</h1>
Walt Disney related filmmakers (screenshot from The Cat's Eye Movie Library)
Walt Disney was born on December 5, 1901, to a poor family in Chicago, usa, to the son of Elias Disney and to Flora Call Disney, who had three older brothers and a younger sister. In 1906, the elder Disney used all his family property to buy a small farm in Marceline, northeast Kansas, and the family has since moved there, where Walt has experienced the cityscape of a small American town and formed his original worldview. He once recalled: "I have almost forgotten my childhood in Chicago, but I still remember life in Marceline. ”
Childhood was not very good for Walt, and in order to support the family, his father Elias often asked him to work with his brothers, who would be beaten if they did not behave well. Walt's two older brothers could not stand their father's tyranny and ran away from home. When Walt was 10 years old, his favorite brother Roy also ran away from home. Life at home became more and more embarrassing, and his brother's departure made him more lonely and helpless, and painting at this time was the greatest comfort in his soul. Walt didn't play, so he drew farm animals on scratch paper. The mother discovered her son's talent for painting and bought him a picture book, which Walter copied all day, and the more he painted, the better. Once, a doctor named Sherwood took a fancy to his painting and paid 5 dimes to buy it. At the age of 15, Walter thought it was possible for him to become a painter in the future.
<h1>Rush: Bumpy Entrepreneurship and The Birth of Mickey</h1>
In 1918, the United States entered World War I. After graduating from high school, Walt went to visit his brother Roy, who was training at the Oto Naval Base on the outskirts of Chicago, and under the influence of his brother, his interest in joining the army grew greatly, and he immediately decided to enlist. Since the recruiters had questions about his age, he was asked to show a birth certificate. Unable to find an accurate proof, he imitated his parents' signature and became a volunteer for the International Red Cross. After completing his military service, he returned to Chicago. He then returned to Kansas and started his business. After arriving in Kansas, he worked as a painter at Pesmen Rubin Commercial Art Studio through the introduction of his third brother Roy, but was soon fired. Then he began a tortuous entrepreneurial journey.
Walt Disney Commercial Events (Screenshot from Cat's Eye Movie Library)
Disney Brothers Studios later changed its name to "Walt Disney Studios" because Walt believed that a single name was more attractive than having the word "brother" on it. In 1928, Walt and his wife Lillian went to New York to discuss the contract for the animated film "Oswald the Lucky Rabbit" with the distributor Charles Mintz, but the other party thought that the copyright belonged to him, and he secretly signed a contract with the main animators of Disney Studios to control the entire plan. On the train back to Hollywood, he was inspired to create a cartoon character based on a mouse, Mortimer Mouse, which Lillian thought was too feminine, so he renamed it Mickey Mouse at the suggestion of his wife.
<h1>Golden Age: The Empire of Animation is on the Rise</h1>
However, the response to the first two films of the "Mickey Mouse series", "Airplane Fan" and "The Flying Gaucho", was limited. Sound cinema was just emerging, so Walt decided to use the method Patrick Bowles had developed to voice the third Mickey series, Steamboat Willie, creating the world's first sound animation. On November 18, 1928, "Steamboat Willie" premiered at the New York Diaspora Theater, and the response was unprecedented, and this day was also designated as Mickey's birthday.
Soon, Mickey Mouse became a household name for the whole people. Walt also saw its potential commercial value, he sold Mickey's use rights in a franchise manner, increased his income by collecting royalties, and then a large number of puzzles, tents, toys, umbrellas, snacks and other goods about Mickey Mouse came out, each of which was very popular, and Disney began the initial capital accumulation. Although the company was very successful in publishing and patent peripherals at this time, and animated short films one after another, in order to increase profits and expand the scale, Walter planned to shoot animated feature films.
Then in 1938, due to the popularity of the song in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Walt released the film's soundtrack, the world's first soundtrack. In 1939, Walter was awarded the Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement (Honorable Mention) for the second time, and there was a big golden man and seven small gold men.
Since then, a series of classic animations such as Pinocchio and Bambi have been released, and Disney has gradually developed greater ambitions. On July 19, 1950, Walt released Disney's first live-action film, Treasure Island. On July 17, 1955, Walt created the world's first Disney theme park, Disneyland in Anaheim, California. On August 29, 1964, Walt also released a live-action and animated combination of the film Mary Poppins starring Juliet Andrews, which was also the most accomplished Disney Oscar film in film history.
Walt spent the rest of his life working to build Disney World in Florida until his death from lung cancer on December 15, 1966. Walt's body was cremated and his ashes were buried in the forest cemetery in Glendale, a small overgrown plot of land where a small monument stood. Since all arrangements for Walt's death were not made public at the time, rumors of his body being frozen have been circulating for years.
Today, the world's sixth Disney theme park has settled in Shanghai; Disney's films have sold more than one, reaching the $6 billion mark at the global box office in 2016, becoming the unquestionable king of Hollywood's six major film companies; the values it promotes have always led the trend of the times. Thank you To Mr. Disney and this great company for creating one wonderful dream after another for us.
The above information is contributed by the Cat's Claw Regiment