Walt Disney : A Hero Of The Twentieth Century

“I’ve always been bored with just making money. I’ve wanted to do things, I wanted to build things, or get something going.” (LeeBron) Disney stated that when he realized that he wanted to make a difference in people’s lives. Disney never wanted to be boring or be known as the man who did not have a childhood and was always pushed around by his father. Disney wanted to be successful in life, he wanted the name ‘Walt Disney’ to be remembered, and it will be forever. Disney has achieved many important and exciting accomplishments within his life. He created “full length animated films, short films, live-action features, and television shows” (LeeBron) Disney also introduced theme parks. He created Disneyland in Anaheim, California. He also developed Epcot which stands for “Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow”, and Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida. Walt Disney was an important figure in the 1920s American History because he made a change to the world with the idea of bringing inanimate objects to life with cartoons and created all new kinds of happiness.

On December 5, 1901, one of the greatest film directors ever was born. His name is Walter Elias Disney and he had a major impact on the way movies and tv shows are today. I believe that because of his father, he became the man we know him as today. His father was a very strict, highly religious man. Walt was raised in a lower middle class family so he started from the bottom and worked his way up. For him money has always been a problem he had problems with the bank when he was first starting out. He starting working at a very young age. At the age of 14 it all started, he was a paperboy. Every since then he has had a very good work ethic, even till the week he died he was at the studio working on new projects. Walt was the person to step up

Walt Disney once said, “It’s not the magic that makes it work, it’s the work that makes the magic.” (Capodagli & Jackson, 2007). Walt Disney was truly a visionary and ethical leader that used his talents as a transformational leader and artist to dream up a world that has stood the test of time for nearly 90 years. In this paper I will explain why he was both a visionary and ethical leader. It will show that he used inspirational motivation and intellectual stimulation to further his clear and easy to follow vision, inspire his personnel, and leverage their creativity. It will also show why I believe Walt Disney fit into the traits of an ethical leader by valuing his team members and creating an environment of mutual trust and respect. Then I will tell you how I have used the same transformational leadership behaviors to lead my people, have made sure not to fall into an ethical trap and take credit for the work others do. All leaders could learn something from Walt’s visionary leadership.

Walt Disney is a house hold name to most families, he is the man who is known for creating one of the largest companies in the world (Disney). Though he almost didn’t have the chance to start this company. Starting with his love for art since he was born on 1901 in Chicago, IL. At the age of 16 Walt Disney became a Red Cross member driving an ambulance, and this is where he began drawings designs and cartoons in the ambulance. He then worked as a cartoonist in Kansas but that ended fairly quickly.

Walter Elias Disney was born on December 5, 1901, in Chicago, Illinois. His father, Elias, was a carpenter when Walt was born. Eventually, Elias and his wife, Flora, saved up enough money to start a home building company together. Walter had four siblings: Roy, Herbert, Raymond, and Ruth (Russell 9). Because Ruth was younger than Walt, Walt waited until the age of seven to start school so that he could start at the same time as Ruth. Before he went to school, his mother, Flora, taught him how to read (Russell 10). Walt grew up on the Disney family farm and worked hard on the farm. He worked at the neighbor’s farm- raising corn, wheat, barley, cows, pigs, and chickens (Giltin 18). Later, Elias grew sick, and the Disney’s had to sell the farm. They moved to Kansas City (Russell 11). Throughout Walter’s schooling, he loved to be on stage- directing, producing, and being on stage (Russell 11). Many things inspired Walt Disney’s creativity: moving, roaming, playing in the farmyard, fishing, doodling in class, and editing the school newspaper are just a few

On December 5, 1901, Elias Disney and Flora Call Disney gave birth to a man who would eventually change our world by the creation of a little mouse. Walter Elias Disney, who was also known as “Walt,” was born in a small town in Chicago, Illinois, by a father who was an Irish-Canadian descent, and his mother who was a German- English descent. Walt was one out of five children, four brothers and a sister. Their names were Herbert Arthur Disney, Raymond Arnold Disney, Roy Oliver Disney, and Ruth Flora Disney. Walt was the oldest one out of the five. While he attended school, he was introduced to Walter Pfeiffer, who decided to show Walt vaudeville and the art of making movies. Walt decided to drop out of high school, at the age of sixteen, to join the army. He was rejected to join because he was too young of age. He and a friend decided to join the Red Cross, where Walt was an ambulance driver during World War II. In 1919, Walt moved to Kansas City to begin a career in art, and worked for the newspaper, as a newspaper artist. He met Ubbe Iwerks, and he and Disney soon made their own commercial company called, “Iwerks-Disney Commercial Artists.”

Walter Elias Disney was always seen as a very imaginative and outgoing person at any point in his life. Walt loved life and would make appearances at Disneyland all the time to make sure employees were being kind and courteous to the guests while managing to talk and ride rides with children that looked up to him. Never in his life would Walt give up on something, which made him very stubborn at times, but a good businessman with the guidance of his brother, Roy. All of these traits made Walt Disney into one of the greatest entrepreneurs the world has ever seen, and some say he even helped shape the 20th century.

The history of how The Walt Disney Company came to be started from a small individual who enjoyed drawing and used art as a way to escape reality, his name was Walt Disney. After the World War 1 ended, Disney went to Kansas City where he later created an animated company that went bankruptcy. Walt Disney moved to Hollywood where he met M.J Winkler a distributor, Disney become part of her production partner. (The Walt Disney Company) In 1927 Disney created a series where the distributor copyright the main character and Disney only made a few hundred dollars, therefore Disney decide to leave and created that same series with a different name which was Mickey Mouse. Disney decided to go with his brother Roy and created Mickey Mouse films. When Disney wanted to put out Steamboat Willie many film producers did not like the film’s idea until Pat Powers decided to release the film in theaters. The film gave Disney enough money to start on other projects which later those project turn out to be such as the amusement parks, merchandise, etc. In December 15, 1966 Walt Disney died from Lung Cancer, Disney’s brother Roy made sure that Disney’s believes and philosophy about the company would still be passed on by the company 's employee. (The Walt Disney Company) The company kept going which has become of the greatest companies that are socially responsible and sustainable.

Walt Disney was born in Chicago on December 5, 1901. Because of the violence in Chicago and because it was hard to make money, in 1906 his father Elias Disney purchased forty-eight acres of farmland in Marceline, Missouri. It was northeast of Kansas city.

Along with music and art, Disney's school taught such things as theater design, cinematography, sculpture, ceramics, and fashion design(www.tudlp.org Walt Disney Biography). Although many Americans have grand dreams very few follow through with them to the extent that Disney did. While in the midst of building his school Disney said "It's the principle thing that I hope to leave when I move on to greener pastures. If I can help to provide a place to develop the talents of the future, I think I will have accomplished something(www.tudlp.org Walt Disney Biography)." His need for the advancement of education shows that Walt Disney was not a common man. It shows that he was in fact a man with the makings of an American hero.

A lot of people just know Walt Disney as the guy who made Mickey Mouse, movies, and Disney World. All of that is true but he is much more than all of that. Walt was born on December 5,1901 in Chicago, Illinois (“Walt Disney”). His parents were Elias Disney and Flora Call Disney. He had 3 brothers and a sister. His spouse was Lillian Disney. They had two girls named Diane Disney and Sharon Disney (“Walt Disney”). His family moved to Missouri, and spent most of his boyhood on a farm near Marceline in Missouri. At age 16, he studied art in Chicago. In 1920, he joined the Kansas City Film Academy (“Walt Disney”). Walt Disney is an American hero because he is ambitious, talented, and creative.

Walter Elias Disney, commonly referred to as Walt Disney, was born on December 5th, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois (Walt Disney Family Museum, 2012). His father Elias Disney was an Irish-Canadian and his mother, Flora Disney, was of German and English descent. His family settled in a village known as Norton Disney in the country of Lincolnshire at the time of birth (Disney, 2000). At the age of four, Disney and his family moved to a farm in Marceline, Missouri, which is where he developed his love for drawing. At the time he paid a retired Doctor by the name of “Doc” Sherwood to produce images of his horse, Rupert. Later on his interest grew to train development in

2. At age 22, Walt experienced bankruptcy after the failure of a cartoon series in Kansas City. He headed to Los Angeles with $40 in cash, and an imitation-leather suitcase containing only a shirt, two undershorts, two pairs of socks and some drawing materials. Feeling that others did animation better, his goal was to be an actor out in Hollywood. It never occurred.

Walt took classes at the Chicago Art Institute three nights a week. When summer finally rolled along, Walt worked for his father at the post office. Of course, even when working, Walt made drawings.When school started back up again, Walt was seventeen years old. He dropped out of school then to try and fight in the war. He got denied to fight because he was too young. So Walt lied about his age, and he got a job as an ambulance driver for the American Red Cross. The Red Cross sent him to work in France, and of course in his free time, Walt drew cartoons. When he came back he didn’t want to work for his dad again, “I want to be an artist.”(Walt Disney) So he moved to Missouri, and when he finally found a job, it only lasted for six months. During those six months, Walt met a man named Ubbe Iwerks. The two men decided to go into business together. They wanted to make animations, or pictures that move. To make money to help make the animations, Walt and Ub made short films, which were about a minute long. Their first production was, “The Alice Comedies.” Walt wanted to make loner movies though which were about seven minutes long. He longed to make fairy tales. Walt and Ub finally came out with the production of Little Red Riding Hood. It took six months. Both men quit their day jobs, and opened a company called Laugh-O-Gram

“When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionable.”