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Walter Elias Disney Essay

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Walter Elias Disney

Disney has become a household name in American society, but most people are not aware of Walt Disney's struggles before becoming one of the twentieth century's most prominent and successful animators and film directors. Walt Disney is best know for his characters Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Pluto, Goofy, and Minnie Mouse, but his company can also be credited with achievements such as the first fully synchronized sound picture, "Steamboat Willie", the first full-color animation, "Flowers and Trees", and the first full-length animated movie, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs".

Walter Elias Disney was born on December 5, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois to Elias Disney and Flora Call. Walt was the youngest of four boys …show more content…

However, this was short-lived because he decided to join the Red Cross near the end of World War Two. He was sent to France to be an ambulance driver. For an extra fifteen francs a week, Walt painted signs for the camp that showed military and Red Cross personnel where things were located, such as an arrow over a large mug pointing towards the canteen. When he returned home, his father offered him a job at the jelly factory, but Walt had plans of moving to Kansas City and becoming a cartoonist. His father did not think much of this, which emulated Walt's distant relationship with his father. He moved in with Roy in Kansas City, who was renting a room from their older brother Herbert. Roy found Walt a job with Pesmen-Rubin Agency, and advertising agency in Kansas City, but after the busy season, Walt was let go, as was his friend Eb Iwerks, and eventually the two started the company Iwerks and Disney...Commercial Artists.

Iwerks and Disney eventually fell through, but Walt was determined to succeed, and he read as many books and magazine articles about cartooning and cinematic animation as he could get his hands on. After a while, Walt began working for the Kansas City Film Ad Company. On the side he began his own company called Laugh-O-Gram Films, Inc. During this time Walt and Iwerks did a series of seven-minute fairy tales entitled "Alice in Cartoonland," which contained a

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