ATESTAT Walt Disney

Colegiul Naţional „Barbu Ştirbei”, Călăraşi

Lucrare de atestat

Elev: Elena Cornelia Palazu

Profesor coordonator: Preda Gratiela

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 Emmy’s, 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 Disney’s 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, Disney’s films have been made with sound tracks in 14 languages to be shown around the world. With Mickey Mouse’s 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 children’s 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 there’s 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.

III. General information 5

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: 1920–1966 Religion: Christian Spouse: Lillian Bounds (1925–1966) 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:

IV. Early life 6

Walt Disney as an infant

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 teacher’s invitation, Walt would tell his classmates stories, while illustrating on the chalk board. Later on, against his father’s permission, Walt would sneak out of the house at night to perform comical skits at local theaters. 7

Disney as an ambulance driver during World War I

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.

IV. 2. Laugh-O-Gram Studio Presented as "Newman Laugh-O-Grams", Disney's cartoons became widely popular in the Kansas City area. Through their success, Disney was able to acquire his own studio, also called Laugh-O-Gram, and hire a vast number of additional animators, including Fred Harman's brother 8

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

Walt Disney's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

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 Alice’s 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.

V. Creation of Mickey Mouse "When people laugh at Mickey Mouse, it's because he's so human; and that is the secret of his popularity. I only hope that we don't lose sight of one thing — that it was all started by a mouse." 9

Mickey in his first appearance, Steamboat Willie.

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.

V.2. Couple Mickey-Minnie Mouse

Minnie with Mickey in Mickey's Delayed Date.

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.

V. 3. First Academy Award

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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 Duck—who first teamed with Mickey in the 1934 cartoon, Orphan's Benefit—was arguably the most popular, and went on to become Disney's second most successful cartoon character of all time.

V.4. Feature films Fantasia Mickey's most famous role is in the 1940 film Fantasia. In the film Mickey appears in a segment called The Sorcerer's Apprentice. In the film's sequel Fantasia 2000 Mickey starred in the same short as well as a live action/animation scene with James Levine as the introduction of Donald and Daisy's segment.

Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas Edit Mickey appears in both of the film Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas and Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas. In the first film Mickey needs a present for Minnie and does a great job at work to get some. Mickey's plan succeeds but when he stops Pete from selling a over priced tree to a poor family his money is taken away and he is fired. Mickey then sells his harmonica in order to buy the gift, a chain for Minnie's watch. When it's time to open presents Minnie's gift was a case for Mickey's harmonica witch she used her watch to buy. The two realize their most prized possessions are each other and Christmas is saved.

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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.

Mickey, Donald and Goofy: The Three Musketeers Mickey is one the main protagonist in the animated film based off the book by the same name. Mickey is a janitor and dreams of being a musketeer. When Pete, the captain of the musketeers grant Mickey, Donald and Goofy their wish as apart of his evil plans, Mickey falls in love with the princess Minnie Mouse. All in one day Mickey, Donald and Goofy prove that they are great musketeers and Pete kidnaps each one by one. While Clarabelle Cow takes care of Goofy, Donald is left with the Beagle Boys and Mickey is left with Pete. Pete takes Mickey to his dark castle and imprisons him inside a dungeon. Mickey is soon freed by Donald, Goofy and Pluto and they set off to rescue Minnie. Mickey, Donald and Goofy battle the Beagle Boys. The battle soon leads a one on one between Mickey and Pete. The two sword fight until Pete punches Mickey across the Opera Stage. Donald and Goofy reappear and assists Mickey in fighting Pete. After Pete is defeated, Mickey becomes a Royal Musketeer and presumably marries Minnie sometime afterward.

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

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Mickey is the central character of the CGI series in which he uses brains and teamwork to solve problems. Mickey is the leader of the clubhouse gang and often going on various adventures to help and/or save his friends. Mickey was voiced by official voice actor Wayne Allwine for the first two seasons until his death. The role was then taken over by Bret Iwan. In the show Mickey and the clubhouse gang solve various problems using the viewers help. Aside from leaving on adventures and solving puzzles, Mickey and his friends also go through other problems such as stopping Goofy's Goofbot and Mickey and Pluto spending the day trying to return to solid grown after being trapped in a bubble.

V.5. Later Mickey Mouse History In his earliest cartoons Mickey was often mischievous and the cartoons sometimes used outhouse humor. As the series became more popular, Disney decided to change his best-known character into a well meaning everyman, and creating mischief was thereafter left to other characters. From 1930 until 1950, though the numbers of the comic creators that worked on Mickey increased, the most popular version (considered the "classic" version today) was that of Floyd Gottfredson, who developed Mickey's character, adopted characters from the cartoons, and created many others. Since 1950 the most popular version of Mickey has been that of Italian creator Romano Scarpa, who has further developed Gottfredson's characters and has added many of his own. Mickey's most well known supporting characters are his girlfriend, Minnie Mouse; his dog, Pluto; and his best friends, Goofy and Donald Duck and his girlfriend Daisy Duck. By his older sister Amelia Fieldmouse Mickey has two nephews, Morty and Ferdie Fieldmouse. In 1929, Disney created the original Mickey Mouse Club for fans of his character and cartoons, which later formed the basis for a popular 1950's television show (with follow-ups of the same name in the 1977 and 1989).

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Evolution of Mickey Mouse

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.

V.6. Recent popularity of Mickey Mouse On November 18, 1978, in honor of his 50th anniversary, he became the first cartoon character to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The star is located on 6925 Hollywood Blvd. Throughout the decades, Mickey Mouse competed with Warner Bros.' Bugs Bunny for animated popularity. But in 1988, in a historic moment in motion picture history, the two rivals finally shared screen time in the Robert Zemeckis film Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Only four people have regularly provided the voice for Mickey (not including theme park attractions and parades), Walt Disney from 1928 to 1947, James MacDonald from 1948 to 1983, and Wayne Allwine, from 1977 until his death in 2009. Hallmark greeting card illustrator Bret Iwan was chosen to represent the new voice of Mickey, starting with a Mickey toy. He has also done Mickey for Disney Cruise Line promotions, and he is featured in the Disney On Ice: Celebrations ice show. Mickey's most recent theatrical cartoon was 1995's short Runaway Brain, while in 2004 he appeared in the made-for-video features The Three Musketeers and the computer-animated Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas. As of 2011, Mickey is the star of Disney Channel's Disney Juinor series Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Mickey served as the Grand Marshal of the Tournament of Roses Parade on New Year's Day 2005, as part of the kickoff of the "Happiest Homecoming on Earth", celebrating Disneyland's 50th Anniversary. In 2009, Mickey has reappeared in balloon form in the famous Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, dressed as the captain of the Disney Cruise Line. In 2010, three dozen Mickey statues were used to promote the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, which was played in Anaheim, California, adorned with insignias of the teams. 16

VI."Disney's Folly":Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

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.

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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.

VI.1. The Golden Age of Animation The success of Snow White, (for which Disney received one full-size, and seven miniature Oscar statuettes) allowed Disney to build a new campus for the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, which opened for business on December 24, 1939; Snow White was not only the peak of Disney's success, but it also ushered in a period that would later be known as the Golden Age of Animation for Disney. The feature animation staff, having just completed Pinocchio, continued work on Fantasia and Bambi and the early production stages of Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan while the shorts staff continued work on the Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, and Pluto cartoon series, ending the Silly Symphonies at this time. Animator Fred Moore had redesigned Mickey Mouse in the late 1930s, when Donald Duck began to gain more popularity among theater audiences than Mickey Mouse. Pinocchio and Fantasia followed Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs into the movie theaters in 1940, but both were financial disappointments. The inexpensive Dumbo was planned as an income generator, but during production of the new film, most of the animation staff went on strike, permanently straining the relationship between Disney and his artists. Shortly after the release of Dumbo in October 1941, the United States entered World War II. The U.S. Army contracted most of the Disney studio's facilities and had the staff create training and instructional films for the military, home-front morale-boosting shorts such as Der Fuehrer's Face and the feature film Victory Through Air Power in 1943. However, the military films did not generate income, and the feature film Bambi underperformed when it was released in April 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 Encyclopædia 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.

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VI.2. Disney in the post-war period The Disney studios also created inexpensive package films, containing collections of cartoon shorts, and issued them to theaters during this period. This includes Make Mine Music (1946), Melody Time (1948), Fun and Fancy Free (1947) and The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949). The latter had only two sections: the first based on The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, and the second based on The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving. During this period, Disney also ventured into full-length dramatic films that mixed live action and animated scenes, including Song of the South and So Dear to My Heart. After the war ended, Mickey's popularity would also fade as well. By the late 1940s, the studio had recovered enough to continue production on the full-length features Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan, both of which had been shelved during the war years, and began work on Cinderella, which became Disney's most successful film since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The studio also began a series of live-action nature films, titled True-Life Adventures, in 1948 with On Seal Island. Despite rebounding success through feature films, Disney's animation shorts were no longer as popular as they used to be, and people began to instead draw attention to Warner Bros and their animation star Bugs Bunny. By 1942, Leon Schlesinger Productions, which produced the Warner Bros. cartoons, had become the country's most popular animation studio. However, while Bugs Bunny's popularity rose in the 1940s, so did Donald Duck's; Donald would also replace Mickey Mouse as Disney's star character by 1949. One of his greatest dreams was called Disneyland and became reality in 1955. After a year of construction and 17 million $ invested, the park became a truly magical kingdom of California. Despite the official opening day disaster - when 6,000 guests plunged to his own shoes in the park sidewalks, the thermometer indicates 110 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees C) and installers were on strike - the park hasn't gone bankrupt, as many mouths predicted. Over the next decade, Disneyland has crossed the threshold of 50 million visitors, including kings, queens and presidents from all over the world.

VI.3. Death of Walt Disney In October 1966, Disney was scheduled to undergo neck surgery for an old polo injury; he had played frequently at the Riveria Club in Hollywood for many years. On November 2, 1966, during pre-surgery X-rays, doctors at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center across the street from the Disney Studio discovered that Disney had an enormous tumor on his left lung. Five days later, Disney went back to the hospital for surgery for both his neck injury, as well as to have the tumor removed, but within the short time, the tumor had spread to such great extent that the surgical doctors had to remove his entire left lung. The doctors then told Disney that he only had six months to a year to live. After several chemotherapy sessions, Disney and his wife spent a short amount of time in Palm Springs, California on vacation, before returning home. On November 30, 1966, Disney collapsed in his home from a heart attack, but was revived by fire 19

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.

VII. Disney Princesses The Disney Princesses are characters that are currently featured in the Disney Princess franchise. The franchise is now comprised of ten female protagonists from ten different Walt Disney animated films who are either royal by birth, royal by marriage, or considered a "princess" due to their significant portrayal of heroism in their film. The character lineup has varied since the creation of the franchise, but Princesses Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas and Tiana have most consistently been included. A new addition, Princess Rapunzel, made her debut in Tangled on November 24, 2010. The Disney Princesses are featured in various sing-a-long video series released through The Walt Disney Company. In addition, the franchise includes dolls, miniature castles, and other toys. The princesses are also featured in the nightly “Fantastic! Nighttime Show Spectacular” in Disneyland and Disney's Hollywood Studios and beginning in 2011 at Tokyo Disney Sea in Japan. The characters themselves, despite originally appearing in separate films, have distinct similarities. The princesses show good will towards all creatures, evidenced by the common ability to commune with animals. The princesses are known for their inner and outer beauty as well as having beautiful singing voices. Each princess has a romance that is resolved by the end 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 20

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.

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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 Disney’s 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.

VIII. Disney Animation today Today, Walt Disney's animation/motion picture studios and theme parks have developed into a multi-billion dollar television, motion picture, vacation destination and media corporation that carry his name. The Walt Disney Company today owns, among other assets, five vacation resorts, eleven theme parks, two water parks, thirty-nine hotels, eight motion picture studios, six 22

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.

VIII.1. Disney Parks

Mickey as he usually appears at the Disney Parks.

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.

IX. Academy Awards In 2009, the Walt Disney Family Museum opened in the Presidio of San Francisco. Thousands of artifacts of Disney's life and career are on display, including 248 awards he received. Walt

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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.

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1934: Best Short Subject, Cartoons for: Three Little Pigs (1933)

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1935: Best Short Subject, Cartoons for: The Tortoise and the Hare (1934)

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1936: Best Short Subject, Cartoons for: Three Orphan Kittens (1935)

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1937: Best Short Subject, Cartoons for: The Country Cousin (1936)

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1938: Best Short Subject, Cartoons for: The Old Mill (1937)

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1939: Best Short Subject, Cartoons for: Ferdinand the Bull (1938)

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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

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1943: Best Short Subject, Cartoons for: Der Fuehrer's Face (1942)

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1949: Best Short Subject, Two-reel for: Seal Island (1948)

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1949: Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award (Honorary Award)

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1951: Best Short Subject, Two-reel for: Beaver Valley (1950)

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1952: Best Short Subject, Two-reel for: Nature's Half Acre (1951)

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1953: Best Short Subject, Two-reel for: Water Birds (1952)

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1954: Best Documentary, Features for: The Living Desert (1953)

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1954: Best Documentary, Short Subjects for: The Alaskan Eskimo (1953)

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1954: Best Short Subject, Cartoons for: Toot Whistle Plunk and Boom (1953)

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1954: Best Short Subject, Two-reel for: Bear Country (1953)

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1955: Best Documentary, Features for: The Vanishing Prairie (1954)

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1956: Best Documentary, Short Subjects for: Men Against the Arctic

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1959: Best Short Subject, Live Action Subjects for: Grand Canyon

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1969: Best Short Subject, Cartoons for: Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day

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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, Disney’s films have been made with sound tracks in 14 languages to be shown around the world. With Mickey Mouse’s 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 children’s 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 there’s 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

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