Walt Disney
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Thinking back to early childhood – one of the things most people remember with a great fondness, is the first ever Walt Disney film that they saw at the cinema. For me, it was Jungle Book – I remember waiting for the lights to dim, the hushed whispers as the curtains opened, watching in anticipation and wonder as the story of Mowgli and friends unfolded before my eyes. But, be it one of the animated classics such as Jungle Book, Snow White or Lady and the Tramp or a live-action Disney picture, such as Mary Poppins or The Swiss Family Robinson, you were always taken to a magical place of make-believe, adventure and romance.
So, where did it all start?
Walter Elias Disney was born on the 5th of December 1901, the 4th of 5 children. His early life was spent on a family farm in Marceline, Missouri, until 1911, when his family moved to Kansas City. During his time in Kansas city, Walt and his brother Roy worked for their father on his newspaper round – the boys getting up as early as 3.30am to start work, before attending school. It was also during this period in his life that Walt began to draw.
Walt attended the McKinley High School, where he continued his drawing and contributed some sketches for the school paper. At 16, he lied about his age (by year), so that he could join the Red Cross Ambulance Corps, where he became an ambulance driver. On returning to the U.S in 1919, Walt’s goal was to become an artist.
In Kansas City, he worked for a local studio, where he met Ubbe Iwerks (“Ub”), who would become an important person, in early Disney animation productions. Alice’s Wonderland was an early success story, where animation and a real life girl were brought together – a very ambitious project at the time. As the staff increased to accommodate the success of the Alice films, one new employee, Lillian Bounds, started work there. A romance was sparked between her and Walt and they were married in July 1925.
Working together Walt and Ub Iwerks created one of their best-loved and well-known characters, Mickey Mouse. Ub was probably mostly in charge of the physical characteristics of Mickey, whereas Disney gave him the one thing that shaped the identity of cartoon characters forever – a personality. By humanising the cartoon character, he came alive to the audience, in that they could relate to what he was thinking and feeling.
The big difficulty that had to be overcome with the making of the early Mickey Mouse cartoons was that of sound. In 1927, the production of Hollywood movies changed forever. A new era of talking pictures had begun. Much time was spent on synchronizing sound with the frames of the cartoon, but all these early experiments laid the foundation for Disney animation as we know it today. Perfect synchronization to some of the most breath-taking animation ever seen.
After the success of the Mickey Mouse cartoons, Silly Symphonies and other well-loved cartoons, including Goofy and Donald Duck,Walt Disney decided on a new venture. A feature-length animated film. ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’, was truly and still is a timeless masterpiece of Disney animation. The reality and beauty of the animation, coupled with the memorable musical score and dialogue helps to create the characters, so that you actually feel the anxiety and fear as Snow White flees through the forest, or the loss at the end, when Snow White is laid in her glass coffin, presumed dead by the seven dwarfs.
Many other feature-length animated Disney films followed. Some were adapted and updated versions of book and fairy tale classics, such as Pinocchio, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan and Sleeping Beauty. Each of them, now are considered to be Disney classics in their own right, as they capture the essence of the original story, but adding a little of the Disney magic, each of them is unique, in a way that only Disney films can be. Disney also adapted stories from the famous A.A.Milne Books about well loved Winnie-the-Pooh, giving the characters of the 100 Acre wood quite a different look to the original E.H. Shepard drawings.
Walt Disney died on the 15th of December 1966, whilst Jungle book was still being made. During his life time he had seen many of his dreams become reality. Now the Disney empire grows and grows and still captivates those of all ages, be it on film or by visiting the various theme parks that bring these films to life.
Disney features have always captured the imagination of the public and the Disney studios are always working on a new feature, so that the next generation can share in this fantastical world that is Disney. But in the words of Walt Disney – “I only hope that we don't lose sight of one thing – that it was all started by a Mouse”.
Contributed by Joanne Hill
(Published on 30th Oct 2014 )
