The Story of Walt Disney
One of the greatest business leaders who created the global Disney empire of film studios, theme parks and consumer products didn’t start off successful. Before the great success came a number of failures. Believe it or not, Walt was fired from an early job at the Kansas City Star Newspaper because he was not creative enough! In 1922 he started his first company called “Laugh-O-Gram”. The Kansas based business would produce cartoons and short advertising films. In 1923, the business went bankrupt. He raised $15,000 for the company but eventually was forced to close Laugh-O-Gram, following the close of an important distributor partner.
Walt didn’t give up, he packed up, went to Hollywood and started The Walt Disney Company.
Desperate and out of money, Disney found his way to Hollywood and faced even more criticism and failure until finally, his first few classic films started to skyrocket in popularity.
Walt’s Childhood
When Walt was young, his family was constantly moving. He had an interrupted childhood, trying to adapt to other places. Also, because his family was not well off, Walt and his siblings were working small jobs.
His family moved from Chicago to Missouri and finally settled in Kansas City when Walt was nine years old. And due to financial difficulties, Walt and his brothers had to work. For these reasons, school life could not be Walt’s top priority.
A patriotic teenager, Walt was 16 years old. He was preparing for World War II, tried to enroll in the army but was rejected due to his age. But he had found a way to register.
He managed to change his date of birth on his application to join the Red Cross unit. From that time on, he had a personality that was not afraid of the obstacles in front of him and sought other solutions. He assisted post-war operations for the remainder of the war.
When he returned, he took a job drawing political cartoons and comics for a newspaper. But he was fired at work, being told he wasn’t creative enough. Afterwards, he embarked on a short-term entrepreneurial adventure.
Work Life
His brother Roy worked at Rubun Art Studio and was instrumental in Walt Disney’s meeting with the cartoonist Ubbe Iwerks, and the short-lived company “Iwerks-Disney Commercial Artists” was formed.
Walt Disney was full of excitement and pleasure for the business he founded. He was fascinated and immersed in this world. Shortly after, he found a borrowed camera from somewhere and created his own cartoon called “Laugh-O-Grams”.
It was a success, indeed appreciated by Kansas City. After that, he bought a studio and started creating his own animations. Although he thought it was going very well, it still didn’t happen, he went bankrupt.
As a last resort, he asked his brother Roy and his friend, the cartoonist Iwerks, to join him, and together they formed the Disney Brother Studio. Things were going well!
Ups and Down in Walt’s Life
A rabbit was created by Iwerks. Although Walt did not scratch the rabbit, it was Walt who gave the rabbit the ability to move, although it was decided that Walt was no longer needed.
Walt was devastated and decided from then on that he would only work on the characters he had drawn, for which he had the rights.
Constantly thinking about a mouse character, Walt and he made an introduction to the cartoon world history we all know. He changed the name of the mouse he called Mortimer to Mickey Mouse at his wife’s insistence.
Achievements
Walt Disney got many awards such as 5 Oscars and 31 Academy Awards in his 65-year life.
Life Lesson
“We keep moving forward, opening new doors and doing new things because our curiosity drives us on new paths. We can make all our dreams come true if we have the courage to pursue them.” Walt Disney.
“laughter is timeless, imagination is ageless, dreams are endless.” -Walt Disney
