The Life Of Walter Elias Disney Film Studies Essay

What is the background history of Walter Disney? A. Walter Elias Disney was born on December 5, 1901 in Chicago Illinois to Elias and Flora Disney. Walt grew up in a large family having three brothers and a sister. The majority of his childhood was spent in Marceline, Missouri. At an early age his interests were in drawing and art which spanned into his teenage years and into adulthood. Walt’s first job was with a railroad by the Disney farm house where he sold newspapers, popcorn, and sodas to passengers. As he grew into his teen years Walt attended McKinley High School during the day and the Academy of Fine Arts at night. After the Disney family moved to Kansas City Walt took an interest in performing skits at local theaters against his father permission.

B. The fall of 1918 was the date when Walt was denied entry into the military being only 16 years old. After the rejection he joined the Red Cross and was sent to France for the year. Once back in the United States Walt started to experiment with animation in short films. His first short films were called The Alice Comedies which eventually lead to bankruptcy and his move to Hollywood with his brother. After moving in with his brother who helped him open up a production operation, Walt fell in love with one of his first employees. Lillian Bounds married Walt July 13, 1925 and later had two daughters, Diane and Sharon.

(Internal Summary: Review of point(s)) Walt was your average American boy who strived for the goals he wanted to achieve in his life with many bumps along his way.

(Transition) With this in mind, we now explore the contributions that Walt’s background leads him to.

II. Main Idea #2: What key contributions has Walter Disney made throughout his career?

A. In the late 1940’s Disney drew up an amusement park that he wanted families to have fun at with their children. Disneyland opened July 18, 1955 in California. As Disneyland was taking on a huge hit Walt made plans to build Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida. Walt wanted Disneyworld to be a larger version of Disneyland and contain many hotels and golf courses. He also wanted the main part of Disneyworld to be called Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, EPCOT. The first part of Disneyworld, Magic Kingdom opened October 1, 1971.

B. Walt also made it big in the television and music world too. The show Walt Disney Presents went from black and white into color changing its name to Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color. His show aired on ABC then on NBC before becoming its own channel. Walt created his own record company later down the road called Disneyland Records. His inspiration came from how great his theme song on The Ballad of Davy Crockett turned out.

(Internal Summary: Review of point(s)) Not only did Walt accomplish his dreams of building one of the most famous amusement parks known, he also developed his own television channel.

(Transition) With all Walt’s major achievements came rewards and honors.

III. Main Idea #3: What accolades has Walter Disney received in result to his contributions?

Walter Elias Disney along with his staff member’s accomplished many obstacles when it came to managing innovations and capitalizing on new opportunities. When it came to animation, Disney made movies like Fantasia, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and Bambi which were recognized for their life like animated characters and wonderful storytelling. What made Walter Disney a great a pioneer in the animation industry, was his involvement in recreating the way we view and hear animation today.

Walt’s accomplishments were rewarded indeed. According to Disney archives” Throughout Walt’s life, he and his staff were nominated sixty-nine times at the Oscars and received more than 950 honors and citations from every nation in the world including 48 Academy Awards and seven Emmys during his lifetime.’

(Internal Summary: Review of point(s)) People all over the world enjoy Walt’s work. By contributing his ideas to society he entertained us and gave life to his work in many ways. Living behind a legend that today we know as Walt Disney. He conquered his dreams and left us smiling by contributing theme parks, resorts, movies and much more. (Transition to Conclusion) A man of many talents that played a big part in his work, his biggest contribution isn’t Mickey Mouse but his love for kids to enjoy his legacy that we know as today as Disney World.

Conclusion

Restate Central Idea: The central idea is that Walter Disney fulfilled his dreams and will never be forgotten.

Summarize Main Points: Walter Disney was your average boy with huge dreams. He took every opportunity he had and used it to his greatest advantage. With failure and success from bankruptcy to riches, Walter Disney gave us what we have today in the television, in music, and in amusement parks.

III. Tie to introduction: Walter Disney filled his life with dreams and accomplishments.

IV. Creative concluding thought (end with impact): One’s imagination can change the world for ever and this time it was Walter Disney.