Featured Article Summary #17

Walt Disney was an American animator, film producer, and entrepreneur who introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. He holds the record for the most Academy Awards and nominations earned by an individual. Disney's films are included in the National Film Registry and have been named some of the greatest films ever by the American Film Institute. He started in the animation industry with his character Mickey Mouse and went on to create highly successful films such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Dumbo, and Bambi. Disney expanded into the amusement park industry and opened Disneyland in 1955. He was also involved in television programs and planned the development of Disney World. Despite accusations of racism and antisemitism, Disney remains an important figure in the history of animation and is considered a national cultural icon in the United States. Walt Disney was born in Chicago and grew up in Missouri with his four brothers and one sister. While living on a farm, Disney developed an interest in drawing and began to practice using watercolors and crayons. He also became fascinated with trains. After moving to Kansas City, Disney continued to pursue his love of drawing and took art classes at the Kansas City Art Institute. He also worked delivering newspapers and attended night courses in cartooning. In 1917, his family moved back to Chicago, where Disney enrolled in high school and later joined the Red Cross as an ambulance driver during World War I. After the war, he returned to Kansas City and worked as an apprentice artist at a commercial art studio. After being laid off from Pesmen-Rubin, Disney and Iwerks started their own business but were unsuccessful. Disney left to work at the Kansas City Film Ad Company, where he became interested in animation. Unable to convince his boss to try cel animation, Disney opened a new business called Laugh-O-Gram Studio and produced "Newman's Laugh-O-Grams." The success of these cartoons led to the establishment of Laugh-O-Gram Studio, but it went bankrupt in 1923. Disney then moved to Hollywood and signed a contract with Margaret J. Winkler to produce the Alice comedies. Mintz took over the distribution of the series and eventually wanted to reduce Disney's payment. Disney declined and lost most of his animation staff, except for Iwerks. After losing Oswald, Disney and Iwerks created Mickey Mouse, inspired by a pet mouse Disney had. The first two features failed to find a distributor, but the third, Steamboat Willie, used synchronized sound and became popular. Disney also introduced new cartoon stars like Pluto, Goofy, and Donald Duck, and started using color in his films with Flowers and Trees. The success of The Three Little Pigs led to the expansion of Disney's staff and the creation of a dedicated story department. Walt Disney became dissatisfied with producing shorts and decided to create a feature-length cartoon called Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Despite industry predictions that it would bankrupt the company, the film was a huge success and marked the beginning of a golden age of animation for Disney. However, subsequent films Pinocchio and Fantasia did not do well at the box office and the company faced financial difficulties, resulting in heavy salary cuts and an animators' strike. Disney took a trip to South America to avoid the resolution of the strike and the studio's next film, Dumbo, was produced in a simple and inexpensive manner.