Born in Chicago in 1901 and raised largely inMissouri, Disney developed an early interest in drawing. He took art classes as a boy and took a job as a commercial illustrator at the age of 18. He moved to California in the early 1920s and set up the Disney Brothers Studio (nowthe Walt Disney Company) with his brotherRoy. WithUb Iwerks, he developed the characterMickey Mouse in 1928, his first highly popular success; he also provided the voice for his creation in the early years. As the studio grew, he became more adventurous, introducingsynchronized sound, full-color three-stripTechnicolor,feature-length cartoons and technical developments in cameras. The results, seen in features such asSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937),Pinocchio,Fantasia (both 1940),Dumbo (1941), andBambi (1942), furthered the development of animated film. New animated andlive-action films followed after World War II, includingCinderella (1950),Sleeping Beauty (1959), andMary Poppins (1964), the last of which received five Academy Awards.
Disney was a shy, self-deprecating and insecure man in private but adopted a warm and outgoing public persona. He had high standards and high expectations of those with whom he worked. Although there have been accusations that he wasracist orantisemitic, they have been contradicted by many who knew him. Thehistoriography of Disney has taken a variety of perspectives, ranging from views of him as a purveyor ofhomely patriotic values to being a representative of Americancultural imperialism. Widely considered to be one of the most influential cultural figures of the 20th century, Disney remains an important presence in thehistory of animation and in thecultural history of the United States, where he is acknowledged as a nationalcultural icon. His film work continues to be shown and adapted, the Disney theme parks have grown in size and number around the world and his company has grown to become one of the world's largest mass media and entertainmentconglomerates.
Early life
Disney's childhood home
Disney was born on December 5, 1901, at 1249 Tripp Avenue, in Chicago'sHermosa neighborhood.[b] He was the fourth son ofElias Disney—born in theProvince of Canada, to Irish parents—and Flora (née Call), an American of German and English descent.[4][5][c] Aside from Walt, Elias and Flora's sons were Herbert, Raymond andRoy; and the couple had a fifth child, Ruth, in December 1903.[8] In 1906, when Disney was four, the family moved to a farm inMarceline, Missouri, where his uncle Robert had just purchased land. In Marceline, Disney developed his interest in drawing when he was paid to draw the horse of a retired neighborhood doctor.[9] Elias was a subscriber to theAppeal to Reason newspaper, and Disney practiced drawing by copying the front-page cartoons ofRyan Walker.[10] He also began to develop an ability to work with watercolors and crayons.[5] He lived near theAtchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway line and became enamored with trains.[11] He and his younger sister Ruth started school at the same time at the Park School in Marceline in late 1909.[12] The Disney family were active members of aCongregational church.[13] Disney later described his childhood in Marceline as one of the happiest and most formative periods of his life, and drew inspiration from the town for several of his future projects.[14][15]
In 1911, the Disneys moved toKansas City, Missouri.[16] There, Disney attended theBenton Grammar School, where he met fellow-student Walter Pfeiffer, who came from a family of theatre fans and introduced him to the world ofvaudeville and motion pictures. Before long, Disney was spending more time at the Pfeiffers' house than at home.[17] Elias had purchased a newspaper delivery route forThe Kansas City Star andKansas City Times. Disney and his brother Roy woke up at 4:30 every morning to deliver theTimes before school and repeated the round for the eveningStar after school. The schedule was exhausting, and Disney often received poor grades after falling asleep in class, but he continued his paper route for more than six years.[18] He attended Saturday courses at theKansas City Art Institute and also took acorrespondence course in cartooning.[5][19]
In 1917, Elias bought stock in a Chicago jelly producer, the O-Zell Company, and moved back to Chicago with his family.[20] Disney enrolled atMcKinley High School and became the cartoonist of the school newspaper, drawing patriotic pictures about World War I;[21][22] he also took night courses at theChicago Academy of Fine Arts.[23]
In mid-1918, he attempted to join theUnited States Army tofight the Germans, but he was rejected as too young. Afterforging the date of birth on his birth certificate, he joined theRed Cross in September 1918 as an ambulance driver. He was shipped to France but arrived in November, afterthe armistice.[24] He drew cartoons on the side of his ambulance for decoration and had some of his work published in the army newspaperStars and Stripes.[25]
Career
Early career: 1919–1928
Walt Disney's business envelope featured a self-portrait,c. 1921
He returned to Kansas City in October 1919,[26] where he worked as an apprentice artist at the Pesmen-Rubin Commercial Art Studio, where he drew commercial illustrations for advertising, theater programs and catalogs, and befriended fellow artistUb Iwerks.[27] In January 1920, as Pesmen-Rubin's revenue declined after Christmas, Disney, aged 18, and Iwerks were laid off.
They started their own business, the short-lived Iwerks-Disney Commercial Artists.[28] Failing to attract many customers, Disney and Iwerks agreed that Disney should leave temporarily to earn money at the Kansas City Film Ad Company, run by A. V. Cauger; the following month Iwerks, who was not able to run their business alone, also joined.[29] The company produced commercials using thecutout animation technique.[30] Disney became interested in animation, although he preferred drawn cartoons such asMutt and Jeff andMax Fleischer'sOut of the Inkwell. With the assistance of a borrowed book on animation and a camera, he began experimenting at home.[31][d] He came to the conclusion thatcel animation was more promising than the cutout method.[e] Unable to persuade Cauger to trycel animation at the company, Disney opened a new business with a co-worker from the Film Ad Co,Fred Harman.[33] Their main client was the local Newman Theater, and the short cartoons they produced were sold as "Newman's Laugh-O-Grams".[34] Disney studiedPaul Terry'sAesop's Fables as a model, and the first six "Laugh-O-Grams" were modernized fairy tales.[35]
In May 1921, the success of the "Laugh-O-Grams" led to the establishment ofLaugh-O-Gram Studio, for which he hired more animators, including Fred Harman's brotherHugh,Rudolf Ising and Iwerks.[36] The Laugh-O-Grams cartoons did not provide enough income to keep the company solvent, so Disney started production ofAlice's Wonderland—based onAlice's Adventures in Wonderland—which combined live action with animation; he castVirginia Davis inthe title role.[37] The result, a 12½-minute,one-reel film, was completed too late to save Laugh-O-Gram Studio, which went into bankruptcy in 1923.[38]
Disney moved to Hollywood in July 1923 at 21 years old. Although New York was the center of the cartoon industry, he was attracted to Los Angeles because his brother Roy was convalescing fromtuberculosis there,[39] and he hoped to become a live-action film director.[40] Disney's efforts to sellAlice's Wonderland were in vain until he heard from New York film distributorMargaret J. Winkler. She was losing the rights to both theOut of the Inkwell andFelix the Cat cartoons, and needed a new series. In October, they signed a contract for sixAlice comedies, with an option for two further series of six episodes each.[40][41] Disney and his brother Roy formed theDisney Brothers Studio—which later becamethe Walt Disney Company—to produce the films;[42][43] they persuaded Davis and her family to relocate toHollywood to continue production, with Davis on contract at $100 a month. In July 1924, Disney also hired Iwerks, persuading him to relocate to Hollywood from Kansas City.[44] In 1926,[45] the first official Walt Disney Studio was established at 2725 Hyperion Avenue; the building was demolished in 1940.[46]
By 1926, Winkler's role in the distribution of theAlice series had been handed over to her husband, the film producerCharles Mintz, although the relationship between him and Disney was sometimes strained.[47] The series ran until July 1927,[48] by which time Disney had begun to tire of it and wanted to move away from the mixed format to all animation.[47][49] After Mintz requested new material to distribute throughUniversal Pictures, Disney and Iwerks createdOswald the Lucky Rabbit, a character Disney wanted to be "peppy, alert, saucy and venturesome, keeping him also neat and trim".[49][50]
In February 1928, Disney hoped to negotiate a larger fee for producing theOswald series, but found Mintz wanting to reduce the payments. Mintz had also persuaded many of the artists involved to work directly for him, including Harman, Ising,Carman Maxwell andFriz Freleng. Disney also found out that Universal owned theintellectual property rights to Oswald. Mintz threatened to start his own studio and produce the series himself if Disney refused to accept the reductions. Disney declined Mintz's ultimatum and lost most of his animation staff, except Iwerks, who chose to remain with him.[51][52][f]
Creation of Mickey Mouse and following successes: 1928–1934
To replace Oswald, Disney and Iwerks developedMickey Mouse, possibly inspired by a pet mouse that Disney had adopted while working in his Laugh-O-Gram studio, although the origins of the character are unclear.[54][g] Disney's original choice of name was Mortimer Mouse, but his wifeLillian thought it too pompous, and suggested Mickey instead.[55][h] Iwerks revised Disney's provisional sketches to make the character easier to animate. Disney, who had begun to distance himself from the animation process,[57] provided Mickey's voice until 1947. In the words of one Disney employee, "Ub designed Mickey's physical appearance, but Walt gave him his soul."[58]
Mickey Mouse first appeared in May 1928 as a single test screening of the shortPlane Crazy, but it, and the second feature,The Gallopin' Gaucho, failed to find a distributor.[59] Following the 1927 sensationThe Jazz Singer, Disney used synchronized sound on the third short,Steamboat Willie, to create the first post-producedsound cartoon. After the animation was complete, Disney signed a contract with the former executive of Universal Pictures,Pat Powers, to use the "Powers Cinephone" recording system;[60] Cinephone became the new distributor for Disney's early sound cartoons, which soon became popular.[61]
To improve the quality of the music, Disney hired the professional composer and arrangerCarl Stalling, on whose suggestion theSilly Symphony series was developed, providing stories through the use of music; the first in the series,The Skeleton Dance (1929), was drawn and animated entirely by Iwerks. Also hired at this time were several artists, both local and from New York.[62] Both the Mickey Mouse andSilly Symphonies series were successful, but Disney and his brother felt they were not receiving their rightful share of profits from Powers. In 1930, Disney tried to trim costs from the process by urging Iwerks to abandon the practice of drawing every frame individually in favor of the more efficient technique of drawing key poses and letting assistantssketch the inbetween poses. Disney asked Powers for an increase in payments for the cartoons. Powers refused and signed Iwerks to work for him; Stalling resigned shortly afterwards, thinking that without Iwerks, the Disney Studio would close.[63] Disney had a nervous breakdown in October 1931—which he blamed on the machinations of Powers and his own overwork—so he and Lillian took an extended holiday to Cuba and a cruise to Panama to recover.[64]
Disney with film roll andMickey Mouse on his right arm in 1935
With the loss of Powers as distributor, Disney studios signed a contract withColumbia Pictures to distribute the Mickey Mouse cartoons, which became increasingly popular, including internationally.[65][66][i] Disney and his crew also introduced new cartoon stars likePluto in 1930,Goofy in 1932 andDonald Duck in 1934.[67] Always keen to embrace new technology and encouraged by his new contract withUnited Artists, Disney filmedFlowers and Trees (1932) in full-color three-stripTechnicolor;[68] he was also able to negotiate a deal giving him the sole right to use the three-strip process until August 31, 1935.[69] All subsequentSilly Symphony cartoons were in color.[70]Flowers and Trees was popular with audiences[71] and won the inauguralAcademy Award for bestShort Subject (Cartoon) at the1932 ceremony. Disney had been nominated for another film in that category,Mickey's Orphans, and received anHonorary Award "for the creation of Mickey Mouse".[72][73]
In 1933, Disney producedThe Three Little Pigs, a film described by the media historian Adrian Danks as "the most successful short animation of all time".[74] The film won Disney another Academy Award in the Short Subject (Cartoon) category. The film's success led to a further increase in the studio's staff, which numbered nearly 200 by the end of the year.[75] Disney realized the importance of telling emotionally gripping stories that would interest the audience,[76] and he invested in a "story department" separate from the animators, withstoryboard artists who would detail the plots of Disney's films.[77]
Golden age of animation: 1934–1941
Walt Disney introduces each of the seven dwarfs in a scene from the original 1937Snow White theatrical trailer
By 1934, Disney had become dissatisfied with producing cartoon shorts,[67] and believed a feature-length cartoon would be more profitable.[78] The studio began the four-year production ofSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs, based onthe fairy tale. When news leaked out about the project, many in the film industry predicted it would bankrupt the company; industry insiders nicknamed it "Disney's Folly".[79] The film, which was the first animated feature made in full color and sound, cost $1.5 million to produce—three times over budget.[80] To ensure the animation was as realistic as possible, Disney sent his animators on courses at theChouinard Art Institute;[81] he brought animals into the studio and hired actors so that the animators could study realistic movement.[82] To portray the changing perspective of the background as a camera moved through a scene, Disney's animators developed amultiplane camera which allowed drawings on pieces of glass to be set at various distances from the camera, creating an illusion of depth. The glass could be moved to create the impression of a camera passing through the scene. The first work created on the camera—aSilly Symphony calledThe Old Mill (1937)—won the Academy Award for Animated Short Film because of its impressive visual power. AlthoughSnow White had been largely finished by the time the multiplane camera had been completed, Disney ordered some scenes be re-drawn to use the new effects.[83]
Snow White premiered in December 1937 to high praise from critics and audiences. The film became the most successful motion picture of 1938 and by May 1939 its total gross of $6.5 million made it the most successful sound film made to that date.[79][j] Disney won another Honorary Academy Award, which consisted of one full-sized and seven miniature Oscar statuettes.[85][k] The success ofSnow White heralded one of the most productive eras for the studio; theWalt Disney Family Museum calls the following years "the 'Golden Age of Animation'".[86][87] With work onSnow White finished, the studio began producingPinocchio in early 1938 andFantasia in November of the same year. Both films were released in 1940, and neither performed well at the box office—partly because revenues from Europe had dropped following the start ofWorld War II in 1939. The studio incurred a loss on both pictures and was deeply in debt by the end of February 1941.[88]
In response to the financial crisis, Disney and his brother Roy started the company'sfirst public stock offering in 1940, and implemented heavy salary cuts. The latter measure, and Disney's sometimes high-handed and insensitive manner of dealing with staff, led toa 1941 animators' strike which lasted five weeks.[89] While a federal mediator from theNational Labor Relations Board negotiated with the two sides, Disney accepted an offer from theOffice of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs to make a goodwill trip to South America, ensuring he was absent during a resolution he knew would be unfavorable to the studio.[90][l] Due to the strike—and the financial state of the company—several animators left the studio, and Disney's relationship with other members of staff was permanently strained as a result.[93] The strike temporarily interrupted the studio's next production,Dumbo (1941), which Disney produced in a simple and inexpensive manner; the film received a positive reaction from audiences and critics alike.[94]
World War II and beyond: 1941–1950
Disney drawing Goofy for a group of girls in Argentina, 1941
Shortly after the release ofDumbo in October 1941, the U.S. entered World War II. Disney formed the Walt Disney Training Films Unit within the company to produce instruction films for the military such asFour Methods of Flush Riveting andAircraft Production Methods.[95] Disney also met withHenry Morgenthau Jr., theSecretary of the Treasury, and agreed to produce short Donald Duck cartoons to promotewar bonds.[96] Disney also produced severalpropaganda productions, including shorts such asDer Fuehrer's Face—which won an Academy Award—and the 1943 feature filmVictory Through Air Power.[97]
The military films generated only enough revenue to cover costs, and the feature filmBambi—which had been in production since 1937—underperformed on its release in August 1942, and lost $200,000 at the box office.[98] On top of the low earnings fromPinocchio andFantasia, the company had debts of $4 million with theBank of America in 1944.[99][m] At a meeting with Bank of America executives to discuss the future of the company, the bank's chairman and founder,Amadeo Giannini, told his executives, "I've been watching the Disneys' pictures quite closely because I knew we were lending them money far above the financial risk. ... They're good this year, they're good next year, and they're good the year after. ... You have to relax and give them time to market their product."[100] Disney's production of short films decreased in the late 1940s, coinciding with increasing competition in the animation market fromWarner Bros. andMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Roy Disney, for financial reasons, suggested more combined animation and live-action productions.[60][n] In 1948, Disney initiated a series of popular live-action nature films, titledTrue-Life Adventures, withSeal Island the first; the film won the Academy Award in theBest Short Subject (Two-Reel) category.[101]
Theme parks, television and other interests: 1950–1966
In early 1950, Disney producedCinderella, his studio's first animated feature in eight years. It was popular with critics and theater audiences. Costing $2.2 million to produce, it earned nearly $8 million in its first year.[102][o] Disney was less involved than he had been with previous pictures because of his involvement in his first entirely live-action feature,Treasure Island (1950), which was shot in Britain, as wasThe Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (1952).[103] Other all-live-action features followed, many of which had patriotic themes.[60][p] He continued to produce full-length animated features too, includingAlice in Wonderland (1951) andPeter Pan (1953). From the early to mid-1950s, Disney began to devote less attention to the animation department, entrusting most of its operations to his key animators, theNine Old Men,[q] although he was always present at story meetings. Instead, he started concentrating on other ventures.[104] Around the same time, Disney established his own film distribution divisionBuena Vista, replacing his most recent distributorRKO Pictures.[105]
For several years Disney had been considering building a theme park. When he visitedGriffith Park in Los Angeles with his daughters, he wanted to be in a clean, unspoiled park, where both children and their parents could have fun.[106] He visited theTivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark, and was heavily influenced by the cleanliness and layout of the park.[107] In March 1952, he received zoning permission to build a theme park in Burbank, near the Disney studios.[108] This site proved too small, and a larger plot inAnaheim, 35 miles (56 km) south of the studio, was purchased. To distance the project from the studio—which might attract the criticism of shareholders—Disney formed WED Enterprises (nowWalt Disney Imagineering) and used his own money to fund a group of designers and animators to work on the plans;[109][110] those involved became known as "Imagineers".[111] After obtaining bank funding he invited other stockholders,American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres—part ofAmerican Broadcasting Company (ABC)—andWestern Printing and Lithographing Company.[60] In mid-1954, Disney sent his Imagineers to every amusement park in the U.S. to analyze what worked and what pitfalls or problems there were in the various locations and incorporated their findings into his design.[112] Construction work started in July 1954, andDisneyland opened in July 1955; the opening ceremony was broadcast on ABC, which reached 70 million viewers.[113] The park was designed as a series of themed lands, linked by the centralMain Street, U.S.A.—a replica of the main street in his hometown of Marceline. The connected themed areas wereAdventureland,Frontierland,Fantasyland andTomorrowland. The park also contained thenarrow gaugeDisneyland Railroad that linked the lands; around the outside of the park was a highberm to separate the park from the outside world.[114][115] An editorial inThe New York Times considered that Disney had "tastefully combined some of the pleasant things of yesterday with fantasy and dreams of tomorrow".[116] Although there were early minor problems with the park, it was a success, and after a month's operation, Disneyland was receiving over 20,000 visitors a day; by the end of its first year, it attracted 3.6 million guests.[117]
The money from ABC was contingent on Disney television programs.[118] The studio had been involved in a successful television special on Christmas Day 1950 about the making ofAlice in Wonderland. Roy believed the program added millions to the box office takings. In a March 1951 letter to shareholders, he wrote that "television can be a most powerful selling aid for us, as well as a source of revenue. It will probably be on this premise that we enter television when we do".[60] In 1954, after the Disneyland funding had been agreed, ABC broadcastWalt Disney's Disneyland, an anthology consisting of animated cartoons, live-action features and other material from the studio's library. The show was successful in terms of ratings and profits, earning an audience share of over 50%.[119][r] In April 1955,Newsweek called the series an "American institution".[120] ABC was pleased with the ratings, leading to Disney's first daily television program,The Mickey Mouse Club, a variety show catering specifically to children.[121] The program was accompanied by merchandising through various companies (Western Printing, for example, had been producing coloring books and comics for over 20 years, and produced several items connected to the show).[122] One of the segments ofDisneyland consisted of the five-partminiseriesDavy Crockett which, according to Disney biographerNeal Gabler, "became an overnight sensation".[123] The show's theme song, "The Ballad of Davy Crockett", became internationally popular and ten million records were sold.[124] As a result, Disney formed his own record production and distribution entity,Disneyland Records.[125]
In 1964, Disney producedMary Poppins, based onthe book series byP. L. Travers; he had been trying to acquire the rights to the story since the 1940s.[130] It became the most successful Disney film of the 1960s, although Travers disliked the film intensely and regretted having sold the rights.[131] The same year he also became involved in plans to expand theCalifornia Institute of the Arts (colloquially called CalArts), and had an architect draw up blueprints for a new building.[132]
Disney provided four exhibits for the1964 New York World's Fair, for which he obtained funding from selected corporate sponsors. ForPepsiCo, who planned a tribute toUNICEF, Disney developedIt's a Small World, a boat ride with audio-animatronic dolls depicting children of the world;Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln contained an animatronicAbraham Lincoln giving excerpts from his speeches;Carousel of Progress promoted the importance of electricity; and Ford's Magic Skyway portrayed the progress of mankind. Elements of all four exhibits—principally concepts and technology—were re-installed in Disneyland, although It's a Small World is the ride that most closely resembles the original.[133][134]
Disney (left) with his brotherRoy O. Disney (right) and then Governor of FloridaW. Haydon Burns (center) on November 15, 1965, publicly announcing the creation of Disney World
During the early to mid-1960s, Disney developed plans for aski resort inMineral King, a glacial valley in California'sSierra Nevada. He hired experts such as the Olympic ski coach and ski-area designerWilly Schaeffler.[135][136][t] With income from Disneyland accounting for an increasing proportion of the studio's income, Disney continued to look for venues for other attractions. In 1963, he presented a project to create a theme park in downtownSt. Louis, Missouri; he initially reached an agreement with the Civic Center Redevelopment Corp, which controlled the land, but the deal later collapsed over funding.[138][139] In late 1965, he announced plans to develop another theme park to be called "Disney World" (nowWalt Disney World), a few miles southwest ofOrlando, Florida. Disney World was to include the "Magic Kingdom"—a larger and more elaborate version of Disneyland—plus golf courses and resort hotels. The heart of Disney World was to be the "Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow" (EPCOT),[140] which he described as:
an experimental prototype community of tomorrow that will take its cue from the new ideas and new technologies that are now emerging from the creative centers of American industry. It will be a community of tomorrow that will never be completed, but will always be introducing and testing and demonstrating new materials and systems. And EPCOT will always be a showcase to the world for the ingenuity and imagination of American free enterprise.[141]
The release ofThe Jungle Book andThe Happiest Millionaire in 1967 raised the total number of feature films that Disney had been involved in to 81.[21] WhenWinnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day was released in 1968, it earned Disney an Academy Award in the Short Subject (Cartoon) category, awarded posthumously.[153] After Disney's death, his studios continued to produce live-action films prolifically while the quality of their animated films was allowed to languish. In the late 1980s, this trend was reversed in whatThe New York Times describes as the "Disney Renaissance" that began withThe Little Mermaid (1989).[154] Disney's studios continue to produce successful film, television and stage entertainment.[155]
Disney's plans for the futuristic city of EPCOT did not come to fruition. After Disney's death, his brother Roy deferred his retirement to take full control of the Disney companies. He changed the focus of the project from a town to an attraction.[156] At the inauguration in 1971, Roy dedicated Walt Disney World to his brother.[157][v] Walt Disney World expanded with the opening ofEpcot Center in 1982; Walt Disney's vision of a functional city was replaced by a park more akin to a permanentworld's fair.[159] In 2009, the Walt Disney Family Museum, designed by Disney's daughter Diane and her son Walter E. D. Miller, opened in thePresidio of San Francisco.[160] Thousands of artifacts from Disney's life and career are on display, including numerous awards that he received.[161] In 2014, the Disney theme parks around the world hosted approximately 134 million visitors.[162]
Early in 1925, Disney hired an ink artist,Lillian Bounds. They married in July of that year, at her brother's house in her home town ofLewiston, Idaho.[163] The marriage was generally happy, according to Lillian, although according to Disney's biographerNeal Gabler she did not "accept Walt's decisions meekly or his status unquestionably, and she admitted that he was always telling people 'how henpecked he is'."[164][w] Lillian had little interest in films or the Hollywood social scene and she was, in the words of the historian Steven Watts, "content with household management and providing support for her husband".[165] Their marriage produced two daughters,Diane (born December 1933) and Sharon (adopted in December 1936, born six weeks previously).[166][x] Withinthe family, neither Disney nor his wife hid the fact Sharon had been adopted, although they became annoyed if people outside the family raised the point.[167] The Disneys were careful to keep their daughters out of the public eye as much as possible, particularly in the light of theLindbergh kidnapping; Disney took steps to ensure his daughters were not photographed by the press.[168]
In 1949, Disney and his family moved to a new home in theHolmby Hills district of Los Angeles. With the help of his friendsWard and Betty Kimball, who already had their ownbackyard railroad, Disney developed blueprints and immediately set to work on creating a miniaturelive steam railroad for his back yard. The name of the railroad,Carolwood Pacific Railroad, came from his home's location on Carolwood Drive. The miniature working steam locomotive was built by Disney Studios engineerRoger E. Broggie, and Disney named itLilly Belle after his wife;[169] after three years Disney ordered it into storage due to a series of accidents involving his guests.[170]
The New York Times reported in 1993 that Disney had been an FBI informant passing secret information to J. Edgar Hoover about communist activities in Hollywood.[177] However, while Walt Disney was made a "Special Agent in Charge Contact" in 1954, FBI officials claim this was largely an honorary title regularly awarded to members of a community who might be of use to the bureau.[178][179] The FBI declassified and released Walt Disney's file on their website, and revealed that much of Disney's correspondence with the bureau (via studio personnel) was in relation to the production ofeducational films; such as a certain installment of the "Career Day"newsreel segments onThe Mickey Mouse Club focusing on the bureau (which aired in January 1958), as well as an unmade 1961 educational short warning children about the dangers ofchild molestation.[178][180]
Disney's public persona was very different from his actual personality.[181] PlaywrightRobert E. Sherwood described him as "almost painfully shy ... diffident" and self-deprecating.[182] According to his biographerRichard Schickel, Disney hid his shy and insecure personality behind his public identity.[183] Kimball argues that Disney "played the role of a bashful tycoon who was embarrassed in public" and knew that he was doing so.[184] Disney acknowledged the façade and told a friend that "I'm not Walt Disney. I do a lot of things Walt Disney would not do. Walt Disney does not smoke. I smoke. Walt Disney does not drink. I drink."[185] CriticOtis Ferguson, inThe New Republic, called the private Disney: "common and everyday, not inaccessible, not in a foreign language, not suppressed or sponsored or anything. Just Disney."[184] Many of those with whom Disney worked commented that he gave his staff little encouragement due to his exceptionally high expectations. Norman recalls that when Disney said "That'll work", it was an indication of high praise.[186] Instead of direct approval, Disney gave high-performing staff financial bonuses, or recommended certain individuals to others, expecting that his praise would be passed on.[187]
Reputation
A portrait of Disney with cartoon representations of different nationalities on a 6-cent U.S. postage stamp, 1968
Views of Disney and his work have changed over the decades, and there have been polarized opinions.[188] Mark Langer, in theAmerican Dictionary of National Biography, writes that "Earlier evaluations of Disney hailed him as a patriot, folk artist, and popularizer of culture. More recently, Disney has been regarded as a paradigm ofAmerican imperialism and intolerance, as well as a debaser of culture."[60] Steven Watts wrote that some denounce Disney "as a cynical manipulator of cultural and commercial formulas",[188] whilePBS records that critics have censured his work because of its "smooth façade of sentimentality and stubborn optimism, its feel-good re-write of American history".[189]
Watts argues that many of Disney's post-World War II films "legislated a kind of culturalMarshall Plan. They nourished a genialcultural imperialism that magically overran the rest of the globe with the values, expectations, and goods of a prosperous middle-class United States."[190] Film historianJay P. Telotte acknowledges that many see Disney's studio as an "agent of manipulation and repression", although he observes that it has "labored throughout its history to link its name with notions of fun, family, and fantasy".[191] John Tomlinson, in his studyCultural Imperialism, examines the work ofAriel Dorfman andArmand Mattelart, whose 1971 bookPara leer al Pato Donald (transl.How to Read Donald Duck) identifies that there are "imperialist ... values 'concealed' behind the innocent, wholesome façade of the world of Walt Disney"; this, they argue, is a powerful tool as "it presents itself as harmless fun for consumption by children."[192] Tomlinson views their argument as flawed, as "they simplyassume that reading American comics, seeing adverts, watching pictures of the affluent ... ['Yankee'] lifestyle has a direct pedagogic effect".[193]
Politics and allegations of prejudice
Disney has been accused ofantisemitism for having given Nazi propagandistLeni Riefenstahl a tour of his studio a month afterKristallnacht.[194] Riefenstahl's invitation was solicited to Disney by painter and ballet dancerHurbert "Jay" Stowitts, a close friend of Riefenstahl, and a former colleague ofLeopold Stokowski who at the time was collaborating with Disney onFantasia.[195][196] A month later a spokesperson for Disney told theNew York Daily News: "Miss Riefenstahl got into the studio, but she crashed the gate. A Los Angeles man who is known to Disney obtained permission to take a party through the plant. Leni was in the party. If we had known it in advance she wouldn't have got in."[197] Animation historian Jim Korkis theorizes that Disney may have also met with Riefenstahl for financial reasons: as an attempt by Disney to recover over 135,000Reichsmarks owed from his German film distributor and to get the ban on Disney films lifted in Germany.[178][198] AnimatorArt Babbitt, organizer behind the1941 strike at the studio and who held a well-known grudge against Disney, claimed in his later years that he saw Disney and his lawyer attend meetings of theGerman American Bund, a pro-Nazi organization, during the late 1930s.[199] However, according to Disney biographer Neal Gabler: "...that was highly unlikely, not only because Walt had little enough time for his family, much less political meetings, but because he had no real political leanings at the time."[200] Disney's office appointment book makes no mention of him attending Bund rallies, and no other employee ever claimed he attended such meetings.[178][201]
According to Gabler, Disney wasapolitical and "something of a political naïf" during the 1930s and he had previously told one reporter – as tensions in Europe were brewing – that America should "let 'em fight their own wars" claiming he had "learned my lesson" fromWorld War I.[202][y] Gabler also noted that in late 1939, Disney was going over a scale model of a new studio to be built in Burbank, when one animator suddenly asked him how the recently begun war in Europe would affect its construction, to which Disney responded by asking, "What war?"[204] DuringWorld War II, Disney was actively involved in making propaganda films against the Nazis, both for the general public (such asDer Fuehrer's Face andEducation for Death), as well as educational and training films exclusively for theUnited States Government. As early as October 1940 (over a year before America's entry into the war), Disney began enlisting contracts from various branches of theUnited States Armed Forces to make training films,[205] and in March 1941 he held a luncheon with Government representatives formally offering his services "...for national defence industries at cost and without profit. In making this offer, I am motivated solely by a desire to help as best I can in the present emergency."[206] These training films contained highly classified information and required the highest level of security clearance to be viewed. If Disney had any previous sympathies toward Nazism, the U.S. Government would have disqualified him from making these films.[178][201]
TheWalt Disney Family Museum acknowledges that ethnic stereotypes common to films of the 1930s were included in some early cartoons[z] but also points out that Disney donated regularly to Jewish charities and was named the 1955 "Man of the Year" by theB'nai B'rith chapter in Beverly Hills.[207][208] The organization itself found no evidence of antisemitism on Disney's part. The plaque read: "For exemplifying the best tenets of American citizenship and inter-group understanding and interpreting into action the ideals of B'nai B'rith."[178] Disney had numerous Jewish employees, many of whom were in influential positions.[209] None of Disney's employees – including animatorArt Babbitt, who disliked Disney intensely – ever accused him of making antisemitic slurs or taunts.[200] Jewish story manJoe Grant, who worked closely with Disney throughout the 1930s and 1940s stated, "As far as I'm concerned, there was no evidence of antisemitism. I think the whole idea should be put to rest and buried deep. He was not antisemitic. Some of the most influential people at the studio were Jewish. It's much ado about nothing. I never once had a problem with him in that way."[178][aa] In addition songwriterRobert B. Sherman recalled that when one of Disney's lawyers made antisemitic remarks towards him and his brotherRichard, Disney defended them and fired the attorney.[210][178] Gabler, the first writer to gain unrestricted access to the Disney archives, concludes that the available evidence does not support accusations of antisemitism and that Disney largely got that reputation due to his association withMotion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals – an anti-Communist organization formed in 1944, that was rumored to have antisemitic undertones. Gabler concludes that "...though Walt himself, in my estimation, was not antisemitic, nevertheless, he willingly allied himself with people who were antisemitic, and that reputation stuck. He was never really able to expunge it throughout his life."[211] Disney distanced himself from the Motion Picture Alliance, and had no involvement with the organization after 1947.[212] According to Disney's daughterDiane Disney-Miller, her sister Sharon dated a Jewish boyfriend for a period of time, to which her father raised no objections and reportedly said, "Sharon, I think it's wonderful how these Jewish families have accepted you."[178]
Disney has also been accused of other forms of racism because some of his productions released between the 1930s and 1950s contain racially insensitive material.[213][ab] Gabler argues that "Walt Disney was no racist. He never, either publicly or privately, made disparaging remarks about blacks or asserted white superiority. Like most white Americans of his generation, however, he was racially insensitive."[213]The feature filmSong of the South was criticized by contemporary film critics, theNAACP, and others for its perpetuation ofblack stereotypes,[214] but during filming Disney became close friends with its star,James Baskett, describing him in a letter to his sister Ruth as "the best actor, I believe, to be discovered in years."[215] Disney and Baskett stayed in contact long after the film's production, with Walt sending him gifts. When Baskett was in failing health, Disney not only began financially supporting him and his family, but also campaigned successfully for anHonorary Academy Award for his performance, making Baskett the first black actor so honored.[215] Baskett died shortly afterward, and his widow wrote Disney a letter of gratitude for his support claiming he had been a "friend in deed and [we] certainly have been in need."[216][178]Floyd Norman, the studio's first black animator who worked closely with Disney during the 1950s and 1960s, said, "Not once did I observe a hint of the racist behavior Walt Disney was often accused of after his death. His treatment of people—and by this I mean all people—can only be called exemplary."[217]
Portrayals and cultural depictions
Disney has been portrayed numerous times in fictional works.H. G. Wells references Disney in his 1938 novelThe Holy Terror, in which World Dictator Rud fears that Donald Duck is meant to lampoon the dictator.[218] Disney was portrayed byLen Cariou in the 1995 made-for-TV filmA Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes: The Annette Funicello Story,[219] and byTom Hanks in the 2013 filmSaving Mr. Banks.[220] In 2001, American German-language authorPeter Stephan Jungk publishedDer König von Amerika (trans:The King of America), a fictional work of Disney's later years that re-imagines him as a power-hungry racist. The composerPhilip Glass later adapted the book into the operaThe Perfect American (2013).[221]
Several commentators have described Disney as acultural icon.[222] On Disney's death, journalism professor Ralph S. Izard comments that the values in Disney's films are those "considered valuable in American Christian society", which include "individualism, decency, ... love for our fellow man, fair play and toleration".[223] Disney's obituary inThe Times calls the films "wholesome, warm-hearted and entertaining ... of incomparable artistry and of touching beauty".[224] JournalistBosley Crowther argues that Disney's "achievement as a creator of entertainment for an almost unlimited public and as a highly ingenious merchandiser of his wares can rightly be compared to the most successful industrialists in history."[5] CorrespondentAlistair Cooke calls Disney a "folk-hero ... the Pied Piper of Hollywood",[225] while Gabler considers Disney "reshaped the culture and the American consciousness".[226] In theAmerican Dictionary of National Biography, Langer writes:
Disney remains the central figure in the history of animation. Through technological innovations and alliances with governments and corporations, he transformed a minor studio in a marginal form of communication into a multinational leisure industry giant. Despite his critics, his vision of a modern, corporate utopia as an extension of traditional American values has possibly gained greater currency in the years after his death.[60]
In December 2021, theMetropolitan Museum of Art in New York opened a three-month special exhibit in honor of Disney titled "Inspiring Walt Disney".[227]
Disney received 59 Academy Award nominations, including 22 awards: both totals are records.[228] He was nominated for threeGolden Globe Awards, but did not win, but he was presented with two Special Achievement Awards—forBambi (1942) andThe Living Desert (1953)—and theCecil B. DeMille Award.[229] He also received fourEmmy Award nominations, winning once, for Best Producer for theDisneyland television series.[230] Several of his films are included in the United StatesNational Film Registry by theLibrary of Congress as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant":Steamboat Willie,The Three Little Pigs,Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,Fantasia,Pinocchio,Bambi,Dumbo andMary Poppins.[231] In 1998, theAmerican Film Institute published a list of the 100 greatest American films, according to industry experts; the list includedSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs (at number 49), andFantasia (at 58).[232]
^In 1909, in a renumbering exercise, the property's address changed to 2156 North Tripp Avenue.[3]
^Disney was a descendant of Robert d'Isigny, a Frenchman who had traveled to England withWilliam the Conqueror in 1066.[6] The familyanglicized the d'Isigny name to "Disney" and settled in the English village now known asNorton Disney in theEast Midlands.[7]
^The book, Edwin G. Lutz'sAnimated Cartoons: How They Are Made, Their Origin and Development (1920), was the only one in the local library on the subject; the camera he borrowed from Cauger.[31]
^Cutout animation is the technique of producing cartoons by animating objects cut from paper, material or photographs and photographing them moving incrementally. Cel animation is the method of drawing or painting onto transparent celluloid sheets ("cels"), with each sheet an incremental movement on from the previous.[32]
^In 2006,the Walt Disney Company finally re-acquired Oswald the Lucky Rabbit when its subsidiaryESPN purchased rights to the character, along with other properties fromNBCUniversal.[53]
^Several stories about the origins exist. Disney's biographer,Bob Thomas, observes that "The birth of Mickey Mouse is obscured in legend, much of it created by Walt Disney himself."[54]
^The name Mortimer Mouse was used in the 1936 cartoonMickey's Rival as a potential love-interest forMinnie Mouse. He was portrayed as a "humorous denigration of the smooth city slicker" with a smart car, but failed to win over Minnie from the more homespun Mickey.[56]
^By 1931 he was called Michael Maus in Germany, Michel Souris in France, Ratón Mickey in Spain and Miki Kuchi in Japan.[65]
^$1.5 million in 1937 equates to $25.6 million in 2024; $6.5 million in 1939 equates to $115 million in 2024, according to calculations based on the USGDP deflator measure of inflation.[84]
^The citation for the award reads: "To Walt Disney for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, recognized as a significant screen innovation which has charmed millions and pioneered a great new entertainment field for the motion picture cartoon."[85]
^$2.2 million in 1950 equates to $29,000,000 in 2024; $8 million in 1950 equates to $105,000,000 in 2024, according to calculations based on theConsumer Price Index measure of inflation.[84]
^Even repeats of the program proved more popular than all other television shows—aside fromLucille Ball'sI Love Lucy; no ABC program had ever been in the top 25 beforeDisneyland.[119]
^Disney's death in 1966, and opposition from conservationists, stopped the building of the resort.[137]
^A long-standingurban legend maintains that Disney wascryonically frozen.[150] Disney's daughter Diane later stated, "There is absolutely no truth to the rumor that my father, Walt Disney, wished to be frozen."[151][152]
^Roy died two months later, in December 1971.[158]
^One possible exception to the stable relationship was during the makingSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), where the stresses and turmoil associated with the production led to the couple discussing divorce.[164]
^Lillian had two miscarriages during the eight years between marriage and the birth of Diane; she suffered a further miscarriage shortly before the family adopted Sharon.[166]
^Disney also demonstrated his political naivete in the October 1933 issue ofOverland Monthly where he stated: "Of course there must be millions of people who have a downright feeling of animosity for our M. Mouse. Mr. A. Hitler, the Nazi old thing, says that Mickey’s silly. Imagine that! Well, Mickey is going to save Mr. A Hitler from drowning or something some day. Just wait and see if he doesn’t. Then won’t Mr. A. Hitler be ashamed!"[203][178][201]
^Examples includeThe Three Little Pigs (in which the Big Bad Wolf comes to the door dressed as a Jewish peddler) andThe Opry House (in which Mickey Mouse is dressed and dances as aHasidic Jew).[207][208]
^Other Jewish employees production manager Harry Tytle, and head of merchandisingKay Kamen, who once quipped that Disney's New York office had "more Jews than The Book of Leviticus"[209]
^Examples includeMickey's Mellerdrammer, in which Mickey Mouse dresses inblackface; the black-colored bird in the shortWho Killed Cock Robin; the American Indians inPeter Pan; and the crows inDumbo (although the case has been made that the crows were sympathetic to Dumbo because they knew what it was like to be ostracized).[213]
^Mumford, David; Gordon, Bruce."The Genesis of Disneyland".The Walt Disney Family Museum. Archived fromthe original on October 28, 2008. RetrievedApril 18, 2016.
^The Two Sides of Walt Disney (Television trailer). PBS. September 10, 2015. Event occurs at 0:08–0:13. Archived fromthe original on October 24, 2015. RetrievedApril 20, 2016.
^The Two Sides of Walt Disney (Television trailer). PBS. September 10, 2015. Event occurs at 0:14–0:25. Archived fromthe original on October 24, 2015. RetrievedApril 20, 2016.
^Barrier, Michael (2003).Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation In Its Golden Age (Revised ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. p. 368.ISBN978-0-19-516729-0.
Watts, Steven (June 1995). "Walt Disney: Art and Politics in the American Century".The Journal of American History.82 (1):84–110.doi:10.2307/2081916.ISSN0021-8723.JSTOR2081916.
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