Walt Disney
by Julianna from San Diego
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It was the grand opening. With great excitement Walt Disney announced, "'To all who come to this happy place; welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past...and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams and the hard facts that have created America...with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world'" (Disney). Who would have guessed that a man that created something as simple as a mouse would start a string of dreams across the world? Being a hard worker from the start, Walter Elias Disney grew up in Marceline, Missouri, working for his father as a paperboy. After moving to Kansas City, he developed an interest in art and filmmaking which eventually lead to the creation of Mickey Mouse, one of Disney's greatest successes. From there he continued to make some of America's most classic films and theme parks before dying of lung cancer in December of 1966. A hero is someone who is selfless, disciplined, and has great perseverance. Despite numerous failures, Walt Disney never allowed himself to give up on his goals. He possessed the ability to make others happy through his artistic talents while serving as an inspiration to others to pursue their dreams. Walt Disney, the creator of some of the most iconic characters of all time, serves as a hero to many due to his strong passion, expressive creativity, and his determination to pursue dreams.
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Walt Disney is a hero because of his strong passion for his business and artistic talents. He used this passion to take on many obstacles and to motivate him to keep trying when he failed to succeed. In the early days of his career, Disney was no stranger to failure, "the popularity of his cartoons was not matched by his ability to run a profitable business. With high labour costs, the firm [Laugh-O-Gram, Disney's studio] went bankrupt. After his first failure, he decided to move to Hollywood, California which was home to the growing film industry of America. This ability to overcome adversity was a common feature of Disney's career" (Pettinger). Even after enduring a bankruptcy, Disney's passion provided him the ability to be patient and stay focused despite the odds. His resilience gave him the motivation that he needed in order to advance his career in the film industry. This demonstrates how passion can take people a long way if it is powerful enough. Eventually, Disney was finally victorious after his many downfalls, "Initial failure sent Disney to Hollywood in 1923, where in partnership with his loyal elder brother Roy, he managed to resume cartoon production. His first success came with the creation of Mickey Mouse in Steamboat Willie. Steamboat Willie was the first fully synchronized sound cartoon and featured Disney as the voice of a character." ("Walter Elias Disney"). After failure, Disney went on to create another successful cartoon and better yet, a cartoon that would go down in history. He did not do this in a day, but through trial and error. Disney's triumph shows how making mistakes is part of learning and that a hero is not one who is perfect, but is someone that puts their talents to good use in achieving their goals. Throughout his career, Walt Disney had to deal with many adversities such as bankruptcy, copyright issues, and strike actions, but that did not stop him from achieving his goals. Creativity is not only an important role played in Walt Disney's heroism, but it is also the main source he used to bring joy and imagination into the world. His creativity gave a special touch to his films, but it touched people's hearts as well, "The skill of Walt Disney was to give his cartoons believable real life characteristics. They were well drawn and captured the imagination of the audience through his pioneering use of uplifting stories and moral traits" (Pettinger). Rather than connecting with his audience in the real world by talking or singing, he used his animated characters and their stories to charm the audience while still conveying a message. Disney created a new way to communicate through animations with the use of good morals while still amusing the audience with the characters playful actions. His use of creativity demonstrates that being creative can help attain anything using different ways. To make his animations stand out on screen , "Disney introduced the multiplane camera, a machine that was able to photograph characters and settings through several planes, giving the animated cartoon a multidimensional effect" ("Walt Disney"). The multiplane camera allowed the technology for animation to progress and become more realistic. This shows that although Disney dropped out of highschool at the age of 17 ("Walter Elias Disney"), that did not mean that he could not create something brilliant. Ultimately proving that creativity and knowledge blooms in everyone and not just those of the highest intelligence. Walt Disney created films that held a special place in people's hearts. He created the multiplane camera, the first cartoon with synchronized sound, and the first animated feature length film which eventually turned into a chain of films that continue to entertain and inspire people all around the globe to this day. 
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| (faculty.wagner.edu ()) |
Walt Disney is also a hero because of his determination to pursue dreams. In addition to pursuing his dream to create films, he was determined to create an educational institution for students with artistic interests, "Disney created and endowed a new university, the California Institute of the Arts, known as Cal Arts. He thought of this as the ultimate in education for the `arts, where people in many different disciplines could work together, dream and develop, and create the mixture of arts needed for the future. Disney once commented: 'It's the principle thing I hope to leave when I move on to greener pastures. If I can help provide a place to develop the talent of the future, I think I will have accomplished something'" ("Walter Elias Disney"). Walt Disney had a dream to create an educational institution for the arts because he wanted to ensure artistic talent would continue to flourish even after his death. He inspired people to work together and create something that both the creators and viewers could appreciate. He believed that education that leaned towards special talents could have a benefit to the world. His decision to build a school for the artistic talents of the future demonstrates that Disney spent his earnings on worthy causes such as education rather than things with no real benefit to others. Disney not only created a fun environment where college students could learn and expand their creativity, but a place all ages could enjoy as well, "In the late 1940s, Walt Disney began building up plans for a massive Theme park. Walt Disney wished the Theme Park to be like nothing ever created on earth. In particular, he wished it to be a magical world for children... It was characteristic of Walt Disney that he was willing to take risks in trying something new" (Pettinger). Disney was willing to take a leap of faith so that families were able to spend time at a place where they could bond and have fun together. Once he took that risk, Disney found himself with exactly what he desired - a family friendly park that brings fantasy to reality. The way Disney imagined Disneyland illustrates how thoughtful and generous he was when spending his earnings. Instead of creating another ordinary pizza serving arcade, he built a place where the whole family could have fun rather than just children. Walt Disney always had the theme of following your dreams in both his movies and real life. Due to his strong determination to pursue his dreams, Disney became a successful businessman that made a difference in the world by creating films and places where people could dream. Though he faced countless hardships, Disney remained buoyant. With his passion, creativity, and his determination to pursue his dreams, he became a worldwide hero because following his dreams led to becoming the owner of one of the most popular and successful companies in the world. Walt Disney is not only a personal hero, but a hero to people all over the world because he inspires people to follow their dreams no matter what. His amusement parks and films, brings out the child inside while warming hearts in the process. He makes people feel emotions they did not know they could feel. He reminds us to be thankful for the ones we love. He sparks my creativity and motivates me to keep pushing forward when I am facing fears of failure. Walt Disney is a hero because he is has given inspiration and joy to people all over the world.
Works Cited
Disney, Walter. "Disneyland Opening Day Speech." Disneyland Resort. Anaheim, California. 17 July 1955. Speech.
Pettinger, Tejvan. "Biography of Walt Disney". BiographyOnline. BiographyOnline, 1 Aug. 2014. Web. 29 Jan. 2016.
"Walt Disney." Authors and Artists for Young Adults. Vol. 22. Detroit: Gale, 1997. Biography in Context. Web. 29 Jan. 2016.
"Walter Elias Disney." Encyclopedia of World Biography. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Biography in Context. Web. 29 Jan. 2016.
Page created on 2/15/2016 12:00:00 AM
Last edited 2/15/2016 12:00:00 AM
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- Walt Disney gives an opening day speech at Disneyland.
