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Walt is born
Walt Elias Disney was born in his own home in Chicago. His father was short-tempered and stubborn but his mother was sweet and kind. Walt had 3 brothers and 1 sister. -
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Walt Disney's Life
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Moving to Missouri
When Walt was 4 years old his family moved to a farm in Missouri. He loved being there and he liked to ride his pig even though he fell in the mud. -
Going to School
Walt was 7 years old when he went to school for the first time. He did not like it because he was in the same class with his sister who was only 5 years old. Walt was an okay student. He liked to draw and make the class laugh. -
Newspaper Boy
Walt's father became sick with Typhoid so the family had to move to Kansas City. In Kansas City, Walt delivered papers on his fathers route for the Kansas City Times. Walt had a hard time paying attention in class because he would daydream, make his classmates laugh and act like Charlie Chaplin. Most importantly, Walt began to draw his first moving pictures. -
A Summer Job
At 15, Walt got a summer job working on a train that travelled between Kansas City and Spiro, Oklahoma. Walt liked the job because he was able to see more of the country and travel. -
Walt Gets a Job
The newspaper business did not bring in enough money, so Walt and his family had to move back to Chicago. Walt attended McKinley High School. After one year in school, Walt dropped out because he was bored and all he wanted to do was draw. Walt got a job at the post office in order to make money but also took night classes fine arts and bought a movie camera. -
World War I
Walt joined the US Army to fight in World War I. But, Walt was too young and had to drive the ambulance instead of fight. In his free time, Walt was able to decorate his ambulance with drawings. -
Coming Home
Walt came home from World War I and his family hardly recognized him because he had grown so much over the year. He developped a bad habit of smoking cigarettes. Walt's father wanted him to work in the Jelly Factory. But Walt went back to Kansas City to be an artist. -
Starting a Business
Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks started their own company making art for signs and ads. Soon they found jobs at the Kansas City Slide Company where he learned how to make cartoons. -
Laugh-O-Grams
Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks first cartoons were called laugh-o-grams which were silent and full of slapstick humor. The laugh-o-grams were such a success that Walt and Ub were able to get a small company to make even more cartoons. Sadly, the company went bankrupt so Walt moved to somewhere that people would rather watched movies: Hollywood. -
Hollywood
Walt packed a suitcase with his clothes and art supplies and bought a ticket for California. He was asked to make Alice in Wonderland cartoons for a woman named Margaret Winkler but Walt did not have a movie camera or any money. So, he asked his brother Roy for help. They created a business called Disney Brother Studios and, with a loan from their uncle, they began to make the Alice in Wonderland cartoons. -
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit
Ub and Walt created a new cartoon character called Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Oswald was a hit and the studio sold Oswald cartoons on a regular basis. Walt changed the name of the company from Disney Brothers to Walt Disney Studios because so many people were working to make cartoons. Then, a man named Charlie Mintz stole Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and the artists.. Walt was so upset he could not eat or sleep. The only way Walt could save the company was to create a new character...a mouse. -
Getting Married
Walt married Lillian Bounds. She worked with Walt on Oswald the Rabbit -
Mickey Mouse
Steamboat WillieWalt created a new character called Mickey Mouse. The first Mickey cartoon was Plane Crazy who flew a plane just like Charles Lindbergh. Then he decided to add sound to his cartoon with the Mickey Mouse cartoon, Steamboat Willie. It was a hit! Parents and Kids loved watching Steamboat Willie. -
Mickey Mouse Club
A theatre manager in California invited kids to watch cartoons all day in his movie theatre. This became the Mickey Mouse Club. One day, Walt visited the theatre and watched with the kids screaming for Mickey Mouse. He decided to start more clubs in more cities and states all over America. The Mickey Mouse Club made Mickey cartoons even more popular. -
New Cartoons
The Three Little PigsWalt also produced his first color cartoon called Flowers and Trees. It won an academy award. Then, he started to produce cartoons called Silly Symphonies. The first Silly Symphony was the The Three Little Pigs. These cartoons were different because they had music with them. -
A New Movie
Walt Disney's first animated film, Snow White, was produced. It was a big hit. The movie took more than a quarter of a million drawings to create an 83 minute movie. It took more than three years to make the movie. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves acheived an Academy Award and Walt ended up on the cover of Time Magazine. This success led to three more animated movies: Fantasia, Pinocchio and Bambi. -
A New Studio
Snow White made so much money that Walt and Roy Disney bought 51 acres of land to build a studio in California. After a time, many of the Disney workers went on strike because the Disney's had cut their paycheck. The strike lasted for nine weeks until Roy Disney gave into their demands and gave them their money. -
Donald Duck
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the US Army took over the studio and Disney starts making war cartoons with Donald Duck. -
Live Action Movies
The war ended and Walt got to make his own live-action movies. They were Treasure Island, Swiss Family Robinson, Song of the South and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Song of the South made lots of people angry and they did not like the others as much as Snow White. So, Walt turned to making nature movies, instead. -
Disneyland
Disneyland Official SiteDisneyland opens in Anaheim, California. People from all over the world wanted to get into Disneyland. There was a fairytale castle, many fairytale characters, they could ride on a Mark Twain riverboat, wild animals and Main Street. -
Mickey Mouse Club on TV
Mickey Mouse Club LinkThe Mickey Mouse Club was a hit on ABC tv. There was always a newsreel, a cartoon and songs and dances performed by young actors called Mouseketeers. The next television show to air was Davy Crockett. Every boy and girl wanted a coonskin hat. -
Walt's Death
Walt Disney dies of cancer from smoking cigarettes. He did not get to see the opening of Walt Disney World in Florida.
