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Walter Disney Born
Walt Disney was born in 5 December 1901 -
The Disneys move to Marceline
The Disneys move to Marceline, MO, where Walt has an idyllic childhood on a farm and develops a strong interest in drawing. -
Farm sell
His father, Elias his health poor, has to sell the farm. -
The family moves to Kansas City
The family moves to Kansas City, MO, where Walt rises daily at 3:30 a.m. to deliver newspapers on his father’s paper route. He discovers and falls in love with vaudeville and movies. -
The family moves to Chicago
The family moves to Chicago, where Walt draws pictures for the McKinley High School newspaper and attends evening classes at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. Walt hopes to become a newspaper cartoonist. -
WWI - New career
When America joined the First World War, Walt dropped out of school and tried to enlist in the army. He was rejected for being underage, but he was later able to join in the Red Cross and in late 1918 was sent to France to drive an ambulance. -
Walt meets Ub Iwerks
Walt meets Ub Iwerks and forms IwerksRDisney Commercial Artists. The company fails after one month. Walt and Iwerks get jobs with the Kansas City Slide Company (later KC Film Ad Company) and discover animation. While keeping his day job, Walt creates Newman LaughRORgrams, which produces advertising and topical shorts and story cartoons. -
Walt incorporates Laugh gram Films
Walt incorporates Laugh gram Films, Inc. with $15,000 from backers. -
Laugh gram goes bankrupt
Laugh gram goes bankrupt. Walt moves to Hollywood to become a director. With his brother Roy, he establishes the Disney Brothers Studio when he lands a contract for the “Alice Comedies,” a series in which a young girl filmed in live action interacts with animated characters. -
Walt hires animators
Walt hires animators, including Iwerks, ceases animating, and focuses on story development and direction.
Lillian Bounds, Walt’s future wife, starts work at the Studios as an inker. -
Get married
Walt and Lillian get married. -
Walt Disney Studio Creation
Walt and Roy rename the studio Walt Disney Studios and move it to a new building on Hyperion Avenue. The birthplace of some of Disney’s greatest films, it later becomes known as the Hyperion studio. -
1927
In 1927, the Disney studio was involved in the successful production of ‘Oswald the Lucky Rabbit". -
Creation of Mickey Mouse
Walt creates Mickey Mouse. He joins the vanguard of the talking picture revolution when he produces Steamboat Willie, an innovative cartoon that synchronizes sound and animation. During the next year, Mickey becomes a national sensation. -
Exclusive use of three strip Technicolor for cartoons
In 1932, he received his first Academy Award for the Best Short Subject: Cartoons for the three colored ‘Flowers and Trees’ He also won a special Academy Award for Mickey Mouse. -
1933
In 1933, he developed his most successful cartoon of all time ‘The Three Little Pigs' with the famous song 'Whose Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf'. -
1941
In 1941, Disney also had to deal with a major strike by his writers and animators. This strike left a strong impression on Disney. He would later become a leading member of the anti-Communist organization ‘Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals. At one point, he tried to brand his labor union organizers as Communist agitators. -
1942
After the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the studio produced several other successful animations, such as ‘Pinocchio’, ‘Peter Pan’, ‘Bambi’ and ‘The Wind in the Willows’. After America’s entry into the Second World War in 1941, this ‘golden age’ of animation faded and the studio struggled as it made unprofitable propaganda films. -
1950
However, in the 1950s, Disney distanced himself from the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals. However, by associating with the organisation, he was often associated with the anti-lab our and anti-Semitic philosophy it expressed. Disney was a Republican, though was not particularly involved in politics. It is often asked whether Walt Disney was anti-Semitic. -
Walt dies
Walt Disney died of lung cancer on December 15, 1966. He had been a chain smoker all his life. An internet myth suggested Walt Disney had his body cryonically frozen, but this is untrue. It seems to have been spread by his employers, looking for one last joke at the expense of their boss.