Devon James is a screen and media writer determined to provide readers with engaging and informative content. His film industry background gives him an adept knowledge in the entertainment industry. This complies with The Hollywood Insider’smission to educate readers. Devon likes seeing hidden voices in film that provide new cultural perspectives. He enjoys the conversations cinema creates; hoping through his writing to open up topics for discussion.
Sep 12, 2024
Table of Contents
One of the greatest visionaries of the 20th Century; Walt Disney ushered his empire to heights that no other entity has been able to reach. His accomplishments exceed that of any normal man and while he had his dated flaws, he was always looking at ways to be different and to exceed.
As an animator, film producer, and entrepreneur, Disney created some of the most memorable films and characters in existence. The world knows his name and he is responsible for developing the medium that we all use to grow up watching on Saturday mornings.
Taking you through key parts of his life and the ideologies that created one of the largest empires in current history. Although some of his ethics seem out of place, he came from an era when much of the things we consider now were not thought about then. His nationalistic views and capitalist tendencies were some of the things that paradoxically left him just as much in infamy as it did in notoriety.
Developing Disney
Walter Elias Disney was born on December 5th, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois; with four brothers and one sister. He grew up in an Irish-Catholic household with strict views and morals. When he was four, he moved to a farm in Missouri. Walt loved to draw and would practice by drawing front page cartoons. He set on becoming a newspaper cartoonist, but didn’t realize how far he would later take it.
At the age of sixteen, Disney dropped out of high school because he wanted to join the army. He was too young so instead, he went to physical labor. He eventually got accepted into the army, but only went to Paris after the armistice. When Disney returned home, he worked through the gamut of jobs. Walt was eager and known for not wanting to wait. He always seemed to believe he could do it all. This was on display when he came home from the first World War and quickly convinced Ub Iwerks, a local animator, to go into business with him. Together, they created commercial advertisements and Disney found his love for the new invention of rudimentary animation.
Disney did not dabble. He would perseverate on something until he had it and everything he went into had intensity. He worked hard and his ambition shined through, as he studied and built his way up. In the garage of his family home, Walt worked his way up the ladder. He started the Laugh O- Gram Studio which didn’t pay much but gave him attention. He garnered respect in the industry by being able to hire cartoonists to create his comic, by advertising, and through his animated motion picture cartoons.
At the time, Walt lived upstairs with his brother’s family. Walt’s brother Roy was diagnosed with Tuberculosis, thus relocating Roy to California for better weather. Walt was left alone, fervently working even when not making money. After the demise of his first animation studio, he packed up his things to go live with his brother in California. He carried the lessons he learned from Kansas City with him to “take advantage of opportunities and take the hard knocks with the good breaks,” he would later go on to say.
At just 21, Disney moved to Hollywood. Quiet and destitute in his studio late at night during the Depression, Disney saw a little mouse poke out of the hole in the wall. This prompted him to create the character Oswald, later to become Mickey Mouse. The emergence of the mouse made him a success! People would watch the cartoons before a film or sometimes strung together as a series in different cities.
Walt’s drive matched his work ethic. He worked hard and couldn’t understand why someone else wouldn’t want to work as hard. He grew up with American Exceptionalism where hard work meant the success of one’s fortunes. He made his staff work hard, and the benefits would show.
In the early years of Walt Disney Studios, the focus was mainly on the shorts of Mickey and his pals. Disney’s success happened when the animated feature ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ was released. Never before had a full length animated film been done before. His hard work and dedication built him to win an Academy Award and allowed for the rest of his empire to take off.
Now that a new precedent had been set he could only dream bigger. Feature length was the standard now and Disney had to back it up. With more workers they were able to create remembered films like ‘Pinocchio,’‘Fantasia,’ ‘Bambi,’ and ‘Dumbo.’
Disney would experience some tumultuous days early on as well. The workers at the studio became unhappy with their working conditions. In 1941, his workers went on strike, leaving Disney fuming. As hard of a worker as Disney was, he expected everyone to work as hard as him – which meant to never stop. Unorganized pay distributions and privileges led to the firing of almost half the company, many animators. Eventually forced to recognize the unionized structure Screen Cartoonist Guild; Disney would always have a sour taste when reflecting on that time.
The Disney Empire
Disney would go on to become more than just an animator. He was a film producer and an entrepreneur as well. His creativity brought him to think ethically about the future. He created theme parks that amass millions of visitors every year from all over the world. His appetite never let up as he was always hungry for possibility.
In part, one of his best abilities was being able to market his material. He created something that was scary and exhilarating to children and for adults it was still fun, not to mention the new technology making the appeal greater. He marketed himself into a figure that was a persona of someone better than himself. He often would say he could never really be the true “Disney.”
During the sixties when a huge cultural shift was taking place, it really started to show how outdated some of his movies were becoming. At that moment, more than any other, would Walt’s ideologies really start to become out of favor with the American public. His views countered the youth culture and the place where they used to fit in no longer was the reality.
His personal beliefs slipped into his work through films such as ‘Pollyanna’ and ‘The Happiest Millionaire.’ While some faithfuls may disagree, these films never did well, and only showed off Disney’s views in a less than flattering light. It makes sense that he would either consciously or subconsciously display it into his work, although as he was getting older and his audiences grew, he had to incorporate what was popular. This gave way to films like ‘Mary Poppins’ which came out two years prior to his death on December 15th, 1966.
After Walt
Walt’s legacy continues to live on as the company is now worth over two hundred billion dollars and owns seven other companies. They are a huge presence in modern media and have a hand in most of the content that is put out today from cable television to film and themed experience.
The company has sought to become more inclusive and diverse. Their Renaissance films started a new brigade of people in charge. They ushered in films like ‘Aladdin,’‘Lion King,’ and ‘Tarzan.’ While some of the films still have outdated beliefs and discussions of appropriation are relevant, they were attempting to make changes. Walt went through the trials and tribulations that life throws at you. Always rebounding was one of his strong suits.
Thrusting animation technology forward, he created a new artform for all to enjoy. The business models and tactics can still be seen in use today with large Superhero Franchise films that succeed greatly today. The stories he told range in so many capacities they feel universal to us all! Walt may have passed but many of the principles he followed continue to make him one of the most inimitable figures in business and entertainment.
By Devon James
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I am sure I am speaking for a multitude of Cinema lovers all over the world when I speak of the following sentiments that this medium of art has blessed me with. Cinema taught me about our world, at times in English and at times through the beautiful one-inch bar of subtitles. I learned from the stories in the global movies that we are all alike across all borders. Remember that one of the best symbols of many great civilizations and their prosperity has been the art they have left behind. This art can be in the form of paintings, sculptures, architecture, writings, inventions, etc. For our modern society, Cinema happens to be one of them. Cinema is more than just a form of entertainment, it is an integral part of society. I love the world uniting, be it for Cinema, TV, media, art, fashion, sport, etc. Please keep this going full speed.”
Devon James is a screen and media writer determined to provide readers with engaging and informative content. His film industry background gives him an adept knowledge in the entertainment industry. This complies with The Hollywood Insider'smission to educate readers. Devon likes seeing hidden voices in film that provide new cultural perspectives. He enjoys the conversations cinema creates; hoping through his writing to open up topics for discussion.
Devon James is a screen and media writer determined to provide readers with engaging and informative content. His film industry background gives him an adept knowledge in the entertainment industry. This complies with The Hollywood Insider’smission to educate readers. Devon likes seeing hidden voices in film that provide new cultural perspectives. He enjoys the conversations cinema creates; hoping through his writing to open up topics for discussion.
Devon James is a screen and media writer determined to provide readers with engaging and informative content. His film industry background gives him an adept knowledge in the entertainment industry. This complies with The Hollywood Insider’smission to educate readers. Devon likes seeing hidden voices in film that provide new cultural perspectives. He enjoys the conversations cinema creates; hoping through his writing to open up topics for discussion.
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