DISNEYHISTORY YEAR 9

OVERVIEW• Walt Disney started with nothing, but he built a world renowned

entertainment industry. • His movies, merchandise, and toys are still loved today, and his story

is truly an inspirational one.

WALT DISNEY IS BORN• In 1901 Walt Disney is born. • Walt Disney was born in Chicago to parents Elias and Flora. • His given name was Walter Elias Disney.

LIFE ON THE FARM• The Disney family moved to a farm when Walt was very young. • He spent lots of his time drawing and imagining, but when his father

became ill they had to sell the farm and move to Kansas City, Mo.

1911: WALT DISCOVER MOVIES• While living in Missouri, Walt got a paper route to help the family's

financial situation. • It was while working this job he first discovered movies, and he fell in

love with them.

1917: ART SCHOOL• Walt continued drawing, and when his family returned to Chicago he

enrolled in the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. • It was his dream to work as a newspaper cartoonist.

1918: WORLD WAR 1• Though he was too young to join the army, Walt lied about his age in

order to enlist. • He fought in France for a year in the American Ambulance Corps.

1920: WALT FAILURE• Walt joined forces with Ub Iwerks and formed a commercial artist

company. However, the company failed after only a month. • In 1923 Walt tries again.• Over a few years, Walt tried a few different ventures which failed,

including the Laugh-O-gram Corporation. • He eventually founded Disney Brothers Studio in Hollywood, which

would later become Hyperion Studio.

1928-1930: MICKEY MOUSE CLUB • In 1928 Mickey Mouse is created.• At the height of the talking-picture revolution, Walt created a film called

Steamboat Willie. • It featured a talking mouse named Mickey, and it was an instant hit. • In 1930 Mickey Mouse merchandising was developed. • Walt, along with his brother Roy, decided to play up Mickey's growing

popularity. • They created a merchandise line and the Mickey Mouse Club, which

quickly grew to over one million members.

1937: SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS• In 1937 Disney's created his first full length film.• After creating several "short" films, Walt decided to move ahead with

full length films. • Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was released.

1940: PINNOCHIO AND FANTASIA• Pinocchio is a 1940 American animated musical fantasy film produced by

Walt Disney Productions and based on the Italian children's novel The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. • It was the second animated feature film produced by Disney.• Fantasia it was also produced in 1940.

1941-1942: DUMBO AND BAMBI• In 1941 Disney created Dumbo, in which the main character is Jumbo Jr.,

an elephant who is cruelly nicknamed "Dumbo". • He is ridiculed for his big ears, but in fact he is capable of flying by using

his ears as wings. • The main characters in Bambi (1942) are Bambi, a white-tailed deer, his

parents (the Great Prince of the forest and his unnamed mother), his friends Thumper (a pink-nosed rabbit), and Flower (a skunk), and his childhood friend and future mate, Faline.

1942 WORLD WAR 2• After Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Walt Disney released multiple

films including Fantasia, Pinocchio, and Dumbo. • When WWII began, the US Army took over part of the studio to house

troops, but Disney still managed to produce Bambi.

1950: CINDERELLA IS A HIT• Disney released Cinderella, and

it was an instant hit. • It was their biggest success

since the release of Snow White.• It is considered one of the best

American animated films ever made, as selected by the American Film Institute. • It received three Academy

Award nominations, including Best Music, Original Song for "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo".

1951-1953: ALICE IN WONDERLAND AND PETER PAN

• Alice in Wonderland is a 1951 American animated musical fantasy-comedy film produced by Disney and based on the Alice books by Lewis Carroll. • The movie proved to be ahead of its time and has since been regarded

as one of Disney's greatest animated classics, as well as one of the best film adaptations of Alice.• Peter Pan is a 1953 American animated fantasy-adventure film

produced by Walt Disney and based on the play Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up by J. M. Barrie.• Michael Jackson cited Peter Pan as his favourite movie of all time, from

which he derived the name for his estate Neverland Ranch in Santa Barbara, where he had a private amusement park.

1955: LADY AND THE TRAMP• Lady and the Tramp is a 1955 American animated romantic musical

comedy film produced by Walt Disney.• It was the first animated feature filmed in the Cinema Scope widescreen

film process.• Lady and the Tramp tells the story of a female American Cocker Spaniel

named Lady who lives with a refined, upper-middle-class family, and a male stray mutt named Tramp. When the two dogs meet, they embark on many romantic adventures. • Lady and the Tramp has become iconic in the history of cinema. The

sequence of Lady and Tramp sharing a plate of Italian spaghetti – and the accidental kiss as they swallow opposite ends of the same piece of spaghetti – is considered an iconic scene in American film history.

1955-1965: DISNEYLAND AND DISNEYWORLD• In 1955 Disneyland opens.• Walt Disney purchased land in California and built the Disneyland theme

park. • They had over one million visitors in just two months. • In 1965 Disney World ideas begin.• Walt purchased land in Florida to build a theme park called Epcot, which

would be a peek into the technology of "tomorrow." • It was an idea that eventually grew into Disney World.

1959: SLEEPING BEAUTY• Sleeping Beauty is an animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt

Disney based on The Sleeping Beauty by Charles Perrault and Little Briar Rose by The Brothers Grimm. • The 16th film in the Disney animated feature film, it was released to

theaters on January 29, 1959, by Buena Vista Distribution.

1961: 101 DALMATIANS• The 17th Disney animated feature film, the film tells the story of a litter

of Dalmatian puppies who are kidnapped by the villainous Cruella de Vil, who wants to use their fur to make into coats. • Their parents, Pongo and Perdita, set out to save their children from

Cruella, all the while rescuing 84 additional puppies that were bought in pet shops, bringing the total of Dalmatians to 101.• One Hundred and One Dalmatians was a box office success, pulling the

studio out of the financial slump caused by Sleeping Beauty, a costlier production released two years prior

1966: DISNEY DIES• At the age of 66, Walt Disney died of lung cancer on December 15, 1966. • In the same year, Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree released, and

Walt's legacy continued with dozens of films and multiple Disney theme parks around the world.

1967: THE JUNGLE BOOK• Inspired by Rudyard Kipling's book of the same name, it is the 19th

Disney animated feature film. • It was the last film to be produced by Walt Disney, who died during its

production. • The plot follows Mowgli, a feral child raised in the Indian jungle by

wolves, as his friends Bagheera the panther and Baloo the bear try to convince him to leave the jungle before the evil tiger Shere Khan arrives.

1970: THE ARISTOCATS• The Aristocats is a 1970 American animated musical adventure-comedy

film produced and released by Walt Disney Productions.• The 20th Disney animated feature film, the film revolves around a family

of aristocratic cats, and how an alley cat acquaintance helps them after a butler has kidnapped them to gain his mistress' fortune which was intended to go to them. • It was originally released to theatres by Buena Vista Distribution on

December 11, 1970.

1973: ROBIN HOOD• Robin Hood is a 1973 American animated film produced by Walt Disney

Productions.• The 21st Disney animated feature film, it is based on the legend of Robin

Hood, but uses animals rather than people. • The story follows the adventures of Robin Hood, Little John and the

inhabitants of Nottingham as they fight against the excessive taxation of Prince John, and Robin Hood wins the hand of Maid Marian.

AND SO MANY MORE….