walt disney as one of the greatest americans

tragic312 · 05-02-2005

on AOL, they are having a vote on the top 100 greatest americans, and walt disney is mentioned. there is a link that discusses walt on AOL. for those who have AOL, the link is http://tv.channel.aol.com/greatestam...subpage=disney

here is the article for those who do not have AOL.

Walter Elias Disney

Also known as: Walt(er) (Elias) Disney, Walt Disney, Retlaw Yensid, Retlaw Elias Yensid

Birth: December 5, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois, United States
Death: December 15, 1966 in Los Angeles, California, United States
Nationality: American
Occupation: filmmaker, entrepreneur, executive
Source: Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed. 17 Vols. Gale Research, 1998.

An American filmmaker and entrepreneur, Walter Elias Disney (1901-1966) created a new kind of popular culture in feature-length animated cartoons and live-action "family" films.

Walter Elias Disney was born in Chicago, Illinois, on December 5, 1901, the fourth of five children born to a Canadian farmer father and a mother from Ohio. He was raised on a Midwestern farm in Marceline, Missouri, and in Kansas City, where he was able to acquire some rudimentary art instruction from correspondence courses and Saturday museum classes. He would later use many of the animals and characters that he knew from that Missouri farm in his cartoons.

He dropped out of high school at 17 to serve in World War I. After serving briefly overseas as an ambulance driver, Disney returned in 1919 to Kansas City for an apprenticeship as a commercial illustrator and later made primitive animated advertising cartoons. By 1922, he had set up his own shop in association with Ub Iwerks, whose drawing ability and technical inventiveness were prime factors in Disney's eventual success.

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 first called "Mortimer Mouse." Disney's wife, Lillian, suggested that Mickey sounded better and Disney agreed.

Living frugally, he reinvested profits to make better pictures. His insistence on technical perfection and his unsurpassed gifts as story editor quickly pushed his firm ahead. The invention of such cartoon characters as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Minnie, and Goofy combined with the daring and innovative use of music, sound, and folk material (as in The Three Little Pigs) made the Disney shorts of the 1930s a phenomenon of worldwide success. This success led to the establishment of immensely profitable, Disney-controlled sidelines in advertising, publishing, and franchised goods, which helped shape popular taste for nearly 40 years.

Disney rapidly expanded his studio facilities to include a training school where a whole new generation of animators developed and made possible the production of the first feature-length cartoon, Snow White (1937). Other costly animated features followed, including Pinocchio, Bambi, and the celebrated musical experiment Fantasia. With Seal Island (1948), wildlife films became an additional source of income, and in 1950 his use of blocked funds in England to make pictures like Treasure Island led to what became the studio's major product, live-action films, which practically cornered the traditional "family" market. Eventually the Disney formula emphasized slick production techniques. It included, as in his biggest hit, Mary Poppins, occasional animation to project wholesome, exciting stories heavily laced with sentiment and, often, music.

In 1954, Disney successfully invaded television, and by the time of his death, the Disney studio's output amounted to 21 full-length animated films, 493 short subjects, 47 live-action films, seven True-Life Adventure features, 330 hours of Mickey Mouse Club television programs, 78 half-hour Zorro television adventures, and 280 other television shows.

On July 18, 1957, Disney opened Disneyland, a gigantic projection of his personal fantasies in Anaheim, California, which has proved the most successful amusement park in history with 6.7 million people visiting it by 1966. The idea for the park came to him after taking his children to other amusement parks and watching them have fun on amusement rides. He decided to build a park where the entire family could have fun together. In 1971, Disney World, in Orlando, Florida, opened. Since then, Disney theme parks have opened in Tokyo and Paris.

Disney had also dreamed of developing a city of the future, a dream realized in 1982 with the opening of EPCOT, which stands for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. EPCOT, which cost an initial $900 million, was conceived of as a real-life community of the future with the very latest in high technology. The two principle areas of EPCOT are Future World and World Showcase, both of which were designed to appeal to adults rather than children.

In addition to his theme parks, 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."

Disney's parks continue to grow with the creation of the Disney-MGM Studios, Animal Kingdom, and a extensive sports complex in Orlando. The Disney Corporation has also branched out into other types of films with the creation of Touchstone Films, into music with Hollywood Records, and even vacationing with its Disney Cruise Lines. In all, the Disney name now lends itself to a multi-billion dollar enterprise, with multiple undertakings all over the world.

In 1939, Disney received an honorary Academy Award and in 1954 he received four Academy Awards. In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson presented Disney with the Presidential Medal of Freedom and in the same year Disney was awarded the Freedom Foundation Award.

Happily married for 41 years, this moody, deliberately "ordinary" man was moving ahead with his plans for gigantic new outdoor recreational facilities when he died of circulatory problems on December 15, 1966, at St. Joseph's Hospital in Los Angeles, California. At the time of his death, his enterprises had garnered him respect, admiration, and a business empire worth over $100 million-a-year, but Disney was still remembered primarily as the man who had created Mickey Mouse over two decades before.

AWARDS
Four Academy Awards, 1954; Presidential Medal of Freedom, 1965; Freedom Foundation Award, 1965.

FURTHER READINGS
The best book on Disney is Richard Schickel, The Disney Version: The Life, Times, Art, and Commerce of Walt Disney (1968). A useful source of technical information is Robert D. Feild, The Art of Walt Disney (1942). For an accurate study of the humanitarian and business aspects of Disney, see Steven Watts, The Magic Kingdom: Walt Disney and the American Way of Life (1998). The most intimate portrait of Disney is by his daughter, Diane Disney Miller, The Story of Walt Disney (1957). Biographies of Disney appear in both the 1952 and 1967 issues of Current Biography. Disney's obituary appears in the December 16, 1966, issue of New York Times.

SOURCE CITATION
"Walter Elias Disney." Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed. 17 Vols. Gale Research, 1998.
Reproduced in Biography Resource Center.Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2005. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC

2005-04-13 14:16:50

WEDINDISNEY · 05-02-2005

Kewl.. Thanks for the info.. It says that the voting begins on June 5th from 11am till 11pm..... You know that I will be voting for Walt....

**MissDisney** · 05-02-2005

WOW! I just now after all these years figured out how the WEDWAY People Mover got its name... I am shocked I missed this obvious Walt Disney reference! Hmmm...

mickaholic4077 · 05-03-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by MissDisney

WOW! I just now after all these years figured out how the WEDWAY People Mover got its name... I am shocked I missed this obvious Walt Disney reference! Hmmm...

I still refer to it as the WEDWAY people mover!!!

tinkerbell · 06-27-2006

I dont need a vote or to vote ..in my opinion he has done more good for the world then anyone and is the Greatest American ..John Wayne comes in second *grin*

Erin · 06-27-2006

He is amazing. I think about what he was able to accomplish. I wish I would of been alive when he was. I wish that Disney still aired the old shows he was on. He mesmerizes me when he's on the shows - but, it's only glimses of him in the modern WDW shows. (like Behind the Scenes, etc)

iluvwdw · 06-27-2006

Who ever won the Greatest America award?? I think it should have been Retlaw Yensid!

Goofy Daddy · 08-22-2006

The bio says DL opened in 1957...that's about two years off the mark.

The Goof Father · 08-25-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by tinkerbell

I dont need a vote or to vote ..in my opinion he has done more good for the world then anyone and is the Greatest American ..John Wayne comes in second *grin*

AMEN SISTER TINK! AMEN!

I don't even have any words to back it up... He just is...

PERIOD.

iluvwdw · 08-25-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Goof Father

AMEN SISTER TINK! AMEN!

I don't even have any words to back it up... He just is...

PERIOD.

At least we Disney freaks think so!

Experiment6-2-6 · 08-25-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by iluvwdw

At least we Disney freaks think so!

ZOMBIE THREAD PING!

But, unfortunately, Walt Disney was one of a kind. We won't likely see another in our lifetime.

(until, of course, they defrost him)

The Goof Father · 08-25-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Experiment6-2-6

ZOMBIE THREAD PING!

It is, but it is sooooo right! Walt rules!!!

iluvwdw · 08-25-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Goof Father

It is, but it is sooooo right! Walt rules!!!

SOOOO TRUE! Walt DOES rule. If Walt were never born, we wouldn't be talking in this forum right now. We might be talking in a DIFFERENT forum...hmmm....

Experiment6-2-6 · 08-25-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Goof Father

It is, but it is sooooo right! Walt rules!!!

Dude.

I don't think you read my entire post....

The Goof Father · 08-26-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Experiment6-2-6

Dude.

I don't think you read my entire post....

Oh I read it, but whether he is a frozen zombie or anything else I still love Walt dearly!

05-02-2005	#1 (permalink)
tragic312 jay & silent bob's mommy Join Date: May 2003 Location: Henderson, NV Posts: 3,185	walt disney as one of the greatest americans on AOL, they are having a vote on the top 100 greatest americans, and walt disney is mentioned. there is a link that discusses walt on AOL. for those who have AOL, the link is http://tv.channel.aol.com/greatestam...subpage=disney here is the article for those who do not have AOL. Walter Elias Disney Also known as: Walt(er) (Elias) Disney, Walt Disney, Retlaw Yensid, Retlaw Elias Yensid Birth: December 5, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois, United States Death: December 15, 1966 in Los Angeles, California, United States Nationality: American Occupation: filmmaker, entrepreneur, executive Source: Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed. 17 Vols. Gale Research, 1998. An American filmmaker and entrepreneur, Walter Elias Disney (1901-1966) created a new kind of popular culture in feature-length animated cartoons and live-action "family" films. Walter Elias Disney was born in Chicago, Illinois, on December 5, 1901, the fourth of five children born to a Canadian farmer father and a mother from Ohio. He was raised on a Midwestern farm in Marceline, Missouri, and in Kansas City, where he was able to acquire some rudimentary art instruction from correspondence courses and Saturday museum classes. He would later use many of the animals and characters that he knew from that Missouri farm in his cartoons. He dropped out of high school at 17 to serve in World War I. After serving briefly overseas as an ambulance driver, Disney returned in 1919 to Kansas City for an apprenticeship as a commercial illustrator and later made primitive animated advertising cartoons. By 1922, he had set up his own shop in association with Ub Iwerks, whose drawing ability and technical inventiveness were prime factors in Disney's eventual success. 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 first called "Mortimer Mouse." Disney's wife, Lillian, suggested that Mickey sounded better and Disney agreed. Living frugally, he reinvested profits to make better pictures. His insistence on technical perfection and his unsurpassed gifts as story editor quickly pushed his firm ahead. The invention of such cartoon characters as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Minnie, and Goofy combined with the daring and innovative use of music, sound, and folk material (as in The Three Little Pigs) made the Disney shorts of the 1930s a phenomenon of worldwide success. This success led to the establishment of immensely profitable, Disney-controlled sidelines in advertising, publishing, and franchised goods, which helped shape popular taste for nearly 40 years. Disney rapidly expanded his studio facilities to include a training school where a whole new generation of animators developed and made possible the production of the first feature-length cartoon, Snow White (1937). Other costly animated features followed, including Pinocchio, Bambi, and the celebrated musical experiment Fantasia. With Seal Island (1948), wildlife films became an additional source of income, and in 1950 his use of blocked funds in England to make pictures like Treasure Island led to what became the studio's major product, live-action films, which practically cornered the traditional "family" market. Eventually the Disney formula emphasized slick production techniques. It included, as in his biggest hit, Mary Poppins, occasional animation to project wholesome, exciting stories heavily laced with sentiment and, often, music. In 1954, Disney successfully invaded television, and by the time of his death, the Disney studio's output amounted to 21 full-length animated films, 493 short subjects, 47 live-action films, seven True-Life Adventure features, 330 hours of Mickey Mouse Club television programs, 78 half-hour Zorro television adventures, and 280 other television shows. On July 18, 1957, Disney opened Disneyland, a gigantic projection of his personal fantasies in Anaheim, California, which has proved the most successful amusement park in history with 6.7 million people visiting it by 1966. The idea for the park came to him after taking his children to other amusement parks and watching them have fun on amusement rides. He decided to build a park where the entire family could have fun together. In 1971, Disney World, in Orlando, Florida, opened. Since then, Disney theme parks have opened in Tokyo and Paris. Disney had also dreamed of developing a city of the future, a dream realized in 1982 with the opening of EPCOT, which stands for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. EPCOT, which cost an initial $900 million, was conceived of as a real-life community of the future with the very latest in high technology. The two principle areas of EPCOT are Future World and World Showcase, both of which were designed to appeal to adults rather than children. In addition to his theme parks, 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." Disney's parks continue to grow with the creation of the Disney-MGM Studios, Animal Kingdom, and a extensive sports complex in Orlando. The Disney Corporation has also branched out into other types of films with the creation of Touchstone Films, into music with Hollywood Records, and even vacationing with its Disney Cruise Lines. In all, the Disney name now lends itself to a multi-billion dollar enterprise, with multiple undertakings all over the world. In 1939, Disney received an honorary Academy Award and in 1954 he received four Academy Awards. In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson presented Disney with the Presidential Medal of Freedom and in the same year Disney was awarded the Freedom Foundation Award. Happily married for 41 years, this moody, deliberately "ordinary" man was moving ahead with his plans for gigantic new outdoor recreational facilities when he died of circulatory problems on December 15, 1966, at St. Joseph's Hospital in Los Angeles, California. At the time of his death, his enterprises had garnered him respect, admiration, and a business empire worth over $100 million-a-year, but Disney was still remembered primarily as the man who had created Mickey Mouse over two decades before. AWARDS Four Academy Awards, 1954; Presidential Medal of Freedom, 1965; Freedom Foundation Award, 1965. FURTHER READINGS The best book on Disney is Richard Schickel, The Disney Version: The Life, Times, Art, and Commerce of Walt Disney (1968). A useful source of technical information is Robert D. Feild, The Art of Walt Disney (1942). For an accurate study of the humanitarian and business aspects of Disney, see Steven Watts, The Magic Kingdom: Walt Disney and the American Way of Life (1998). The most intimate portrait of Disney is by his daughter, Diane Disney Miller, The Story of Walt Disney (1957). Biographies of Disney appear in both the 1952 and 1967 issues of Current Biography. Disney's obituary appears in the December 16, 1966, issue of New York Times. SOURCE CITATION "Walter Elias Disney." Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed. 17 Vols. Gale Research, 1998. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center.Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2005. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC 2005-04-13 14:16:50 __________________ Jan. 15 - 22, 2003 (1st Trip to WDW) -- Beach Club June 7-16, 2003 -- Beach Club Jan. 10, 12 2004 - First Trip to Disneyland Sept. 26 - Oct. 4, 2004 -- All-Star Movies Sept. 29, 2004 -- Wedding Date January 3 - 9, 2005 - All-Star Music Sept. 24- Oct. 1, 2005 - Swan Nov. 1 - 6, 2008 - Pop Century http://www.myspace.com/tragic312 http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt...5f47/event.png Last edited by tragic312; 05-02-2005 at 12:57 AM. Reason: added more comments

05-02-2005	#2 (permalink)
WEDINDISNEY Mouse Meister Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: NOW NJ SOMEDAY WDW Posts: 1,469	Re: walt disney as one of the greatest americans Kewl.. Thanks for the info.. It says that the voting begins on June 5th from 11am till 11pm..... You know that I will be voting for Walt.... __________________ 2008 OKW 2008 WLV 2007 AKV & SSR 2007 OKW 2006 SARATOGA SPRINGS (X-MAS) 2006 POFQ 2005 WYNDHAM PALACE DTD 2003 AKL 2002 POLY (WEDDING & HONEYMOON) "YOUR DREAMS CAN COME TRUE IF YOU HAVE THE COURAGE TO PURSURE THEM." WALT DISNEY "WHEN YOU'RE CURIOUS, YOU FIND LOTS OF INTERSTING THINGS TO DO." WALT DISNEY http://www.myspace.com/wedindisney My Disney Countdown Counting down to: Going back for more magic in: Yup We're Back!

05-02-2005	#3 (permalink)
MissDisney Mrs. Captain Jack Sparrow Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Upstairs in the GF Gingerbread House Posts: 7,560	Re: walt disney as one of the greatest americans WOW! I just now after all these years figured out how the WEDWAY People Mover got its name... I am shocked I missed this obvious Walt Disney reference! Hmmm... __________________ Disneyland Moderator Team Jake If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you. Disneyland Hotel 1987; Dixie Landings 1993; Dixie Landings 1997; Caribbean Beach 1998; Boardwalk Villas 1999; Vistana Resort 2001; Dixie Landings 2002; Vistana Resort 2002; Marriott Imperial Palm Villas 2004; Vistana Resort 2006; Marriott Cypress Harbour 2007; Boardwalk Villas DVC trip TBA "Welcome Home" to us!

06-27-2006	#5 (permalink)
tinkerbell Neverland Tour Guide ® Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: The Ark-La-Tex Posts: 7,601	Re: walt disney as one of the greatest americans I dont need a vote or to vote ..in my opinion he has done more good for the world then anyone and is the Greatest American ..John Wayne comes in second grin __________________ Stinkerbell, so named by Darth Official Defender of Swiss Family Treehouse MB chitchatter. We don't need no stinkin' post counts Protect Texas!!! Arm A Dillo

06-27-2006	#6 (permalink)
Erin Holiday Investigator Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: North Central Florida! Posts: 9,733	Re: walt disney as one of the greatest americans He is amazing. I think about what he was able to accomplish. I wish I would of been alive when he was. I wish that Disney still aired the old shows he was on. He mesmerizes me when he's on the shows - but, it's only glimses of him in the modern WDW shows. (like Behind the Scenes, etc) __________________ Team Jake! Avatar: Wishy and me! www.myspace.com/daisygirl77

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walt disney as one of the greatest americans

06-27-2006	#7 (permalink)
iluvwdw BLT for me! Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Floral Park Village (Long Island), NY Posts: 6,866	Re: walt disney as one of the greatest americans Who ever won the Greatest America award?? I think it should have been Retlaw Yensid! __________________ Kim :) LIFE IS JUST BETTER WHEN YOU HAVE A DISNEY TRIP PLANNED! 1997 Double Tree ~ 1998 Vistana ~ 1999 April Vistana ~ 1999 July Vistana ~ 1999 Sept All Star Movies ~ 2000 Vistana ~ 2001 Vistana ~ 2002 Vistana ~ 2003 Aug Vistana ~ 2003 Dec All Star Sports, Polynesian & OKW ~ 2004 Feb Vistana ~ 2004 Dec Vistana ~ 2005 Vistana/All Star Music 2006 SSR and Vistana Villages ~ 2007 Sheraton Safari, Vistana, POP Century ~ 2008 Vistana Villages, Animal Kingdom Villas My Disney Countdown Counting down to: Thanksgiving at Animal Kingdom Villas! It's a surprise for the kids! On a Thanksgiving Safari at AKV

08-22-2006	#8 (permalink)
Goofy Daddy Senior Mouseketeer Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Northern California Posts: 270	Re: walt disney as one of the greatest americans The bio says DL opened in 1957...that's about two years off the mark. __________________ "Honey! WHERE is my super suit?!" Frozone 1968 Disneyland Hotel (Summer) 1972 Disneyland Hotel (Summer) 1976 Off Site (Summer) 1979 Off Site (Summer) 1997 Off Site (August)) 2001 Disneyland Hotel (June) 2002 Off Site (December) 2003 x2 Off Site (February & December) 2004 Off Site (December) 2005 x2 Off Site (August & December) 2006 x4 Off Site (March, August, December) Disneyland Hotel (November) 2007 x3 Off Site (April, June, & October)

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