Are you curious to learn some weird and wonderful facts about Walt Disney?
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It’s time to chat about Walt Disney facts.
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Facts about Walt Disney
1 – Walt Disney was born on December 5, 1901 in Chicago and died on December 15, 1966.
2 – His first animation company went bankrupt shortly after its creation in 1923.
3 – His last film as a director was “The Jungle Book” from 1967.
4 – In 1928 he founded the Disney Brothers Studio with his brother Roy and then they created Mickey Mouse in 1928.
The name “Mickey Mouse” came from a suggestion by his wife Lillian Disney and it is an homage to the popular American actor Mickey Rooney.
5 – The studio’s name changed to Walt Disney Productions in 1937 when it became a public company.
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6 – His father worked as a pharmacist and his mother was a homemaker. He had four siblings – Roy, Ruth, Edna Mae, and Herbert.
7 – He began drawing at an early age and created his first animation by the time he was 12 years old.
8 – After graduating from high school in 1919 he took night classes at the Chicago Art Institute.
9 – In 1922 he moved to Hollywood with his brother Roy for work opportunities.
10 – His first animated film was released in 1927 – a series of fully animated films featuring Oswald The Lucky Rabbit. In 1928 he released called “Steamboat Willie.”
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11 – Walt Disney received 59 Academy Awards nominations for his films and TV shows and 22 award -both of these are records.
12 – Disney is most famous for his creation of Disneyland in 1955 and also for his work on animated films such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Pinocchio (1940), Fantasia (1940). In 1955 he opened Disneyland Park in California with his brother Roy O Disney as well as their wives Lillian and Edna respectively.
13 – In 1919 he joined the army to fight in World War I but was discharged due to health issues after one month. After returning home from war he took up work with his brother Roy’s business – Laugh-O-Gram Studio.
14 – In 1955 he opened Disneyland which was followed by Tokyo Disneyland in 1983, EuroDisney Resort in 1992, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort in 2005.
15 – In order to provide more space at the original park in Anaheim, California Disney began planning what would later be known as “Disneyland East” – this turned out to be Walt Disney World near Orlando Florida which opened on October 1 1971.
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16 – Walt Disney once said “I can’t think of anything that brings me more happiness than creating entertainment.”
17 – He married Lillian Bounds in 1925 and they had two daughters together – Diane Disney Miller and Sharon Mae Disney.
18 – In 1928, he started his own animation company called Laugh-O-Gram Studio with help from his brother Roy. In 1929, when the Great Depression hit America hard, he lost everything and had to start again from scratch.
The company went bankrupt due to World War II and because they were not able to produce any content while many other studios thrived during this time period.
19 – He opened a new studio called Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio in Hollywood in 1923 and it became known as one of the most prolific studios for making short animated films during that time period.
20 – In 1934, he created Mickey Mouse and it became an instant success.
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21 – Walt Disney’s first job was as a newspaper cartoonist for the Kansas City Star. He went to school in Marceline, Missouri but dropped out at age 14 to work as an apprentice artist for the Kansas City Star newspaper.
22 – The first animated movie that he made was Snow White in 1937 which cost about $1 million to make and it grossed over $8 million during its release.
23 – He died from lung cancer on December 15, 1966 at the age of 65.
24 – In October 1971, Disney World opened its doors to the public with only four attractions- Magic Kingdom, Epcot Center, Animal Kingdom and MGM Studios.
25 – At least one of his movies has been nominated for an Oscar every year since 1928 except 1932 when there were no awards given out due to the Great Depression.
