by BRINLEE VUOLA
Staff Writer
This may seem like a randomly timed article to write; however, as I’m writing this, tomorrow, December 5th, marks Walt Disney’s 118th birthday. Everyone knows who Walt Disney is — if not the man, then at least his last name, for it is the name of a very popular animation company that distributes and frequently makes their own iconic films. Disney films have been a major part of many people’s childhoods because there have been so many made from 1937, starting with Snow White, up until this year, with movies like Frozen 2 and all the live-action remakes. But how did this all begin?
According to biography.com, Walt Disney was born in 1901 in Chicago, Illinois. When he got to high school, he took photography and drawing classes and drew cartoons for the school newspaper. This started his obsession with drawing, character creations, and animation. In 1919, he got a job at the Pesmen-Rubin Art Studio thanks to his brother Roy. He experimented a lot with camera work and hand-drawn frame-by-frame animation. The cartoons he made at the time were short, but thanks to a deal he made, he was able to screen them in a Kansas City theater, and those animations were called Laugh-O-Grams. Unfortunately, the studio had to declare bankruptcy after a short time of him working there.
In 1923, Walt and Roy started the Disney Brothers’ Cartoon Studio, soon changed to Walt Disney Studios. They made many short films shown on the big screen, including Mickey Mouse cartoons, whom of which was invented by Walt in 1928. After more than 100 animated cartoon shorts were created, Walt decided to take a huge risk by animating an entire feature-length animation. Everyone was doubtful; they didn’t know if they would be able to feel for the characters and enjoy the movie as much if it was more than an hour of hand-drawn animation. If this failed, the company would go into bankruptcy, for they had spent so much money on the project. However, Walt took the risk, and in 1937, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was released, receiving nothing but good reviews. It proved everyone’s doubtful thoughts wrong and started the company’s career in making full feature-length animated films.
On December 15, 1966, Walt Disney, unfortunately, passed away due to lung cancer. But even so, his work and inspiration continue to carry on throughout the company to this day. Movies like Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Dumbo, Bambi, Frozen, Zootopia, Coco, and many more have made huge memories in almost everyone’s childhood. For teenagers like me, there is a very nostalgic and beautiful feeling that comes from watching those light-hearted films. Disney films had a great impact on my childhood — they helped my imagination soar and my feelings be overwhelmingly positive — and I’m sure many people around the world have the same feelings.