Walt Disney: the dreamer and doer

The story of Walt Disney demonstrates that if you can dream big things, you can achieve big things. Walt’s dreams have enabled millions of children and adults to dream as well. No matter who you are or where you’re from, Walt has positively affected your imagination and life.

The Beginning

On December 5, 1901, Walter Elias Disney was born in Chicago, Illinois. When Walt was a young child his family moved to Missouri. At an early age, Walt began to show an interest in his imagination and drawing. At the same time Walt began to become interested in motion pictures.

Early Obstacles

When Walt was a teenager his father moved him and his family back to Chicago. While Walt was a freshman in high school, he also took night classes at The Chicago Art Institute.While attending, Walt developed his creative and artistic skills even further. During this time World War I was raging. At sixteen, Walt made a significant decision and decided to drop out of high school. He wanted to join the army and attempted to do so. However, Walt was underage so the army did not allow him to join. But not letting the rejection stop him, Walt decided to join the Red Cross instead. Walt became an ambulance driver with the foundation. This gave him the opportunity to travel to other countries and be apart of something positive.

Following A Passion

When Walt finished his duties with the Red Cross, he came back to America and moved to Kansas City. There, he got back into drawing and got his first taste of the business world. Walt worked at a company creating advertisements for newspapers, magazines, and movie theaters. However, Walt did not want to settle at this company. In 1920, at age nineteen, Walt launched a company with a friend, Ubbe Iwerks. The company was called Iwerks-Disney Commercial Artists. Walt and Ubbe had tough times with this business. Ubbe felt forced to leave for work at a film ad company so that he could make ends meet. The company was eventually taken over by it’s investors so Walt decided to move on as well.

A New Start

After launching an unsuccessful business, Walt quickly moved on. He set his sights on Hollywood. With his brother, Roy, the started an animation studio in their uncle’s garage with their savings. They had less money and tighter resources but were off to a better start. Soon after launching they struck a deal with a New York company to distribute some of Disney’s animated shorts. Walt found more success than he had in the past, but this was only the beginning.

The Mouse That Changed It All

Walt had to face another obstacle after his early achievements. His company lost the rights to a cartoon character that was responsible for much of their success. He literally went back to the drawing board to create another character. This is when Mickey Mouse was born. Walt created some rough sketches of a mouse and had his past business partner and friend, Ubbe refine the sketches. Walt and Ubbe created a short called Steamboat Willie, with Walt as the voice of Mickey. Steamboat Willie brought Walt and the studio a huge amount of success and defined their studio.

Steamboat Willie became one of the crucial steps that turned Disney into what it is today. Without Walt’s previous “failures” the world and our lives would be much different. Walt’s story shows that one person can change the world.

7 Lessons from Walt Disney

1. Dream big, achieve big - Walt dreamed unlike anyone else during his time and he made those dreams a reality.

2. Don’t wait - Even when Walt was in high school, he found a way to chase his artistic dreams now, rather than waiting till he became older.

3. Find a way - Walt wanted to be a part of the army so that he could help the country but wasn’t able to do so because he was underage. However, he joined the Red Cross as an even better way to help.

4. Harness your powers - Walt had a talent for art and creativity. He used that to his advantage to become successful.

5. Move on - When something didn’t work out for him, he didn’t dwell upon it. There’s always something else you can do.

6. Don’t settle when you achieve success - Walt achieved success early on with his second company but he didn’t stop there. He expanded and challenged himself to create more.

7. If it doesn’t exist, create it - Before Disneyland, theme parks did not exist. Walt saw an opportunity to create something new.

Photo by Zesmerelda

People, Success | March 4th, 2008 | Published by Andrew Galasetti

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This article was published on Tuesday, March 4th, 2008 at 12:55 pm and is filed under People, Success. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

5 Responses to “Walt Disney: the dreamer and doer”

Kelly says:
March 8th, 2008 at 5:25 am
He and Jim Henson are my heroes. His quote, “If you can dream it, you can do it,” is one that I constantly rely on. Great post. (Stumbled!)
Andrew says:
March 8th, 2008 at 8:02 am
Kelly,

That is one of the best quotes, one of my favorites. So simple, but so effective.

-Andrew

P.S. Thanks for the stumble
George Mills says:
March 18th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
yea you forgot to mention hate with out reason, that should be number 8. Walt Disney was an anti Semite
Andrew says:
March 18th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Hey George Mills,

Interesting. Is there concrete evidence of Walt’s hatred? Obviously I didn’t include that because it wouldn’t have positively contributed to his success.

-Andrew
adult stories says:
March 31st, 2008 at 2:42 pm
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