Walt Disney

Today's Topic: Walt Disney

Childhood

Walt Disney grew up in Chicago. Growing up, he was really into art. He drew, painted, and sold pictures to his neighbors and family friends. He didn't grow up rich. His family and he struggled together. 

Education

Disney went to highschool in McKinley High School in Chicago, where he took photography and drawing classes. He also was a cartoonist for his school's paper.

During the nighttime, he took courses at the Art Institute of Chicago. 

When he was 16, he dropped out of high school to join the army, but he was rejected because he was too young. He joined the Red Cross and he was sent to France. His job in France was to drive an ambulance. 

His First Cartoons

In 1919, he moved to Kansas City to pursue his career as a newspaper artist. While there, he met a cartoonist named Ub Iwerks. After this, he worked at the Kansas City Ad Company. Here he made commercials based on cutout animation. 

While there, he experimented with cameras, and eventually started his own animation business. A man named Fred Harman was his first employee. Disney and Harman made deals with people to screen their cartoons. Since they were so popular, he was able to open his own studio!

But by 1923, he went severely bankrupt, because he was so in debt. In the same year, Iwerks, Disney, and his brother Roy moved to Hollywood. The studio was then named Walt Disney Studios under Roy's suggestion. 

Eventually, he kept making cartoons and became more and more popular and he became one of the most successful men in the world!

Thank you for reading this post. Hope you enjoyed learning more about the man behind your favorite movies. Tell your friends about this blog and don't forget to leave a comment.