Wonderful Walt Disney gave us decades of magic
OCT 16, 1923
WHEN Disney produced its first feature-length film in 1937 – about seven certain dwarfs – the world knew it was on to a good thing.
Disney has gone on to make 55 feature films – but the magic spell was cast long before Snow White, with Walt Disney and his brother Roy creating The Walt Disney Company on October 16, 1923.
Walt had already produced a short film, Alice’s Wonderland, the previous year.
He went to his brother with the notion that the pair might team up to produce a series of the Alice stories, which they did, before they created films about Oswald the Rabbit.
Once that had run its course, Walt introduced us to the most famous mouse in the world – Mickey, of course.
Our big-eared chum started life with the moniker Mortimer, but Walt’s wife Lillian insisted Mickey was far catchier, and his name was changed.
With Mickey still hugely popular today, not to mention being a symbol for Disney, the company nevertheless wanted to expand, introducing us to other much-loved characters – Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy, to name just a few.
When Snow White was released, many people referred to it as Disney’s Ruin, because it cost $1.4m to make.
They were, of course, wrong and, adjusted for inflation, it’s one of the 10 highest-grossing films of all time.
Walt was presented with one normal-sized honorary Oscar and seven little Oscars for Snow White And The Seven Dwarves in 1938.
Walt knew what he was doing and was at the forefront of technology – for a couple of years, Disney held the patent for Technicolor, making him the only animator allowed to make colour films.
The Disney success spilled over from the creation of films to massive theme park fortune – there are now 14 of them, visited by millions every year.
Disneyland, California, opened in 1955.
Keen to be on site as much as possible, Walt had an apartment for his family on the park’s Main Street.
A lamp in the window signalled to staff he was there, and this is now always lit in his honour.
To give you an idea of the size of the Disney theme parks and associated hotels, it would take 68 years to sleep for one night in every room at Disney World!
Another statistic – which seems slightly terrifying – is that Disney World is second only to the US military for buying explosives in the US.
If you’ve ever visited a Disney park, you’ll know how impressive the amazing fireworks displays are.
‘ He introduced Mickey, the most famous mouse in the