Walt Disney had a dream and boy, did he ever realize it, huh? However, I don’t think even in his wildest dreams did he think he would accomplish what he has. Am I right? So let’s look at the humble beginnings of this creative genius .
I bet there are at least a few facts about Walt Disney that you didn’t know. I sure learned a thing or two writing this article, and I’m happy to share it with the rest of you. Come on!
Walt Disney remains one of the most iconic men of the 20th century.
But did you know that he almost became a vacuum cleaner salesman? Oh, yeah. That’s what his brother Roy did, and he wanted Walt to do the same. Roy was the first one who moved to California, and when Walt followed, he suggested the door-to-door salesman job.
But fate interfered.
Walt had sent some Alice in Cartoon Land footage to Margaret Winkler, a cartoon distributor from New York, and she agreed to make 12 Alice shorts. Each one netted Walt $1500, so he decided to leave the vacuum business to his brother.
You don’t say, huh?
I guess that was a lucky break for Walt. Here’s another interesting fact. Walt Disney wasn’t the original person to think of Mickey Mouse. It was actually a man named Ubbe Eert “Ub” Iwerks. Ub and Walt became friends in 1919 when they both did jobs hopping throughout the world of production.
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Ub later joined Walt and his brother Roy when they developed Walt Disney Studios.
Iwerks was an industrious and innovative animator who is credited with developing a new animation technique that combined live actors with drawn characters. He was the one who conceptualized Disney’s first character, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, who very closely resembles Mickey.
It was that character that inspired Mickey Mouse.
So while Walt Disney may have helped conceptualize the character or have even suggested a mouse, it is Iwerks who first drew and designed Mickey. However, Walt being a great businessman, was the one who made it a household name.
Here’s a cool fact, though.
It was Walt Disney who originally voiced Mickey. Mickey Mouse’s famous falsetto voice was first used in the 1929 short film Karnival Kid . And get this, Mickey’s only line was to say, “Hot dog, hot dog,” haha!
But as Walt got too busy he handed the voice-over to another employee.
Jimmy MacDonald, a veteran Disney musician, and actor, voiced Mickey in 1946. He did that job for a whopping 31 years. After that, the job went over to Wayne Anthony Allwine, who voiced Mickey until his death in 2009.
Mickey helped romance bloom between two employees.
It’s because of Mickey that Allwine met his wife, Russi Taylor. She was the voice of Mickey’s leading lady, Minnie Mouse. When the two met, sparks flew, and it was a match made in Disney heaven.
After Allwine’s death, Bret Iwan took over as the head mouse.
He’s the current voice of Mickey. His work gets featured on Disney Cruise Lines, Mickey toys and products, around Disney Theme Parks, throughout Disney on Ice, and on video games. Isn’t that so cool, huh?
But there’s more.
Christopher Diamantopoulos is the voice of Mickey in the comedy television series produced by Disney Television Animation. I bet you didn’t know that. Okay, let’s get back to Walt. Did you know that he had a private residence hidden from the rest of the park?
Oh, yeah!
While Disneyland was getting built in California, Walt wanted his own private apartment overlooking the theme park. This tiny apartment was less than 500 square feet, and it was on the second floor of the fire station on Main Street U.S.A.
Check this out.
On the day Disneyland opened, Walt was standing in front of his apartment’s window, watching people walking through the front gates. One of the young Mousketeers, Sharon Baird, was next to him when it happened. She recalls Walt getting emotional watching his dream come to life.
Aww!
Isn’t that so sweet? Seventy years later, Walt Disney’s old apartment remains virtually unchanged. There’s even a light that stays on, symbolizing the spirit of its creator still being around. Wow! I think that’s quite nice. I wonder if anybody is allowed to see the place?
Here’s something else that’s interesting.
Did you know that Walt Disney holds the record for most Academy Awards? That’s right. He’s won 22 individual Oscars and has had 59 nominations in total. OMG! That’s some feat, no? Disney won his first competitive Academy Award and received his first Honorary Academy Award at the 5th Academy Awards in 1932.
Oh, my!
Disney earned his inaugural award, in the best short subject cartoon category, for Flowers and Trees , which coincidently used the new three-strip Technicolor process. In fact, Disney had a two-year contract with Technicolor that gave him exclusive filming rights to the three-strip technicolor system.
No other studio could use the technology until 1936.
And here’s a fun fact about Disney’s most popular film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It was Walt Disney himself who performed a one-man show to his production team to sell them on the idea. What? Get this, he acted out the entire movie himself, mimicking the physical characteristics, and voice of each of the characters.
Can you believe that?
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs became the most well-known of Walt Disney’s numerous Oscar awards. It was that picture that gave him a special award in 1939 in recognition of the genius behind this film. The award was presented by Shirley Temple, and it included one regular-sized Oscar and 7 “dwarf-sized” miniature Oscar statuettes. Oh, my goodness.
Here’s something else you should know.
Have you noticed that most of Disney’s stories revolve around an absent mother or the death of a mother? Um, Bambi comes to mind. Well, it’s because Walt Disney himself lost his mother due to an accident with the repair of a broken furnace. The story goes that he sent his employees to fix a leak but something went wrong and his mom ended up passing away. Oh, wow!
So, did you know these interesting Walt Disney facts?
Or did any of them surprise you today? I definitely didn’t know how it all started, and I find it pretty fascinating. It’s so inspiring to read stories about famous people and how they got to where they are today. I hope you find this history lesson enjoyable.
