Ep. 62: Walt Disney – Top 8 Movies (1937 – 1955)

June 26, 2023 Peter Jans

Intro

Hello and Welcome to this episode of the podcast, "The Mnemonic Tree", where we add a single mnemonic leaf to our Tree of Knowledge.

Today's episode is on a man that is synonymous with the childhoods of billions of people. He started as a commercial illustrator but Walt had bigger plans and moved to California and set up Disney Brothers Studio with his brother Roy.

Disney’s big breakthrough came with Mickey Mouse which he created and voiced, which was not long after his big disappointment with Oswald the Lucky Rabbit where he had a falling out with Universal Studios. From there the empire just grew and grew, into a multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate that it is today.

Today’s mnemonic will be on his top 8 movies between 1937 to 1955.

So, with no further ado, we will begin with a summary from Wikipedia.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Walt_Disney_1946.JPG

Wikipedia Summary

Walter Elias Disney (/ˈdɪzni/;[2] December 5, 1901 – December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film producer, he holds the record for most Academy Awards earned and nominations by an individual, having won 22 Oscars from 59 nominations. He was presented with two Golden Globe Special Achievement Awards and an Emmy Award, among other honors. Several of his films are included in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress and have also been named as some of the greatest films ever by the American Film Institute. Disney was the first person to be nominated for Academy Awards in six different categories.

Born in Chicago in 1901, Disney developed an early interest in drawing. He took art classes as a boy and got a job as a commercial illustrator at the age of 18. He moved to California in the early 1920s and set up the Disney Brothers Studio with his brother Roy. With Ub Iwerks, he developed the character Mickey Mouse in 1928, his first highly popular success; he also provided the voice for his creation in the early years. As the studio grew, he became more adventurous, introducing synchronized sound, full-color three-strip Technicolor, feature-length cartoons and technical developments in cameras. The results, seen in features such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Pinocchio, Fantasia (both 1940), Dumbo (1941), and Bambi (1942), furthered the development of animated film. New animated and live-action films followed after World War II, including the critically successful Cinderella (1950), Sleeping Beauty (1959) and Mary Poppins (1964), the last of which received five Academy Awards.

In the 1950s, Disney expanded into the amusement park industry, and in July 1955 he opened Disneyland in Anaheim, California. To fund the project he diversified into television programs, such as Walt Disney's Disneyland and The Mickey Mouse Club. He was also involved in planning the 1959 Moscow Fair, the 1960 Winter Olympics, and the 1964 New York World's Fair. In 1965, he began development of another theme park, Disney World, the heart of which was to be a new type of city, the "Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow" (EPCOT). Disney was a heavy smoker throughout his life and died of lung cancer in December 1966 before either the park or the EPCOT project were completed.

Disney was a shy, self-deprecating and insecure man in private but adopted a warm and outgoing public persona. He had high standards and high expectations of those with whom he worked. Although there have been accusations that he was racist or antisemitic, they have been contradicted by many who knew him. Historiography of Disney has taken a variety of perspectives, ranging from views of him as a purveyor of homely patriotic values to being a representative of American imperialism. He remains an important figure in the history of animation and in the cultural history of the United States, where he is considered a national cultural icon. His film work continues to be shown and adapted, and the Disney theme parks have grown in size and number to attract visitors in several countries.

Extracted from: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney]

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Walt_Disney_Snow_white_1937_trailer_screenshot_(12).jpg

Mnemonic

Walt Disney – Top 8 Movies (1937 – 1955) Mnemonic – Cab SToPPeD For Disney

(Picture Walt Disney’s personal animated cab that takes him everywhere he needs to go around the studio)

1. Cinderella

2. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

3. Treasure Island

4. Pinocchio

5. Peter Pan

6. Dumbo

7. Fantasia

8. Davy Crocket, King of the Wild Frontier

Five Fun Facts

1. Walt dropped out of school at the age of 16 to join the Red Cross Ambulance Corps. To do this he had to forge his birth certificate as the minimum age to assist the war effort (World War I) was seventeen.

2. Walt Disney holds the record for both the most individual Oscar wins of twenty-two and the most nominations at fifty-nine.

3. Along with the highs of Oscars, Disney also suffered massive lows. One in particular was in relation to his mother. Apparently, she had called him one morning, asking if he could get the gas furnace repaired, that was leaking in the house.

He sent over some employees to repair, but unfortunately, they made a mistake resulting in a leak that ended up unfortunately killing his mother.

4. Walt Disney’s first character before Mickey was Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Unfortunately for Walt, Universal ended up with the rights to Oswald along with stealing his animators and slashing his contract.

It wasn’t long after that he then created Mickey Mouse and the rest is history. Interestingly, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was acquired back by the Disney company in 2006.

5. Disney’s interests included Polo, Golf (which he hated), Lawn Bowls and Trains. The trains were a definite favourite having an elaborate model in his office along with an even more impressive 1/8 scale model in his backyard that was half a mile long, which he called the Carolwood Pacific Railroad.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Walt_Disney_World_Cinderella_Castle_in_2021.jpg

Three Question Quiz

Q.1. Did Walt Disney draw Mickey Mouse? True or False

Q.2. Is Walt Disney cryogenically frozen? True or false

Q.3. What was Mickey Mouse originally called?

Bonus Q. Who was Walt’s favourite character? Options are Mickey Mouse, Goofy or Peter Pan

And just speaking of some of Walt Disney’s favourite characters Goofy and Mickey Mouse.

I remember the time when Mickey and Mini were having some marital difficulties and as a result went to counselling. Anyway, they were sitting there going back and forth, when it started to get a little heated and basically out of control.

So, the counsellor said “Ok, everybody stop. First Mickey; you can’t divorce Mini because she’s got funny teeth” And Mickey said “I didn’t, it’s because she’s f $#%$#! goofy!”

Mnemonic Recap