Hollywood
Laugh-O-Grams Studio finally declared bankruptcy in July of 1923 when Disney’s Kansas City investors saw no new potential in his company. With the photography skills he learned in high school, Disney shot a few baby pictures and newsreel footage to earn enough money for a train ticket to Hollywood. He was only twenty-one. When Disney arrived in California, he met his brother Roy who had an infinite amount of sympathy and encouragement. Roy loaned Walt $250 which the brothers used along with an additional $500 to set up a studio in their uncle’s garage. They called it the Disney Brothers Studio, but Walt changed it in 1925 to the Walt Disney Sudio. Business was slow at first, but when a New York distributor agreed to release Disney’s Alice in Cartoonland comedies, they were overjoyed. Walt finally acquired enough money to expand the studio; he asked Roy to be manager, and invited Ub to join the team as an animator. The Alice Comedies were a hit, which, along with Walt’s enthusiasm, confidence, and faith, placed them at the top of Hollywood’s society.
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Although Walt himself was not the typical California mogul, his ambition to perfect the world of animation proves otherwise. He introduced the world to colored cartoons during his Silly Symphonies Cartoon Features and bought exclusive rights to the Technicolor patent for two years. With this new technology, Disney continued to experiment and finally released his first full-length animated feature film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, on December 21, 1937. Despite being in the midst of the Great Depression, Disney’s film grossed approximately $1.5 million, breaking all box-office records. It won him an Academy Award.
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He expanded his Burbank Studio in 1940, and hired over 1,000 artists, animators, raconteurs, and art specialists. Together, the team released Disney classics like Dumbo, Bambi, Fantasia, and Pinocchio. However, these comical yet sophisticated cartoons had to be put on hold during World War II when the US government asked Walt Disney Studios to create safety and propaganda videos rather than cartoons. After the war, Walt, Ub, and their employees recovered from the turmoil of the 40s and continued to produce more animated classics such as Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, and Sleeping Beauty. During this time, Walt also ventured into the world of live-action films and produced twenty-four major motion pictures between 1950 and 1962.
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