Walt Disney Authentic Vintage 1962 Memorabilia Original Map Ticket Book Car Park Ticket

With the immense success of both Disney World and Disneyland, many are often stunned when they learn that Walt Disney was an actual person and not just a fancy business name. The few who are aware of his humanity probably credit him with making the most famous rodents this world has ever seen: Micky Mouse and Minnie Mouse!   Walt Disney is also the creator of Peter Pan, Cinderella, Goofy, Donald Duck, and a host of other fictional characters. Walt Disney had one of the most fertile imaginations this world has ever seen.

This made him an innovator and pioneer who propelled the world of animation and graphic arts to new heights. Walt Disney has received numerous awards, including the Showman of the World Award from the National Association of Theatre Owners, Mexico’s Order of the Aztec Eagle, Brazil’s Order of the Southern Cross, Thailand’s Order of the Crown, France’s Legion of Honor and Officer d’Academie decorations and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Walt Disney has won more Academy Awards and nominations than anyone else in history! He has won 22 Oscar Awards and has been nominated for them 59 times. He also boasts an Emmy Award and two Golden Globe Special Achievement Awards. He has also received honorary degrees from UCLA, the University of Southern California, Yale, and Harvard.

The Library of Congress has also honored him by including several of his films in the National Film Registry. But the story of his life is greater than these popular animations that the world has grown to love and it is greater than these accolades, too. The story of his life is one of inspiration and motivation, and one that will surely bring a smile to your face. Walt Disney’s full name is actually Walter Elias Disney.  

He was born on December 5, 1901, on the 2^nd floor of a wooden cottage built by his parents. His mother was a public-school teacher named Flora Call Disney and his father was a building contractor, farmer, and peripatetic carpenter named Elias Disney. He is the fourth of five children and he showed an interest in painting and drawing from an early age. When Walt’s father abandoned his farming efforts and moved his family to Kansas City, Missouri, he soon started delivering newspapers and forced many of his sons to assist him, too. Walt quickly became enamored with the cartoon drawings in the newspapers and soon aspired to do the same. So, he started studying design and cartooning at the Kansas City Art Institute and School of Design. By 1917, the family was on the move again. This time they moved back to Chicago and enrolled Walt in the McKinley High School. While there, he continued his cartooning studies and he even made drawings for their school newspaper, too. Walt was determined to gain a job as a resident newspaper cartoonist but sadly those dreams were halted by the emergence of World War I. During the World War, Walt Disney dropped out of school at the age of 16 and tried to join the United States Army although he was underage. But they quickly detected his deception and rejected him immediately.

After that, he forged his birth certificate and gained a job as an ambulance driver for the Red Cross in 1918. They soon shipped him off to France, where he would decorate the side of his ambulance with his cartoons and even had some of his work featured in Stars and Stripes- the army’s newspaper. When he returned to Kansas City in October 1919, he found occasional employment as an inker and draftsman at the Pesmen-Rubin Commercial Art Studio. While there, he would draw commercial illustrations for their catalogs, theater programs, and their advertising. While there, he also met Ub Iwerks, an up-and-coming artist like himself. Ub Iwerks would later help to propel Walt Disney to greatness and help make him into the successful man we know today. The following year, Walt Disney decided to conquer his fears and pursue his dreams by starting Laugh-o-Gram Studios- his very first film studio. He started Laugh-o-Gram on June 28, 1921, and he convinced his friend Ub Iwerks to join him in creating cartoon magic there. It was located in Kansas City, Missouri at 1127 East 31^st on the 2^nd floor of the McConahay Building. While at Laugh-o-Gram, Walt Disney would be inspired to create many of the popular animations we know and love today but sadly, the company succumbed to its financial difficulties and had to file for bankruptcy in 1923. But Walt Disney did not let that dissuade him from continuing to pursue his dreams.

In the years that followed, he joined up with his brother, Roy O. Disney in Hollywood and continued to improve his craft. Together they formed the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio and made more animated films. He produced a whole series of Alice Comedies- short cartoons featuring a female character named Alice and her little cat named Julius having various adventures in animated landscapes. These caught the attention of Margaret J. Winkler, a film distributor from M. J. Winkler Productions who bought them at $1500/reel. In January 1926, they changed their business name to Walt Disney Studio and moved on to Hyperion Street. While at this location, they produced many new and intriguing characters, including Mickey Mouse. Yet Mickey Mouse wasn’t the first successful cartoon created by Walt Disney; his first successful character was actually Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Oswald was created after Walt entered an animation agreement with Universal Pictures in 1927.

Sadly, Walt lost his rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in 1928 and Universal Pictures continued to use his image to reap in millions. Walt Disney was devasted at the loss of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit but his sadness forced him to go back to the drawing board and create a character that would become even more successful than Oswald. Thus in 1928, Mickey Mouse was born! Back then, cartoons did not have sounds accompanying them and Walt Disney sought to change that with Mickey Mouse. He did and it was a massive success! Mickey Mouse took the world by storm, especially on the international scene. Soon Walt Disney was in a contract with Columbia Pictures for the distribution of Mickey Mouse cartoons and he even found himself experimenting with new technology, too. Technicolor was becoming popular in filming and Walt Disney wanted a piece of the cake! So he introduced the technology to animated films and even negotiated an exclusive contract for its use in his line of work that extended until August 31, 1935. Therefore, his competitors were barred from using Technicolor and had to settle for Cinecolor or other less impressive, competing color systems. It was during this time that the varying film awards started rolling in for his impressive short cartoons. But by 1934, Walt started growing bored with just creating short films and wanted to test the limits of his creativity by doing what no one before him had ever done. Walt wanted to create a feature-length cartoon complete with sound and full color and he chose Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs as the story he would use.

Many looked on and mocked him, believing it would run the company bankrupt…after all, it cost a whopping $1.5 million to create. But they were so very wrong- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was a massive success, grossing $6.5 million! After its premiere in December 1937, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs won multiple filming awards and was the most successful animated film to that date. And you know what they say….the rest was history! Walt Disney and his company went on to change the world of filming and animation as we know it and we continue to see its positive effects to this day. They have even ventured into the world of theme park creation and that has been a massive success, too! Disney World and Disneyland are two of the most popular theme parks in the world! One thing that is certain about Walt Disney and anything that he touched is that it is bound to leave you smiling and happy. You don’t have to venture to Disney World or watch one of his cartoons to have happiness today; you can simply purchase this Disney Vintage Memorabilia and you’ll be guaranteed happiness for life. Just take a look at it any time you are feeling down and remember Walt Disney’s story of determination, commitment, and eventual success and you’ll be motivated to conquer any challenge that may come your way. Grab your Walt Disney Memorabilia now before another one of our clients beats you to it!