Walt Disney

Expanding into new areas
As Walt Disney Productions began work on Disneyland, it also began expanding its other entertainment operations. Treasure Island (1950) became the studio's first all-live-action feature, and was soon followed by such successes as 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (in CinemaScope, 1954), The Shaggy Dog (1959), and The Parent Trap (1961). The Walt Disney Studio was one of the first to take full advantage of the then-new medium of television, producing its first TV special, One Hour in Wonderland, in 1950. Disney began hosting a weekly anthology series on ABC named Disneyland after the park, where he showed clips of past Disney productions, gave tours of his studio, and familiarized the public with Disneyland as it was being constructed in Anaheim, California. In 1955, he debuted the studio's first daily television show, the popular Mickey Mouse Club, which would continue in many various incarnations into the 1990s.


Walt Disney meets with Wernher von Braun.As the studio expanded and diversified into other media, Disney devoted less of his attention to the animation department, entrusting most of its operations to his key animators, whom he dubbed the Nine Old Men. During Disney's lifetime, the animation department created the successful Lady and the Tramp (in CinemaScope, 1955), One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961), the financially disappointing Sleeping Beauty (in Super Technirama 70mm, 1959) and The Sword in the Stone (1963).

Production on the short cartoons had kept pace until 1956, when Disney shut down the shorts division. Special shorts projects would continue to be made for the rest of the studio's duration on an irregular basis. Disney's mind was set toward expansion, and he wanted to make longer films.

These productions were all distributed by Disney's new subsidiary, Buena Vista Distribution, which had assumed all distribution duties for Disney films from RKO by 1955. Disneyland, one of the world's first theme parks, finally opened on July 17, 1955, and was immediately successful. Visitors from around the world came to visit Disneyland, which contained attractions based upon a number of successful Disney properties and films. After 1955, the Disneyland TV show became known as Walt Disney Presents. The show went from black-and-white to color in 1961 — changing its name to Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color — and eventually evolved into what is today known as The Wonderful World of Disney, which continued to air on ABC until 2005, when it ceased as a regular series, due in part to premium pay-cable rights currently held by the Starz! movie network. Since 2005, Disney features have been split between ABC, the Hallmark Channel, and Cartoon Network via separate broadcast rights deals. It currently airs periodically, with features such as the December 2005 revivial of Once Upon a Mattress.

During the mid-1950s, Disney produced a number of educational films on the space program in collaboration with NASA rocket designer Wernher von Braun: Man in Space and Man and the Moon in 1955, and Mars and Beyond in 1957. The films attracted the attention of not only the general public, but also the Soviet space program.

The TV series and book Our Friend the Atom (1956, together with Heinz Haber) were produced as part of an effort by the Eisenhower administration to enhance the image of nuclear energy.


Early 1960s successes

(Left to right) Robert B. Sherman, Richard M. Sherman and Walt Disney sing "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" (1964)By the early 1960s, the Disney empire was a major success, and Walt Disney Productions had established itself as the world's leading producer of family entertainment. After decades of trying, Disney finally procured the rights to P.L. Travers' books about a magical nanny. Mary Poppins, released in 1964, was the most successful Disney film of the 1960s and featured a memorable song score written by Disney favorites the Sherman Brothers. Many hailed the live-action/animation combination feature as Disney's greatest achievement. The same year, Disney debuted a number of exhibits at the 1964 New York World's Fair, including Audio-Animatronic figures, all of which were later integrated into attractions at Disneyland and a new theme park project to be established on the east coast, which Disney had been planning ever since Disneyland opened.


Ski resorts
Walt Disney first showed interest in ski resorts with his investment in Sugar Bowl Ski Resort in the 1930s. However, his interest was brought to a new level in the 1960s when he commissioned plans for Disney's Mineral King Ski Resort. Official plans for the resort were announced just months before his death. The project was eventually canceled due to heavy protest from many environmental organizations, most notably the Sierra Club. The 1970s saw yet another set of Disney plans for a ski resort, in Independence Lake near San Francisco. Like the Mineral King plans, the Independence Lake project was scrapped for many of the same reasons. There are plans for two more new ski resorts to open in 2008.


"Florida Project"
In 1964, Walt Disney Productions began quietly purchasing land in central Florida west of Orlando in a largely rural area of marginal orange groves for Disney's "Florida Project." Disney did so under the mask of many fake companies, in order to keep the price of land as low as he could. As soon as the word got out that Disney was purchasing the land, however, the prices immediately rose. The company acquired over 27,000 acres (109 km²) of land, and arranged favorable state legislation which would provide unprecedented quasi-governmental control over the area to be developed in 1966, founding the Reedy Creek Improvement District. Disney and his brother Roy then announced plans for what they called "Disney World."


Plans for Disney World and EPCOT
Disney World was to include a larger, more elaborate version of Disneyland to be called the Magic Kingdom, and would also feature a number of golf courses and resort hotels. The heart of Disney World, however, was to be the Experimental Prototype City (or Community) of Tomorrow, or EPCOT for short. EPCOT was designed to be an operational city where residents would live, work, and interact using advanced and experimental technology, while scientists would develop and test new technologies to improve human life and health.


Death of Walt Disney

Walt Disney's grave site.Songwriter Robert B. Sherman said about the last time he saw Walt Disney:

He was up in the third floor of the animation building after a run-through of The Happiest Millionaire. He usually held court in the hallway afterward for the people involved with the picture. And he started talking to them, telling them what he liked and what they should change, and then, when they were through, he turned to us and with a big smile, he said, 'Keep up the good work, boys.' And he walked to his office. It was the last we ever saw of him. [4]

Disney's involvement in Disney World ended in late 1966; after many years of chain-smoking, he was diagnosed with cancer in his left lung. He was checked into the St. Joseph's Hospital across the street from the Disney Studio lot and his health began to deteriorate, causing him to suffer cardiac arrest.

Walter Elias Disney died on December 15, 1966, ten days after his 65th birthday. He was cremated on December 17, 1966 at the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California. Roy Disney continued to carry out the Florida project, insisting that the name be changed to Walt Disney World in honor of his brother. Roy O. Disney died just three months after the Magic Kingdom opened for business in 1971.

There has been a long-standing urban legend that after his death, Disney was cryogenically frozen so he may be revived at a later date. However, this has been refuted on numerous occasions. In fact, Disney was cremated, and his ashes were interred at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Los Angeles, CA.

A similar myth has sprung up that shortly after his death, top Disney executives were shown a film that Disney made shortly before his death, that basically outlines the company's strategies for the next five (or ten) years. To bolster the story, pictures (or perhaps a short clip) of Walt planning EPCOT is shown. This is also just a rumor. The footage is from a pitch film Walt made to promote the building of EPCOT. According to www.snopes.com, Disney really didn't like talking about death, and wouldn't even go to funerals of close friends. Also, Walt was not a member the Disney board at the time of his death, so he really would not have had much of a say in anything. According to Snopes, Disney was treated more or less as an independent contractor.

Continuing the vision
Roy O. Disney returned from retirement to take full control of Walt Disney Productions and WED Enterprises. He still refused to talk about his brother, and his grief, though rarely shown to other people, lasted until his death in 1971. In October of that year, their families met in front of Cinderella's Castle at the Magic Kingdom to officially open the Walt Disney World Resort. After an orchestra made up of over 66 countries performed a medley of Disney music, Roy stepped up to the podium.

After giving his dedication for Walt Disney World, he then asked Lillian Disney to join him. As the orchestra played "When You Wish Upon a Star", she stepped up to the podium accompanied by Mickey Mouse. He then said, "Lilly, you knew all of Walt's ideas and hopes as well as anybody; what would Walt think of it [Walt Disney World]?". "I think Walt would have approved," she replied. Roy died from a cerebral hemorrhage in December, the day he was due to open the Disneyland Christmas parade.

When the second phase of the Walt Disney World theme park was built, EPCOT was translated by Walt Disney's successors into EPCOT Center, which opened in 1982. As it currently exists, Epcot is essentially a living world's fair, a far cry from the actual functional city that Disney had envisioned. In 1992 Walt Disney Imagineering took the step closer to Walt's vision and dedicated Celebration, Florida, a town built by the Walt Disney Company adjacent to Walt Disney World, that harkens back to the spirit of EPCOT. EPCOT was also originally intended to be devoid of Disney characters which initially limited the appeal of the park to young children. The company later changed this policy. The sale of alcoholic beverages is also permitted at EPCOT, something never allowed in the Magic Kingdom.


The Disney entertainment empire
Today, Walt Disney's animation/motion picture studios and theme park have developed into a multi-billion dollar television, motion picture, vacation destination and media corporation that carries his name. The Walt Disney Company today owns, among other assets, five vacation resorts, eleven theme parks, two water parks, thirty-nine hotels, eight motion picture studios, six record labels, eleven cable television networks, and one terrestrial television network.


Disney Animation today
Traditional hand-drawn animation, with which Walt Disney built the success of his company, no longer continues at the Walt Disney Feature Animation studio. After a stream of financially unsuccessful traditionally-animated features in the late-1990s and early 2000s, the two satellite studios in Paris and Orlando were closed, and the main studio in Burbank was converted to a computer animation production facility. In 2004, Disney released their final traditionally animated feature film, Home on the Range. The DisneyToons studio in Australia, which produced lower-budget traditionally animated films, at first appeared to survive the purge, but its closing was announced in July 2005.

Only recently, with the Disney purchase of Pixar Animation, has there been talk of reviving the traditional style of animation for which Disney has been famous. New head of Disney animation John Lasseter commissioned veteran Disney animator James Baxter to produce an animated test sequence for Disney chief Robert Iger in February of 2006. If approved, the film based on this test sequence, called Frog Princess, will be released in 2007.[citation needed]


CalArts
Disney devoted substantial time in his later years funding The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), which was formed in 1961 through a merger of the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music and the Chouinard Art Institute, which had helped in the training of the animation staff during the 1930s. When he died, one fourth of his estate went towards CalArts, which greatly helped the building of its campus. He also donated 38 acres (154,000 m²) of the Golden Oaks ranch in Valencia for the school to be built on. CalArts moved onto the Valencia campus in 1971.

Lillian Disney devoted much of her time after her husband died to pursuing CalArts and organized hundreds of fund raising events for the university in her late husband's honor (as well as funding the Walt Disney Symphony Hall). After Lillian's passing, the legacy continued with daughter Diane and husband Ron continuing the tradition. CalArts is one of the largest independent universities in California today, mostly because of the contributions of the Disney's.


Academy Awards
Among many awards, Walt Disney holds the record for having the most Academy Awards. 22 won, and 4 honorary.

1969 Best Short Subject, Cartoons for: Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day
1959 Best Short Subject, Live Action Subjects for: Grand Canyon
1956 Best Documentary, Short Subjects for: Men Against the Arctic
1955 Best Documentary, Features for: The Vanishing Prairie (1954)
1954 Best Documentary, Features for: The Living Desert (1953)
Best Documentary, Short Subjects for: The Alaskan Eskimo (1953)
Best Short Subject, Cartoons for: Toot Whistle Plunk and Boom (1953)
Best Short Subject, Two-reel for: Bear Country (1953)
1953 Best Short Subject, Two-reel for: Water Birds (1952)
1952 Best Short Subject, Two-reel for: Nature's Half Acre (1951)
1951 Best Short Subject, Two-reel for: Beaver Valley (1950)
1949 Best Short Subject, Two-reel for: Seal Island (1948)
1943 Best Short Subject, Cartoons for: Der Fuehrer's Face (1942)
1942 Best Short Subject, Cartoons for: Lend a Paw (1941)
Honorary Award for: Fantasia (1940)
Shared with: William E. Garity J.N.A. Hawkins For their outstanding contribution to the advancement of the use of sound in motion pictures through the production of Fantasia (certificate).

Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award
1940 Best Short Subject, Cartoons for: Ugly Duckling (1939)
1939 Best Short Subject, Cartoons for: Ferdinand the Bull (1938)
Honorary Award for: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
For Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, recognized as a significant screen innovation which has charmed millions and pioneered a great new entertainment field (one statuette - seven miniature statuettes).

1938 Best Short Subject, Cartoons for: The Old Mill (1937)
1937 Best Short Subject, Cartoons for: The Country Cousin (1936)
1936 Best Short Subject, Cartoons for: Three Orphan Kittens (1935)
1935 Best Short Subject, Cartoons for: The Tortoise and the Hare (1934)
1934 Best Short Subject, Cartoons for: Three Little Pigs (1933)
1932 Best Short Subject, Cartoons for: Flowers and Trees (1932)
Honorary Award For the creation of Mickey Mouse.

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