The company's trajectory has fluctuated through its long history, but at its highest points, it has left its mark in more than one way. The Walt Disney Company has earned multiple times the leading position in animation. Still, it has transformed into a global behemoth with a more than substantial presence in numerous industries, from theme parks and cruise lines to live-action film production to consumer products. Disney is an excellent example of a company that is more than the sum of its parts.
Today his name is recognizable globally, and mentioning it awakens feelings of joy and wonder to adults and children alike. Walt Disney was born in in Chicago, Illinois, and developed an interest in art and drawing from a very young age. When he was 4 years old, his family moved to a farm outside of Marceline, a place where young Walt was exposed to nature, animals, and the small-town life that sparked his imagination and allowed it to expand and run wild.
At just the age of seven, he sold his first drawings. Due to financial troubles, two years later, he started helping his father deliver newspapers. However, he continued honing his drawing skills and developing his art education. At the age of 18, he had his first encounter with animation in Pesman Art Studio, where he met a fellow artist named Ub Iwerks. Disney and Iwerks soon had a failed attempt at creating their own commercial company, and later on, Disney founded another company, a film studio, where he employed Iwerks, among others, as an animator.
In Disney had to declare bankruptcy due to high costs, resulting in his second entrepreneurial attempt. One of the first such productions. Disney worked on the series until , with his friend and former partner Iwerks producing more than 50 films.
However, during negotiations, he realized that he had painted himself to a corner, signing away all of the rights for Oswalt when he accepted the contract and losing all of his animators, except for Iwerks, to Universal Studios. Disney and Iwerks went on and created Mickey Mouse as an answer, retaining all the rights this time. Disney lent his voice to Mickey and Iwerks drew him. Actually, the film was so successful and significant as an innovation that in was added to the National Film Registry by the United States Library of Congress.
