Walt Disney:Middle Life
Oswald andMickey
In 1921, Walt moved to Hollywood. That's where it all began. In 1927, his boss was Charles Mintz. Mintz told him to create a cartoon character, so Walt did. Mintz named it Oswald. Oswald was an immediate success. Walt asked Mintz if he could have a raise so he could improve the quality of the cartoon, but Mintz said no. Mintz took Oswald away from Disney.
After the tragedy of Oswald, that was when Disney created Mickey Mouse. Disney was going to name the mouse Mortimer, but his wife, Lillian, thought it wasn't a suitable name for a cute, lovable cartoon character.Walt came up with Mickey, but he had Ub Iwerks design him. The first cartoon to feature Mickey was called Plane Crazy. Mickey was an immediate success. Walt learned how to incorporate sound into cartoons, so he created a Mickey Mouse cartoon with sound in it. This cartoon was called Steamboat Willie.
Steamboat Willie
Feature-Length Movies
In 1934, Disney started planning Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Walt decided he wanted it to be longer than other cartoons, so he made it longer. It was the first cartoon to ever be a feature-length movie.This movie cost one million and four hundred dollars! Even though it was so expensive to make it, it made over eight million dollars in a year. It premiered in Hollywood at the Carthay Circle in December 21, 1937.
Before Snow White was released, Disney began planning more feature-length movies. He began to plan Pinocchio, Fantasia, and Bambi. Pinocchio and Fantasia would bring the studio forward in a different way. Pinocchio would bring the studio forward by enabling and encouraging artists to create an animated world. Pinocchio was released February 7, 1940. Fantasia would bring the studio forward by using classical pieces of music, and it was released November 13, 1940.
During World War II, Disney dropped every movie except Bambi. He was really devoted to this movie. He even had two fawns at the studio so the artists could observe them. Bambi was eventually released on August 21, 1942. It didn't make very much money because it was released only seven months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Once it was re-released, it was more successful.