movies - walt disney & disney studios
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney
1901 - 1966
Disney's father, Elias, was Canadian -- born in Huron County, Ontario. Walt was born in Chicago, served in the first world war after altering his documents, and later returned to Kansas City. There with Ub Iwerks (who later almost single-handedly created Mickey Mouse), Disney set up Iwerks-Disney Commercial Artists. The company made crude animated films that were shown in local theatres.
When Iwerks-Disney went broke, Walt moved to Hollywood with his brother Roy. Their Disney Brothers Studio operation caught on by creating one of the first cartoons with sound, Steamboat Willie, in 1928. Four years later, Disney created the first colour cartoon, a Silly Symphony called Flowers and Trees. In 1938, Disney released Snow White, the first feature-length animated film. Soon came Fantasia, live action features, a weekly television show and Disneyland. Disney died before seeing two of his other grand visions come true, EPCOT and Disneyworld.
Much has been said both for and against Disney as an animator. Perhaps he was a better showman, hiring the right people to work behind him and acting instead as the friendly corporate spokesman. The sites on this page explore all sides of the Disney empire but they all agree that he was one of the most pivotal forces in mass entertainment of the twentieth century.
walt disney | disney studio operations | walt disney's work | weird disney | final credits
Walt Disney
- Walt Disney
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. - Walt Disney Family Museum
The Walt Disney Family Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1995, strives to promote and produce serious discussion, writing, and scholarship about the life, work, and philosophy of Walt Disney. - Walt's Biography
From the Walt Disney Family Museum. - Walt Disney: A Biography
From Vault Disney. - Walt Disney, Biography
From JustDisney.com
Walt Disney Studio Operations
- The Walt Disney Company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. - The Walt Disney Company
Official home page. - The Walt Disney Company
Official corporate site. - The Walt Disney Studios History
From Disney Online. - The Walt Disney Studios
Go behind the scenes at Disney's Burbank production and post-production studios. - Who Owns What: The Walt Disney Company
This Columbia Journalism Review site tells you it ain't no Mickey Mouse operation.
Walt Disney's Work
- Donald Duck
The Wikipedia entry for one of the most identifiable voices in all of animation. - Donald Duck
Donald Duck's entry at Patrick A. Malone's Encyclopedia of Disney Animated Shorts. - Toonopedia's Donald Duck
Don Markstein's comprehensive hypertext encyclopedia of Donald Duck cartoons. - Who's Who In Duckburg
Sigvald Grøsfjeld Jr.'s near-genealogical guide to the characters of Duckburg, Donald's comic book hometown. - Mickey Mouse
The Wikipedia entry for one of the most recognizable symbols in the world. - Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse's entry at Patrick A. Malone's Encyclopedia of Disney Animated Shorts. - Toonopedia's Mickey Mouse
Don Markstein's comprehensive hypertext encyclopedia of Mickey Mouse cartoons. - Mickey & Friends
From the official Disney site. - Mickey Mouse Universe
The Wikipedia guide to the characters of Mouston. - Silly Symphonies
The Wikipedia entry for Disney's experimental animation platform. - Silly Symphonies
The Silly Symphonies entry at Patrick A. Malone's Encyclopedia of Disney Animated Shorts. - Toonopedia's Silly Symphonies
Don Markstein's comprehensive hypertext encyclopedia of Silly Symphonies cartoons. - Big Cartoon DataBase
It's a database and it's big -- Dave Koch has cast, crew list and episode guides for over 3,500 Disney films, shorts and TV shows. - Disney Archives
From Vault Disney - complete A-Z listings of movies, characters and villains. - Disney's Animated Classics
Arnold E. van Beverhoudt's extensive tribute to Walt's work. - Disneyland
From Brad Aldridge's JustDisney.com - Encyclopedia of Disney Animated Shorts
Patrick A. Malone covers all the Disney shorts made from 1922 to the present. It's a big site so use the site map to get around. - Fantasound
The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers' Virtual Museum discusses the innovations of Disney's "Fantasia." - Magical Ears
A well-done tribute to the works of Disney. Check their Magical Informer sister site for all the latest news. - Toonopedia's The Walt Disney Company
Don Markstein's comprehensive hypertext encyclopedia of Disney cartoons. - Walt Disney Feature Animation
Tribute site.
Donald Duck
Mickey Mouse
Silly Symphonies
Other Works
Weird Disney
- The Disney Blog
Things aren't so rosy in the magic kingdom after all. Site is run by John Frost, whose grandfather was early Disney Imagineer Vic Greene. - Disney Urban Legends
If the story came from a friend of a friend, check it out here first. Snopes.com has divided the legends into the categories of Walt Disney, Disney Films, Disney Theme Parks and The Walt Disney Company. - Evil Disney
The ugly stories that they don't want you to know about. From Anomalies-Unlimited. - Is It True That Walt Disney's Body Is Frozen?
Yahoo! provide the answer. For more about this tale, visit Snopes.com - Song Of The South
Christian E. Willis is campaigning to have Disney put this title back on the market. Read the FAQ to get caught up on this story. - Testimony of Walter E. Disney Before the House Committee On Un-American Activities
In 1947, Walt Disney testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee and named several of his employees as Communist sympathizers. Disney's decision to expose his staff likely came from his dislike and distrust of labor unions. In 1941, the Disney Studios underwent a strike which may have caused some lingering animosity.
Final Credits
Since the inception of this web site, numerous figures who worked for or with the Disney empire have passed away. Below are links to this site's obituaries.
- Daniel Branca - animator.
- Salvador 'Tutti' Camarata - co-founder and musical director of Disneyland Records.
- Richard Eastham - character actor, appeared in "Toby Tyler" and "That Darn Cat!"
- John Fiedler - voice of Piglet.
- Vance Gerry - layout artist and writer.
- Joe Grant - animation writer.
- Kurt Graunke - music conductor on "Peter and the Wolf," "Make Mine Music" and "Grand Canyon."
- Milas C. Hinshaw - cinematographer, "The Wonderful World of Disney" and "Walt Disney Presents."
- Robie Lester - voice actor, singer.
- Campbell M. Lucas - judicial referee in the dispute between Disney and former executive Jeffrey Katzenberg.
- Ruth Manning - actress.
- Jaime Mendoza-Nava - composed music for "The Mickey Mouse Club" and "Zorro."
- John Parr Miller - illustrator, helped create characters for "Pinocchio," "Fantasia" and "Dumbo."
- Thurl Ravenscroft - voice actor (also the Voice of Tony the Tiger).
- Romano Scarpa - Italian creator for Disney comics.
- Robert J. Schiffer - makeup artist.
- Steve Susskind - voice actor.
- Kathrine Victor - actress and animation checker.
- Ruth Warrick - actress/voice actor.
- Paul Winchell - voice of Tigger (also invented the artificial heart).
Inactive and Archived
- Just Disney
Brad Aldridge's guide to all things Disney. Not updated since August 2002.
Elsewhere On The Web
- dmoz Open Directory Project - Disney Studios
- dmoz Open Directory Project - Walt Disney Pictures
- Google Directory - Disney Studios
- Yahoo Directory - Disney Studios