Walt Disney arrived in California in the summer of 1923 with a cartoon about a little girl in a cartoon world, called Alice’s Wonderland. After a while with no success, Walt and his brother, Roy, started the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, later to become known as Walt Disney Studio.
6 years later, Walt came up with a new character, known as Mortimer Mouse. At his wife’s suggestion, Walt changed the name to Mickey Mouse and made 2 short silent films with Mickey. However, they did terrible. No one wanted to watch movies with no sound at a time when movies with sound were revolutionizing the industry. So, as a last resort, they made a third Mickey Mouse cartoon, this time with full sound, and Steamboat Willie gained fame in New York, November 18, 1928. Everyone fell in love with the little mouse with the big personality!
In 1934, Walt Disney and his animators decided that they were going to make an animated feature film- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. This movie did extremely well at the box office, and became the highest grossing movie of all time (until Gone With the Wind).
Walt Disney died December 15, 1966, but plans that Walt left behind carried the company for a number of years under the supervision of Roy Disney, and many other imagineers after him.
From then on, the Walt Disney Studio did extremely well. It seemed like every movie they put out topped the last one. The Little Mermaid was topped by Beauty and the Beast which was in turn topped by Aladdin (1992).
In May 2006, Disney made a major purchase of Pixar Animation Studios. In June of that year, Cars was released, only to be topped by Pirates of the Caribbean in July.
For over 90 years, Disney movies have been a staple in houses all over the world. From it’s humble beginnings of 2 brothers drawing in a cramped apartment to being one of the world’s biggest businesses, Walt Disney Studios continues to provide joy and laughter to families all around the globe.
For more information, check out the official website of Walt Disney Animation Studios.
Disney Easter Eggs 