Hello Whyvillians,
I am here to talk to you about the one and only Elias Walt Disney.
How far would you go to put smiles on other people's faces? Would you take
all of your time, and put all of your money into a project that might fail?
I know one man who did, and he went by the name of Elias Walt Disney.
Elias Walt Disney was born on December 5th, 1901, the fourth out
of five children. When Walt was only 16, he wanted to join the French army,
but was too young. So to do so, he lied about his age so they would recruit
him.
In the fall of 1919, Walt returned from France, determined to become an
artist. He moved into the old Disney house in Kansas City with his older
brothers, Roy and Herbert. Walt tried and tried to get a job as an artist,
but failed miserably. Then after about one year of consistent job
rejections, he was finally offered a job at the Kansas City Slide Company,
making animated commercials. However, Walt soon became tired of doing the
same thing all day, knowing that he was capable of better. So he decided to
start a company of his own.
He paid his father $5.00 a month to rent out the
garage and use it as his "office". In 1920, Elias and his brothers launched
the Disney Brothers Studio, and it didn't take long before the name became
famous around the world. Soon after, Elias met the love of his life; she
went by the name of Lillian Bounds.
When Walt had free time, he didn't do
much but draw many different characters, trying to find the perfect
character to make a television show out of. He finally found the perfect
character; it was a small mouse with black ears and a white face. He wanted to
call him Mortimer, but Lilly detested the name, and came up with "Mickey".
Mickey alone was soon bringing in enough money to hire
professional animators and trainees. Along with Mickey, there came Donald
Duck, Pluto, and Goofy. Not long after that, Walt Disney Land opened.
Elias Walt Disney did more to touch hearts, minds, and emotions of millions
around the world than any other man in this past century. In Walt's work, he
brought joy, happiness and love to everybody that saw it. Our world shall
know but one Elias Walt Disney.
I just thought you all should get a chance to know the history of Walt, and see
how he struggled to get to where he was. That shows real courage, and it
also goes to show that if you put your mind to something you really want to do, you
can accomplish anything.
I will now leave you with a joke. There were two mice trapped in a tub of
cream... the first mouse gave up and drowned, but the second mouse kept
fighting, turned that cream into butter, and crawled out. Elias was that
second mouse.
~GGbabe~