12 Interesting Facts About Disney

Film company The Walt Disney Company was founded on October 16, 1923. And since then, the Disney brand has become strongly associated with the colorful world of childhood. It was this company that released a collection of our favorite cartoons. It was thanks to Disney that the world-famous Disneyland Park was founded. What can we say, Walt Disney himself was an extremely atypical personality. Therefore, it was not difficult for us to find interesting facts about him and his offspring for you.

Genius without talent and ideas

Уолт Дисней, вне всяких сомнений, не только талантливый мультипликатор, но еще и опытный делец. Он основал великую империю и смог радикально изменить подход к созданию мультфильмов и развлечений для детей. Тем удивительней тот факт, что из небольшой газеты, где юный гений работал на заре своей карьеры, его выгнали из-за отсутствия таланта и идей. Кстати, уникальность мультипликатора бесспорна – он мог различать около 1500 оттенков цвета, в то время как лимит обычного человека — 150-200.

На смену кролику — мышь

Oswald the Rabbit was the first character drawn by Walt Disney. Perhaps he would also have brought success to his creator if the rights to him had not been stolen from the animator in the most brazen way. Such a blow in the back to Walt Disney was inflicted by his then partner, who was not eager to share the fees received. And although what happened was a blow to the animator, but on the same day he made a sketch of the now famous Mickey Mouse.

The famous voice of Mickey Mouse

Walt Disney began to create the first cartoons in the early 20s of the last century. These were black and white silent animations to match the technologies of those years. However, the cartoonist quickly realized that in order to be successful, he had to keep up with the progress. Thus begins work on the release of a sound cartoon. The first cartoon character to speak from the screen is the same Mickey Mouse. And he spoke, by the way, in the voice of Walt Disney himself.

Great Oscar Winner

The cartoonist received his first Oscar back in 1932 for the cartoon Silly Symphonies. This award was the first of 29 - this record has not yet been broken by anyone.

Highest grossing cartoon

Первым полнометражным мультфильмом в истории стала созданная Уолтом Диснеем анимированная картина «Белоснежка и семь гномов». Над ее созданием на протяжении трех лет работали больше 570 художников-мультипликаторов, которые ежегодно создавали миллионы рисованных кадров. Чтобы ускорить их работу Дисней разделил художников на группы – одни из них рисовали ключевые элементы, другие дополняли их деталями. Результат оказался соответствующим — долгое время мультфильм оставался самой кассовой кинолентой всех времен. Его прокат превысил $100 млн долларов, он же принес создателю и очередной Оскар.

Orange grove and amusement park

The idea of Disneyland was born after more and more people began to express their desire to visit the Walt Disney film studio to see with their own eyes how his amazing characters are created. Thus, the animator pledged all his property and even medical insurance, and in 1954 he bought 65 hectares of an orange grove in New Orleans with the proceeds, where he began the construction of an amusement park.

One of the most closed clubs in the world - in Disneyland

There is one place in Disneyland Park where they can legally sell alcohol. It is called Club 33 and is one of the most closed establishments in the world, where only a select few have access. In 1954, when the construction of the park was just beginning, Walt Disney did not have enough funding to implement all his plans. And then he turned to the largest US corporations with a proposal to invest in his offspring in exchange for placing their advertising in the park. Disneyland's first investors were "Coca-Cola","General Electric","Kodakand other companies. Their number then amounted to 33, in honor of which the club got its name. To date, anyone who agrees to pay regular membership fees can join the club. With one nuance - the number of club members cannot exceed 487 people, and therefore you will have to stand in line for at least 14 years.

No beards and mustaches

Another feature of Disneyland is that, until recently, its employees were forbidden to wear beards and mustaches. This was the decision of Walt Disney himself, who did not want visitors to be embarrassed by the untidy appearance of the park workers. For fifty years this rule has been inviolable, and only recently the ban on beards and mustaches was lifted. Although today's park management still approved the recommendations on which beards are acceptable and which are not.

Prototypes of cartoon characters

При создании тех или других мультфильмов Уолт Дисней и его мультипликаторы черпали идеи с реальных людей. Так, прототипами мамаши и братьев Гавс – бандитов из мультсериала «Утиные истории» — стали члены реально существовавшей в 30-е годы группировки. Кроме того, Алладин был срисован с Тома Круза, Джин – в Робина Уильямса, а Ариель – с Алисии Милано. Кстати, многие утверждают, что своего первого анимированного героя – Микки Мауса – Уолт Дисней срисовал с самого себя.

Cartoons are not for children

The Walt Disney Company also distinguished itself by creating educational cartoons. The animated film The Story Of Menstruation (“History of menstruation”), released with the participation of the manufacturer of feminine hygiene products Kontex, became such a cartoon. The cartoon was shown during school lectures on maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and over a hundred million American schoolchildren have watched it all the time.

Scandalous Lion King

Не обошлось в истории Disney и без скандалов. При этом, как ни странно, большинство из них оказались связаны с мультфильмом «Король лев». Первыми возмутились ученые, которые в корне были не согласны с тем, в каком свете в ленте были показаны гиены. Исследователи решили, что негативное представление об этих животных сможет навредить в итоге их популяции. Еще одной причиной чуть было не начавшихся судебных тяжб стало обвинение создателей мультика в плагиате. Как оказалось, картина по сюжету слишком сильно напоминала японское шоу «Кимба — Белый лев». Однако японцы от иска все-таки отказались, возможно, испугавшись опытных адвокатов компании.

Great Legacy

The heirs of Walt Disney are billionaires today. They own 535 branded stores around the world, hockey and baseball teams, print media, and a television channel. They regularly make a profit from amusement parks located in Japan, China and France. The founder of the empire himself died on December 15, 1966. To this day, flags are flown at half-mast over Disneyland to honor the great Walt Disney.