5 Magical Facts About the History of Disney
Since its humble start in the early 1920s, Walt Disney’s namesake company has evolved into a global powerhouse that has shaped the world of animation, film, television, and theme parks throughout the past century. From the creation of such beloved characters as Mickey Mouse to groundbreaking achievements in animation and film with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Walt lived to see many of his accomplishments get their deserved due. But even an imagination as vivid as Walt’s couldn’t have conceived of the impact his company would continue to have: The Walt Disney Company now includes a global media empire, a vast array of beloved characters, and theme parks all around the world. Here are five fun facts that help illustrate the vast influence of this beloved company.
Before Mickey Mouse, There Was Oswald the Rabbit
Walt Disney’s entertainment empire is known as the “House of Mouse” thanks to Mickey, but at one point Disney’s most famous critter was a rabbit. In the mid-1920s, Walt, together with his trusted collaborator, animator Ub Iwerks, produced the Alice Comedies, a combination live-action and animation series. In 1927, after five years on the series, Walt made a deal with Universal Studios to create an all-new, fully animated series. Universal chose the name Oswald for the main character out of a hat, and decided it should be a rabbit since there were already too many feline stars on the scene, including the famous Felix the Cat and even Julius the Cat, from Walt’s own Alice Comedies.
Universal rejected Walt and Iwerks’ initial Oswald design because the character looked too old and tired. The two animators revised Oswald to be more affable and dynamic, laying the groundwork for a character that bore a striking resemblance to the figure we now know as Mickey Mouse. The new-and-approved Oswald the Lucky Rabbit debuted on September 5, 1927, in a short called Trolley Troubles, and audiences and critics took to the rabbit right away. The film’s success prompted Walt and Iwerks to produce more Oswald films, but the partnership with Universal — and with Oswald — was short-lived. Disputes with studio exec Charles Mintz led to Walt’s departure from the studio in 1928, and his newest character was left behind. Shortly after, however, the newly named Walt Disney Company began working on something else. Iwerks put the first Mickey Mouse sketches to paper at around the same time films started synchronizing voices and music. The Disney team debuted Mickey in a film called Steamboat Willie in November 1928, and over the next year, Mickey Mouse became a household name.
Mickey Mouse’s First Words Were “Hot Dog”
In 1929, one year and eight films after Mickey Mouse made his on-screen debut, the character entered the world of “talkies” — the name given to early films with spoken dialogue. In the 1929 cartoon short film The Karnival Kid, directed by Walt Disney and Iwerks, Mickey works as a hot dog vendor at a carnival, where he meets Minnie Mouse. As Mickey struggles to announce his cart’s offerings to the bustling crowd, his voice finally breaks through as he exclaims, “Hot dog! Hot dog!”
In previous films, Mickey had only made sounds such as whistling or laughing, which were voiced by Walt himself. But in The Karnival Kid, those first spoken words belonged to Carl Stalling, the Walt Disney Company’s first music director (he later went on to compose scores for Looney Tunes). Minnie Mouse, who captivated Mickey’s attention as a “shimmy dancer” in the film, was voiced by Walt; he also later took back sole voicing duties for Mickey until 1946.
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Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Was Disney’s First Feature-Length Animated Film
Throughout the 1930s, Mickey Mouse and a growing cast of characters were both popular and lucrative for the Disney company, but in 1937, Walt debuted his most impressive creative and financial achievement yet. On December 21 — after three years of production, discouragement from critics (as well as Walt’s wife, Lillian), and Walt’s choice to mortgage his home to help pay for it — Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs premiered to a rapt Hollywood crowd. After its U.S.-wide release on February 4, 1938, it went on to change Walt’s company, and Hollywood, forever.
Based on the fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm, Snow White featured innovative techniques such as Walt’s proprietary multiplane camera and the use of Technicolor. It also broke new ground in the way of musical comedy, memorable characters, and emotional storytelling that defined many of the studio’s classics for decades to come. The film quickly grossed $8 million (equal to almost $165 million today) — more than any film before it. In 1939, the film was honored with a special Academy Award for being “a significant screen innovation which has charmed millions and pioneered a great new entertainment field for the motion picture cartoon”; the award featured a full-size Oscar statue and seven “dwarf” statuettes. Walt used the profit from what had been known as “Disney’s Folly” to build Disney’s new studio in Burbank, California, where the company still operates.
EPCOT Was Originally Supposed to Be a Futuristic City
EPCOT, which stands for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, was originally conceived by Walt Disney not as a theme park, but as a utopian city where people would live and work, that would showcase the latest innovations in technology, urban planning, and social organization. Walt first announced his intention to build EPCOT in October 1966, but after his death just two months later, on December 15, his plans were significantly scaled down before more or less being scrapped altogether.
EPCOT opened in 1982 as the second of four theme parks in the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, and it does retain some elements of Disney’s futuristic vision, such as the iconic Spaceship Earth attraction, depicting the history of human communication, and the monorail that transports guests around the park. Walt’s dream city may not have materialized, but the concept is still referenced by modern smart city proponents, and EPCOT remains a place that inspires curiosity.
Walt Disney Had His Own Apartment at Disneyland
In 1954, even though he was busy helming his latest animation project, Lady and the Tramp, Walt Disney was known to frequently make the 37-mile drive from Disney’s Burbank studio to Anaheim, California, where Disneyland was being built. He spent a considerable amount of time on site, working, overseeing the park's construction, and trying to get rest when he could, and so he had his own apartment built at the park.
Located on top of the firehouse on Main Street, U.S.A., and overlooking Disneyland’s town square, the apartment was also the perfect place for Walt to delight in watching the park’s guests enjoy his vision after it opened in July 1955. Emile Kuri, an Academy Award-winning set designer for his work on Disney’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, was hired to design and furnish Walt’s home away from home. Its Victorian-era decor captured the nostalgic charm of Main Street, and after Walt’s death in 1966, the apartment was preserved as a tribute to the park’s founder. To this day, a lamp remains lit in the apartment’s window at all times in his honor.
