Can you imagine a world without Disney? Neither can I. But it very easily could have happened. Walt Disney was fired from his job in a newspaper because he “lacked imagination and had no good ideas”. After that he tried to start an animation company and approached MGM with a pitch to help him back it. They turned him down saying “no one would watch a talking mouse as it would scare the women.” But he persevered. He believed in his idea, in his passion and today…Walt Disney parks and resorts worldwide see 126,479,000 visitors a year!
Walt Disney ‘s goal was to make others happy by providing entertainment. His passion for drawing provided the path for him to achieve that goal. I wonder - is it a coincidence that Walt discovered his talents as an artist during the happiest times of his life (on the family farm in Missouri).
However it wasn't all plain sailing for Walt. His first attempt at producing cartoons failed and he went bankrupt. But he didn’t give up. He started an animation company with his brother and Mickey Mouse was born. Walt Disney describes him as ‘a little personality assigned to the purposes of laughter’. Walt was an experimenter and experimented with a colour cartoon that won an academy award.
Another project that won Walt an Oscar was initially dubbed ‘Disney’s folly’ and both his wife and his brother tried to convince him not to pursue it! The first colour, feature length film, Snow White and the seven dwarfs grossed $8 million on its initial release and is certainly my favourite Disney film. What would have happened if Walt had taken heed to his nearest and dearest at that point?
You’d think that owning your own animation and film studio with a couple of Oscar’s under his belt would be enough. Soon Walt Disney became obsessed with a new project: Disneyland. Biographer Leonard Mosley comments: "It had become the only thing in life that mattered to him, and animated cartoons -- any kind of films, in fact -- had totally, if temporarily, lost their savour for him."
Disneyland encompassed all the things that he loved and was fascinated by: adventure, fantasy, the past and the future. However, when Walt Disney, by then a very successful animator with his own studio with multiple Academy awards behind his name, tried to get funding for Disneyland he was turned down by around 400 banks. He heard over 400 no’s before he heard a yes. That didn't stop him so strong was his conviction and passion. Eventually he received the funding through a deal with ABC network – a different approach to earlier plans but he succeeded in the end!
There are so many lessons we can take from Walt Disney’s story. The three that resonate with me:
Follow your passion - no matter how many people think it’s ridiculous.
Be resilient – success is usually preceded by some failure.
Your dreams can evolve and change!
Walt Disney ‘s goal was to make others happy by providing entertainment. His passion for drawing provided the path for him to achieve that goal. I wonder - is it a coincidence that Walt discovered his talents as an artist during the happiest times of his life (on the family farm in Missouri).
However it wasn't all plain sailing for Walt. His first attempt at producing cartoons failed and he went bankrupt. But he didn’t give up. He started an animation company with his brother and Mickey Mouse was born. Walt Disney describes him as ‘a little personality assigned to the purposes of laughter’. Walt was an experimenter and experimented with a colour cartoon that won an academy award.
Another project that won Walt an Oscar was initially dubbed ‘Disney’s folly’ and both his wife and his brother tried to convince him not to pursue it! The first colour, feature length film, Snow White and the seven dwarfs grossed $8 million on its initial release and is certainly my favourite Disney film. What would have happened if Walt had taken heed to his nearest and dearest at that point?
You’d think that owning your own animation and film studio with a couple of Oscar’s under his belt would be enough. Soon Walt Disney became obsessed with a new project: Disneyland. Biographer Leonard Mosley comments: "It had become the only thing in life that mattered to him, and animated cartoons -- any kind of films, in fact -- had totally, if temporarily, lost their savour for him."
Disneyland encompassed all the things that he loved and was fascinated by: adventure, fantasy, the past and the future. However, when Walt Disney, by then a very successful animator with his own studio with multiple Academy awards behind his name, tried to get funding for Disneyland he was turned down by around 400 banks. He heard over 400 no’s before he heard a yes. That didn't stop him so strong was his conviction and passion. Eventually he received the funding through a deal with ABC network – a different approach to earlier plans but he succeeded in the end!
There are so many lessons we can take from Walt Disney’s story. The three that resonate with me:
Follow your passion - no matter how many people think it’s ridiculous.
Be resilient – success is usually preceded by some failure.
Your dreams can evolve and change!
2 comments:
ALso for me, don't give up. Keep at it, just becos something doesn't work today doesn't mean tomorrow will be the same!
Thanks Lenny for that insight, so true!
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