Bernice Selden [Selden - The Story of Walt Disney: Maker of Magical Worlds (Yearling Biography)

W hen Diane Disney was six years old she went to her father with a very important question. Are you Walt Disney? she asked.

Of course, darling, her father said. Who did you think I was?

What I mean is are you the famous Walt Disney who makes movies? Someone at school said you were.

Her father grinned and nodded.

Diane blushed. Then she held out a piece of paper and said, Can I have your autograph?

Taking out his fountain pen, Walt dashed off his famous signature with a flourish.

Oh, thank you, Daddy! she gasped. It was as if he had handed her the world.

The year was 1939, and by then Walt Disneys name was known around the globe. Whenever anyone thought of cartoons, it was Disney who came to mind. He was the creator of the lovable cartoon characters Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. He had been one of the first to successfully bring sound and color to movies. His Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, a full-length animated film, had been a smash success wherever it was shown. Hollywood had honored him with many Oscar awards for his outstanding work in the movie industry. Later in his life, he would create two of the most famous amusement parks in the world, Disneyland and Walt Disney World.

How did it all begin?

Walt was born in the year 1901 in a small town just outside of Chicago. Elias Disney, Walts father, was very active in his church. He not only gave the church what little money he could, he even climbed up on a ladder with hammer and nails and helped rebuild it. He was, at the time, a builder by trade.

The minister of the church, Walter Parr, discovered that Eliass wife, Flora, was expecting her fourth child at the same time that his own wife was expecting a child. This gave him an idea.

If your wife has a son, you name him after me, the minister said. And if my wife has one, we will christen him Elias, after you.

The boys were born within a day of each other and were named Elias Parr and Walter Elias Disney. There were already three boys in the family when Walt was born: Herbert, Raymond, and Roy. A girl, Ruth, was born two years later.

Walts childhood was not an easy one. As an adult he brought so much happiness to so many children, but he was not always a happy boy. The Disney family moved often from one town to another, so Walt spent his childhood in many different places. Pa always had ants in his pants, one of the sons said of Elias. He could never stay any place long enough to warm a seat.

No sooner did the children get used to life in a busy city than they would be hauled off to the countryside. And then, a few years later, they would find themselves back in the city again.

It was the town of Marceline, in Missouri, that Walt remembered most fondly. In 1906 when Walt was five years old, Elias bought forty-eight acres of farmland and filled it with cows, pigs, chickens, ducks, and pigeons. There was a beautiful green lawn in back of the house with weeping willow trees, and there were two big apple orchards.

We had every kind of apple you ever heard of, Walt remembered. There was one kind called Wolf River. Wolf River apples were tremendous in size. People came from miles around to see ours.

Each of the Disney children shared responsibilities on the farm. When Elias built the pigpen, it was five-year-old Walts job to keep his eye on the pigs. One pig, Porky, was especially fond of Walt. She came right up to the house and pressed her snout against the window to look for him.

Walt liked to sit on top of the pig, but she did not make it very easy for him to ride her. Walt would get on Porkys back, cling to her pointy ears, and together they would set out for a particularly muddy pool.

Porky would slosh into the water and plod halfway across. Then she would stand stock-still, give a shudder with her whole body, and settle straight down into the water. Smack into the murky mess Walt would go. Porky seemed to enjoy the joke, and Walt didnt seem to mind the mess!

Walt called the other farm animals by name also. There was a hen named Martha, who would come out of the henhouse when he called and lay an egg right in his hand. In the morning, when Walt walked to the barn, he would greet each animal he passed. These animals that Walt loved as a child were early inspirations for the unforgettable creatures that later came to life in his animated movies.

Another of his favorites was Rupert, a horse. Rupert belonged to Marcelines favorite doctor, old Doc Sherwood. The doctor was very friendly to Walt and often took him along in his buggy when he visited people who were sick.

Doc Sherwood knew that Walt had artistic talent. Once, Walt had taken a brush and some tar and drawn pictures of animals all over the white walls of the farmhouse. Walt was punished for drawing on the walls, but this incident gave Walts aunt an idea. She gave Walt a pad of paper and a box of pencils to encourage his artistic talenton paper!

One day, when Walt was about seven, Doc Sherwood invited him to bring his pencils and pad to his house. He wanted Walt to draw a portrait of Rupert the horse. He promised that if the picture was good, he would buy it for a nickel.

Rupert was restless that day, and Walt had to change positions many times to keep the horses profile in view. Finally he finished. The doctor pronounced the drawing very good and paid Walt the nickel. Even as a small boy, Walt was able to earn money by using his talent!

Life on the farm was usually happy for Walt. But sometimes it was hard. One year there was a long spell without rain. The Disney farm was not doing well. When nobody came to buy the familys apples, Walts mother started selling eggs and butter to people living nearby.

Times were so bad that Elias would not allow his own family to eat any of the butter that they churned. All of it was put aside to sell to others.