Michael Winicot - WALT DISNEY: CREATIVITY LESSONS: The great teachings of a huge innovator

Michael Winicott

CREATIVITY LESSONS

from

WALT DISNEY

The great teachings of a huge innovator

2015 by Michael Winicott.

2015 by UNITEXTO

All rights reserved

Published by UNITEXTO

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

He was a visionary, a legend and a folk hero of the 20th century who revolutionized the entertainment industry in a way that that nobody thought possible. He transformed animation into an art form and built a synergistic empire which combined television, music and theme parks. He was Walt Disney.

Following the vision of a better world he developed in his early years, he managed to create new reality meant to help people escape from the worries of everyday life. The steps he made and the actions he took transformed the world of animation and entertainment forever. Learning from ups and downs he eventually challenged the preexisting standards in art and business. He followed his motive and has proven his exceptionality to the world.

This book is designed to firstly guide you through the Walt Disneys life-changing situations and expose you to the highs and lows he encountered. Secondly it is meant to provide a deeper understanding of Disneys frame of mind and behavior that helped him to become a legend. Through his life-changing situations, we will pinpoint the morals of the stories that shaped and guided his actions which, combined with practical advices, can help you to start transforming your realities. This book, therefore, presents itself as a useful tool for bringing the knowledge and wisdom of this exceptional individual closer to you.

Finally, this book encapsulates illustrations the underlying mechanisms that propel creative thinking and behavior. It combines the knowledge learned from Walt Disneys life changing events with a multidimensional approach to explain the underlying mechanisms of creative thinking in behavior. With help of most recent findings from cognitive science and psychology it dismantles the connections between environmental influences, personal traits and creativity in the attempt to create a framework for realizing the importance of creativity on one side, and understanding how to apply its notions to increase creative output.

The knowledge accumulated within a lifetime of this great mind can therefore help you to understand your surrounding better and to take advantage of its opportunity in an effective manner that will allow your creativity to prosper and help you to overcome any obstacles in your life productively and efficiently.

1. Brief Summary of Walt Disneys life

Born on December 5, 1901 in Chicagos Hermosa community area to Irish-Canadian father and German-American mother Wald Disney was one of five children that carried out Eliass and Floras last name into the world. The farmland in Marceline, Missouri would present the playground of young Walt for next couple of years. It was there, surrounded with nature and closest family members, where he started to draw, paint, and even sell the pictures he made to neighbors and family friends.

After four years of rustic life the family moved to Kansas City in 1911. While Walt finished the second grade at Marceline, he had to repeat the grade at the Benton Grammar School. While shocked at first, he later found the opportunity to make the best of the situation. Soon he started to spend most Saturdays at Kansas City Art Institute, improving on his drawing skills and allowing his love for art in general to grow and flourish. Still subjected to the watching eye of his father, he started workingalongside with his brother Royon the delivery route for The Kansas City Star, which Elias purchased soon after they moved to the new city. Working most of the days delivering papers Walts grades suffered, but his love for drawing survived.

During the World War I Walt continue developing his drawing skills. The war theme was a perfect choice for this young patriot and soon he started to publish his patriotic cartoon in the high school newspaper. After his family moved yet again, this time to Chicago in 1917 when his father became a shareholder of a local factory, he was enrolled to McKinley High school. While perfecting his skills at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, the school was happy to give him the opportunity to display his passionate support for the troops in his own unique way. Helpful suggestions like Eat less so there could be more food for soldiers overseas! became a part of his routine.

Following his elder brother Roy, who joined the Navy, as well as Herbert and Ray who served in the army, Walt dropped out of high school with a hope to join the armed forces. The fact that he was only 16 at the time contributed to the rejection. However, he was able to find an alternative. One of his early artistic endeavors, where he changed the birth date on his passport, enabled him to join the Red Cross Ambulance Corps, which allowed 17 year-olds to join their operation.

After his time in France ended, Disney moved to Kansas City in 1919. His endeavors in the field of art made him rethink his future. The usual work routine just wasnt his cup of tea and he decided to pursue an artistic career. Political caricatures and comic books were his first attempt in getting an employment; however nobody wanted to hire him. By then he has already proven that he didnt care much about obstacles that might come his way. Together with his brother Roy he then started to create advertisements for newspapers and magazines at the local art studio. Being only 18 years of age he made his first solid steps into the business of animation.

It was in May 1922 when Walt prepared the paperwork to establish the Laugh-O-Gram Studio. His goal at this point was to create short animated movies for movie theaters and alike. The recruitment of his previous co-worker Fred Hartman followed and soon the first cartoons from the Laugh-O-Gram series were presented to the public. Their popularity grew and money started to pile.

However, the profits quickly dropped and after a short while they were simply insufficient to cover the operation costs of the studio and the paychecks for the employees. The lack of founds quickly started to sink the Studio deeper and deeper into debt.

In their final attempt the studio started to focus on Alice Comedies, a series of animated cartoons which firstly presented to the public the live action little girl Alice placed, together with her cat, in an animated environment.

While widely accepted as a cute and funny, the success of these 10-minute cartoons simply didnt reach the much needed level that the studio was aiming for. The financial situation continued to worsen and it didnt take long until Walt Disney went bankrupt.

Not yet twenty-two, with his suitcase in one hand and an unfinished print of the Alice Comedies in the other, the impoverished Disney left Kansas City and moved to Hollywood. Two months after his arrival in October 1923 he and his brother Roy, who was already living in California, set up a shop in their uncles garage. With barely having enough money between them for paying rent yet alone to start a new business, the venture seemed too daring. Tenacious as they were they found a place they could afford, a small room at the back of a real estate office. Roy took control of the camera, Walt did the animation and two girls hired to ink and paint the celluloids helped them to realize their ideas. The Disney Bros. Studio was born.

However the beginnings were rough and the brothers were in a search for assistance in reaching the public. Margaret Winkler, a distributer from New York, couldnt hide her enthusiasm and live-action animation based upon Alices Wonderland was made. The first of the new Allice series was delivered at the end of the year, and the studio earned the first paycheck. While the amount wouldnt even cover the average rent in todays time, it was enough for keeping Alice alive for years.