Walt Disney: A Short Biography

 

 (a condensed version of the Long

Biography)

Walt Disney was born on December 5, 1901 in Chicago Illinois, to his

father Elias Disney, and mother Flora Call Disney. Walt was one of five children,

four boys and a girl.

After Walt's birth, the Disney family moved to Marceline Missouri, Walt

lived most of his childhood here.

Walt had very early interests in art, he would often sell drawings to

neighbors to make extra money. He pursued his art career, by studying art and

photography by going to McKinley High School in Chicago.

Walt began to love, and appreciate nature and wildlife, and family and

community, which were a large part of agrarian living. Though his father could be

quite stern, and often there was little money, Walt was encouraged by his mother,

and older brother, Roy to pursue his talents.

During the fall of 1918, Disney attempted to enlist for military service.

Rejected because he was under age, only sixteen years old at the time. Instead,

Walt joined the Red Cross and was sent overseas to France, where he spent a year

driving an ambulance and chauffeuring Red Cross officials. His ambulance was

covered from stem to stern, not with stock camouflage, but with Disney cartoons.

Once Walt returned from France, he began to pursue a career in

commercial art. He started a small company called Laugh-O-Grams, which

eventually fell bankrupt. With his suitcase, and twenty dollars, Walt headed to

Hollywood to start anew.

After making a success of his "Alice Comedies," Walt became a

recognized Hollywood figure. On July 13, 1925, Walt married one of his first

employees, Lillian Bounds, in Lewiston, Idaho. Later on they would be blessed

with two daughters, Diane and Sharon .

In 1932, the production entitled Flowers and Trees(the first color cartoon)

won Walt the first of his studio's Academy Awards. In 1937, he released The Old

Mill, the first short subject to utilize the multi-plane camera technique.

On December 21, 1937, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first full-

length animated musical feature, premiered at the Carthay Theater in Los Angeles.

The film produced at the unheard cost of $1,499,000 during the depths of the

Depression, the film is still considered one of the great feats and imperishable

monuments of the motion picture industry. During the next five years, Walt

Disney Studios completed other full-length animated classics such as Pinocchio,

Fantasia, Dumbo, and Bambi.

Walt Disney's dream of a clean, and organized amusement park, came

true, as Disneyland Park opened in 1955. Walt also became a television pioneer,

Disney began television production in 1954, and was among the first to present

full-color programming with his Wonderful World of Color in 1961.

Walt Disney is a legend; a folk hero of the 20th century. His worldwide

popularity was based upon the ideals which his name represents: imagination,

optimism, creation, and self-made success in the American tradition. He brought

us closer to the future, while telling us of the past, it is certain, that there will

never be such as great a man, as Walt Disney.

A Brief Pablo Picasso BiographyBy: Rachel Mork

This Pablo Picasso biography will give you an idea of who Picasso was, both as an artist and as a person. Picasso lived a colorful life, full of rich experiences paralleled only by his famous paintings.

1881-1899Picasso was born in 1881 in Spain. His birth name is 23 words long; the family called him Ruiz, not Pablo, when he was a boy.

His father taught drawing at a local Fine Arts school, which allowed Picasso to receive formal drawing and painting lessons from a very young age. In 1895, Picasso's father got a job at the School of Fine Arts in Barcelona. The professors at the school immediately recognized Picasso's talent; the young Picasso was accepted into the school and passed exams with comparable ratings to senior students.

At the tender age of 15, Picasso's famous oil painting "The First Communion" went on display in an exhibition in Barcelona. A year later, his painting "Science and Charity" won a competition in Malega. Picasso spent hours in the Prado, a local art museum, studying and copying works by master painters.

In 1898, Picasso came down with scarlet fever and was so sick that he had to take a break from school and art. Picasso finally recovered in early 1899 after more than six months of illness.

1900In 1900, Picasso changed his name from Ruiz to Pablo Picasso. He moved to Paris and strained his relationship with his parents by rejecting fine art styles in favor of new techniques. Picasso landed his first paid job, earning 150 francs each month for his paintings. Picasso wandered throughout Europe, a habit that he would continue for the rest of his life.

1901-1904The blue period in Picasso's work began after his dear friend, Casegemas, shot himself in the head after a woman rejected his love. This triggered a flurry of paintings, starting with "Death of Casegemas," painted in shades of blue. For three years, Picasso moved almost constantly and painted many depressing paintings, all in shades of blue, depicting sorrowful scenes.

1904-1906In 1904, Picasso began to work more colors into his palette again, especially shades of rose, which is why this time is referred to as his rose period. The subject matter he painted was still somber, depressing or disturbing, but lighter colors again appeared in his work. During these years, Picasso fell in love with a married model named Fernande Oliver, who refused to leave her husband. Picasso found himself fascinated by performers at the circuses he attended with Olivier. Many of his paintings from this era feature circus performers, who Picasso saw as representative of the outcasts of society.

1907-1918In 1907, Picasso became fascinated with angular African sculptures. Inspired by these sharp angles, Picasso began to paint in the style now known as Cubism. He began by painting profile noses onto frontal views of faces, but the style soon evolved to include still life paintings of fruit and other subjects.

1918-1936Picasso settled down and married a dancer named Olga Khokhlova. At first, Picasso returned to a more conventional style as he painted dancers and mothers with children. As his struggles with his celebrity status increased, his style changed again and again and he delved into surrealism. During this time, Picasso had an affair with a young nurse in charge of his child.

1937-1945Picasso's work became political for a short while, including a mural he painted depicting the bombing of Guernica. Picasso actively handed the Nazis copies of anti-war prints he had produced during the occupation of France.

1946-1973In his later years, Picasso devoted his talents to painting humanitarian images and

fighting for peace. He even named one of his children Paloma, which means "peace". Picasso had many lovers over the years and seemed unable to remain faithful to any one woman.  He passed away at the age of 92.