100 years of Disney: from a cartoon mouse to a global giant, how Walt Disney conquered the world
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Tuesday, October 17, 2023
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They created a new character: a mouse, with large ears.
Key Points:
- They created a new character: a mouse, with large ears.
- Walt Disney was an innovator in terms of space, colour and movement.
- Walt himself holds the record for most nominations (59) and Oscar wins (22 competitive awards, plus four honorary awards) for a single individual.
Steamboat Willie and technological wonders
- He created The Alice Comedies, a series of short films featuring a live-action child actress in a cartoon world.
- Steamboat Willie, released in 1928, was the world’s first fully synchronised sound cartoon.
- A simple story featuring Mickey as a steamboat captain trying to navigate the boat while dealing with various comical situations, Steamboat Willie was universally praised.
The golden age and feature films
- Those early films still dazzle today – think of the Sorcerers’ Apprentice scene in Fantasia (1940) or the Pink Elephants hallucinogenic number in Dumbo.
- And is there any scene, in any film, more heart-wrenching than the death of Bambi’s mother?
- But the golden age never really stopped.
Disneyland and diversification
- It set the standard for theme park design and showed the way forward for the company: diversification.
- After Disneyland came Walt Disney World in Florida in 1971, then versions of Disneyland in Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai.
Buyouts and a cultural behemoth
- These acquisitions solidified Disney’s position as the brand leader in the entertainment industry.
- The deal made some industry insiders uneasy: Disney had become a cultural behemoth, strangling competition, homogenising content and swallowing up entire franchises.
Not all plain sailing
- Its 1946 film Song of the South has long been criticised for its racist portrayal of African Americans and its romanticisation of the plantation era.
- Since 1986, Disney have tried to keep it out of circulation, although clips can be found online.
- Many old films streaming on Disney+ now feature a disclaimer telling viewers some scenes will include “negative depictions” and “mistreatment of people or cultures”.
- LGBTQ+ representation has become more visible since LeFou became Disney’s first openly gay character in its 2017 live-action Beauty and the Beast.