The Walt Disney Studios: From Imagination to Real-World Magic 

“That’s the trouble with the world. Too many people grow up.” Says the inventor of the timeless animated movies, Walt Disney. In fact, he addressed this problem by creating art and sparking magic within little ones and adults for decades, bringing to life characters that transmit heartfelt values and give life lessons that make people dare to dream with no fear. From the old Mickey Mouse to the modern adventures of Moana, Disney remains the most successful movie producer of all time, creating a real empire since 1923. In this article, discover how, from imagination, Disney brought magic into the real world: 

About the creator Walt Disney 

Walter Elias Disney was an American film producer, animator, and entrepreneur, nowadays globally known as the inventor of the Walt Disney Studios. Born in Chicago in 1901, the creator developed a profound passion for drawing, and he was paid to draw the horse of a retired doctor in his neighbourhood. He practised his artistic skills by copying the front-page cartoons of Ryan Walker, and he later learned to work with watercolours and crayons as well. In 1911, the Disney family moved to Missouri, where Walt met a few students at school who introduced him to the world of motion pictures, which was the starting point of his success. Together with his brother Roy, Walter started delivering newspapers, analysing their structure and animations. Later on, as a high schooler, he started drawing patriotic pictures representing World War I for the school newspaper. His career started at 18 years old when he found a job as an animator and continued his path to becoming an entrepreneur, developing his business with his brother Roy Disney. 

How everything started 

The young Walter arrived in California in 1923 with big dreams and a lot of hope. When working as an animator, he created Alice’s Wonderland, which was a movie about a little girl in a cartoon world, aiming then to proceed with the creation of Alice comedies, signing a contract with the New York distributor M.J Winkler on October 16th 1923. This day is when the Disney empire starts shaping its success. Together with his partner and brother Roy Disney, Walt Elias named the company Disney Brothers Cartoon Studios and shortly after changed its name to The Walt Disney Studios. Originally, their studio was in the back half of an office on Kingswell Avenue in Hollywood, but once the partners had enough money to expand their territory, Walt and Roy rented a whole store for their projects. 

The first Disney movies

To inaugurate his new studio, Walt wanted to come up with a new character, Mickey Mouse. The creator gave the little mouse a lot of personality, creating funny animations that showcase the adventures of the well-known character. However, he couldn’t sell his creations because they were silent motions, and the movie industry was revolutionised with the adoption of sound. So, Disney worked to synchronise sound with movement, and, in November 1928, the Mickey Mouse series gained a lot of popularity. Two years later, the famous character became a star for newspaper comic strips as well. With a lot of enthusiasm, in 1934, Walt told his team the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and three years later, the animated cartoon became the most successful film of all time. Disney started to lose foreign markets during World War II, but the animator featured Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo and Bambi on a low budget, waiting for better times to come. 

Beloved Disney characters 

Kids grow up with the beloved Disney characters, and nowadays, they haven’t lost their popularity. The markets found a great opportunity to introduce Disney into the real world, creating gadgets showcasing popular characters. For instance, Disney and Loungefly is a collaboration that offers a wide range of adorable products like bags, wallets and accessories with your favourite Disney characters. Watching Disney movies is a great way of entertainment, but the studio’s purposes go beyond that, as the characters teach valuable life lessons, like the famous “Hakuna Matata”, which means “no worries” that the Swahili in The Lion King teaches, to not judge a book by its cover like Belle in the beauty and the beast suggests, or Mulan, telling viewers to do what you feel in your heart, no matter how hard the path will be. Furthermore, Disney aims to help the audience discover new cultures, costumes, and lifestyles, integrate characters from multiple nations, showcase the local habits and values of the protagonists, emerge into new realms, and learn to accept each other. 

Disney in the modern era 

After 101 years of bringing joy, Disney remains the most successful studio in the movie industry of all time. Despite technological improvements, the classics are locked in our hearts, but nowadays, you can still enjoy enchanting animations and movies for grown-ups and little ones. For example, Frozen, Encanto and Moana are great examples of where imagination can take, combining music with incredible visuals, adventure and heartfelt moments in a movie. Also, recently, Disney brought cartoon characters into the real world through creative live actions of the most famous movies of its production, like The Lion King, Aladdin, Cinderella, The Jungle Book, Alice in Wonderland and, in 2023, The Little Mermaid. Lastly, since all the little ones are growing up, The Walt Disney Studios address common problems for youngsters, like puberty, with iconic movies like Inside Out, to teach parents and adolescents to identify and deal with their emotions. 

The bottom line 

“Laughter is timeless, imagination has no age, and dreams are forever.” Quotes Walt Disney during his career, inspiring people to dream big and laugh through life. Despite the challenges you might encounter once you become an adult, Disney teaches you to embrace the child within you sometimes, to not forget to look at the real beauty of things, and to observe the world profoundly behind its appearance.