Walt Disney Commemorative Speech The Man Behind the Mouse Introduction: I remember when I was just a kid and a stick became my sword and a trashcan lid became my shield. I was a knight of the round table! I remember when things were simple, no electronic games to waste our time with. I remember it didn’t matter if you had the biggest, baddest bike or a cheap heap of toys. We had our imaginations and there were no batteries required. Unfortunately, as we age we tend to lose that spirit of imagination. Fortunately for us, one man I admire for his creativity and vision.
He was able to not only keep his dreams and his adventures alive. He found a way to share those stories and us. His name: Walter Elias Disney. Body: Although we will always remember him for the creation of Mickey Mouse he did so much more and it wasn’t always a cake-walk. Walt learned about animals and made his first drawings while living on a Missouri farm. Many of his first cartoons were published in the school paper. Walt was 16 when he tried to enlist in the Army, but found out that he was too young.
That didn’t discourage Walt though, he found out that you could be an ambulance driver if you were 17, so he convinced his mom to sign the papers then changed the 1 to a 0 on his passport. Like magic — he was 17! He was sent to France and decorated his ambulance with cartoons. (chuckle) It was probably the only one like it during the war. A year later he left the war, landed a job as an artist for a Kansas City ad agency where Walt had some free time to experiment with cartoons. Through his sheer tenacity he was able to get them shown in local theaters. It wasn’t long after that when Walt decided to venture to Hollywood.
With $40 and a portfolio of sketches, he took off to learn more about films and animation. In 1923, Walt and his brother Roy set up a partnership in their uncles converted garage on their savings of $290 and a borrowed $500 to produce a series of cartoons. His first was “Oswald the Lucky Rabbit”. The way business was ran back then, the distributors owned the rights to the characters. In 1928 he lost those rights and had to start from scratch again. Then along came the Mouse. “Mickey Mouse” was created on a train trip from New York to California. Walt started to doodle a cartoon mouse.
He thought it should be named Mortimer. Lilly, his wife, didn’t like the name and suggested “Mickey. ” (Believe me when I say … you don’t ignore a wife’s suggestion). In 1928 “Mickey Mouse” debuted in “Steamboat Willie”. Walt received his first Oscar with the creation of Mickey and he happened to be the voice be hind the mouse. Walt went on to create additional characters, “Minnie,” “Pluto” and “Donald Duck. ” He was well on his way to a permanent place on the American scene. Disney’s first feature length film, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”, took four years to create.
Walt had mortgaged everything, the production had cost $1. 6 million dollars. Ohhh, but when it opened, the who’s who came out in droves and the picture grossed $8 million! Can’t you here the Dwarfs singing? (sing) Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, It’s off to work we go …… By 1940, he had 700 employees, and had started his production of Fantasia, it was a combination of cartoons, surrealist color images, and music by Stakowski, performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra. During production the Disney studio was taken over by the government for war efforts and production stopped.
Afterwards, Disney introduced his first “live” films with Treasure Island and Robin Hood. Walt was truly a creative genius and visionary. Did you know that he created his first TV series “Davy Crockett” in color, before there were color televisions? (SMILE) Yes, he could sweep you away in the world of fantasies. I remember movies such as Mary Poppins, The Love Bug and The Shaggy Dog. I still catch myself singing the song “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. ” My grandsons look at me strangely! He was able to create a world in which fairytales and cartoons would come alive and be loved for decades.
Walt received many awards and honors, both American and foreign. He produced some 69 films, won 22 Oscars and 6 Emmys. The most memorable was presented by the effervescent, young Shirley Temple for “Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs”, one statuette & seven miniature statuettes. In 1955, he opened the $23 million Disneyland in California, an amusement park offering fun and information on everything from primitive man to the space age. Walt said: (emotion) “I put in all the things I wanted to do as a kid and couldn’t, (pause) including getting into something without a ticket. ” Conclusion:
We lost this creative genius on December 15, 1966, a victim of cancer. His last words he told his brother Roy, was that he could see the layout of Disney World on the ceiling. (Pause) His vision, Disney World, in Florida was completed in 1971. Walt Disney deserves to be honored because of all the joy he has brought to so many of us, by sharing his wonderful movies, TV shows, and amusement parks. A true visionary to make dreams and wishes come true. The man behind the mouse! Rhythm: Anaphora I remember when I was just a kid I remember when things were simple I remember it didn’t matter is dreams his adventures He was able He found a way Alliteration: biggest, baddest bike cheap heap his dreams and his adventures alive. Imagery stick became my sword a trashcan lid became my shield it wasn’t always a cake-walk gwal la’ he was 17 Dwarfs singing? (sing) High Ho High Ho It’s off to work we go singing the song “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. ” doodle a cartoon mouse Description using concrete nouns decorated his ambulance with cartoons before there were color televisions 1 statuette & 7 miniature statuettes. trashcan lid became my shield stick became my sword
