The Story of Walt Disney: Maker of Magical Worlds by Bernice Selden

Author:Bernice Selden [Selden, Bernice]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: United States, Biographical, Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 9780307568328
Google: Fh2qBp0wRxIC
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2009-07-01T04:00:00+00:00

The Three Little Pigs Wins

an Oscar

Walt later recalled how the merry little figure of a mouse came to life in his mind as the train took him and his wife west to California. “The wheels turned to the tune of it. ‘Chug, chug, mouse, chug, chug, mouse.’ The whistle screeched, ‘A m-m-mowa-ouse.’ By the time the train had reached the Middle West, I had dressed my dream mouse in a pair of velvet pants and two huge pearl buttons.”

Walt thought that Mortimer Mouse was a fine name for his creation. But Lilly said, “Mortimer sounds wrong. It’s … it’s not catchy.” They tossed names back and forth for a while until Walt said, “Well then—how about Mickey? Mickey Mouse.”

It was Ub Iwerks who created the early Mickey Mouse drawings. Since the figure would have to be drawn about fourteen thousand times for each short film, the design had to be simple. The basis of Mickey’s shape was two large circles and two small ones. The two large ones were for the body and head, the small ones for the big black ears. Mickey was given a long thin tail, arms and legs like rubbery hoses, and a puffy hand with four fingers, instead of five. (In later cartoons, he wore white gloves.) With Mickey’s large face and eyes, he had all the appeal of an adorable child.

The Disney studio was in the middle of making the first Mickey Mouse films when a very special event took place. This event changed the entire history of movie-making.

Up until this time, films had all been silent. When an actor spoke, his words were written on the screen but not heard by the audience. In some theaters, someone played the piano or organ as the soundless movie rolled along.

Then on October 6, 1927, Al Jolson, a popular singing star, appeared in a movie called The Jazz Singer. When Jolson talked and sang, audiences actually heard his voice! Sound film had been invented. It was an important new chapter in the history of the movies.

Walt heard about the new “talking film” while he was making Steamboat Willie, a silent film, starring Mickey Mouse. He stopped right in the middle of everything. He knew what he wanted to do now: make Steamboat Willie with sound! But more than that, Walt wanted to synchronize the sound, so that the music and voices would match the action in the film. Walt was not the first animator to make a cartoon with sound. Someone had already done that, but the music was not synchronized; it didn’t match the action. Walt knew he could do better, and with the help of his staff he worked out a way. Now he needed to try it out.

One summer evening Walt and some of the men he worked with called their wives together and asked them to be their audience. First they hung a sheet in the garage doorway to act as a movie screen. Then they began the movie. While the guests

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.