Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-06-27
From Rodent to Riches,
The Story of Walt Disney

' OFT DSney
Mouse. How the Mick, intro.
duced In 1928 in the first car
toon to b synchronized with
sound. became Hollywood's
first worldwide personality.
How Disney pioneered color
cartoons with Snow White"
Got Four Oscors
Waits transformation from
cartoonist to all-around crea-
tor-a process so gradual even
Hollywood has scarcely re-
marked on twas dramatic
cally pointed up at this years
Academy Awards ceremony.
He collected four Oscars, q
record for one night.
There was nothing remark
able about Disney winning Os-
cars. He already had ID. plus
just about every other award
short Of Nobel prize.
What seemed to astonish
every one Walt included -
was that three Of his four stat
uetteS were in no-cartoon cate
gories. Quite q switch for q
specialist"
Actually. Disney's big ex-
pansion was neither sudden
nor an accident. He broke
away from cartoons during the
last war when the military
decided he was just the man
to produce training films that
would hold the CTS interest.
Walt soon found that "a per
cent Of his production went
toward instructing the armed
forces.
That was his grounding in
the art of the documentary.
When the war ended. he decid-
ed not to waste the knowledge.
Why not take flesh and blood
animals and. by combining the
techniques of the cartoon and
the documentary, make enter
tanners of them?
Disney did it by sending
skilled photographers after
candid shots of wild life. Once
he had the animals on Aim, he
could create suspense, comedy
and tragedy by the same tricks
of editing, scoring and mar
ration he had always en-
ployed.
He dubbed the series true
life adventures, and their pop
ularity Immediately rivaled
that of his cartoons. Half a
dozen of them have won Oscars.
Mickey HIS Pet
After the war Walt had good
reason to scout for something
new. The war years handed
his short cartoons a setback
from which they've never re-
covered. Although Mickey re-
mains his favorite, Disney adj
mitS his hero is a victim of
changing testes. Always the
good guy, courageous and true,
the Mick could do no wrong.
1t would be out of character.
That was fine until a new gen.
Grafton came along which pre-
ferred comedy to heroics, at
least in cartoons. The impish
Donald Duck and the oafish
Goofy moved into the spotlight
the mouse had once monop-
olized. Today Mickey is con-
Sidered incapable of carrying
a show by himself and appears
only in supporting roles.
Looking back, Disney con-
cedeS that his problem all
along has been the necessity
OF topping himself. After the
sensational success of Snow
White" what more could he
do? One experiment. Fan
taSia," an expensive excursion
into the realm of unreal color
and sound. was tops artiStically
but boXoffice flop.
He's Diversified
Progress for him. Walt says.
has been climbing ahead three
notches then dropping back
two. That's why you can't
Slacken on anything. You've
got to keep hitting for some
thing fresh"
A quick tour of his lot would
disclose such diverse produc-
tons in the making as:
His most expensive film to
date, Jules Verne's 10000
Leagues Under the Sea-" budg-
eted at a De Millean four mil
lion: a lavish musical, Victor
Herbert's Babes in Toyland,"
to team live and cartoon &C
tors; a flock of true life's and
travelogueS: two feature car
toons in Cinemascope, 1.-THE
Lady and the Tramp" and
Sleeping Beauty; the usual
number of short cartoons: the
first films in his TV series,
which will appear in October,
and final plans for DiSneyland,
which promises to be as fan
tastic as Waits cartoon fan
tastes,