Foreword for Picture Book

Foreword for Picture Book

            Walter Elias Disney was not as famous during his lifetime as he is today. 

He didn’t start with much to go on, yet he took what he had and what he knew 

and grew from there to create one of the most popular businesses in the world. 

He was born on December 5th, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois. He grew up mainly in 

Marceline, Missouri with his mother, father, and his four other siblings (one girl 

and three boys). He took up drawing at McKinley High School in Chicago, and 

was a cartoonist for the school paper. He also attended classes at the Chicago 

Art Institute, and from there, a passion turned into something bigger. It took 

Disney a little while, and several different studios, until he finally created the 

extremely popular Disney studio. Even after he created Disney studio, it’s not like 

it became instantly popular. He had to work for it, and there were definitely some 

difficulties he had to face, but he was able to create the world’s leading producer 

in family entertainment with lots of loved characters like Mickey Mouse, 

Cinderella, Peter Pan, and so many more. 

  

           I first got interested in Walt Disney when I went to Disney World in 2011. 

Of course I had seen many of the classic Disney films and cartoons, but I never 

really knew about the man responsible for it all. However, when I was in Disney 

World, I happened to end up going into a little museum dedicated to the life of 

Walt Disney which included a movie of what he had done, which I had absolutely 

adored. It showed the development of a local cartoon studio and how it changed 

and grew to become a huge corporation. I remembered loving not just the movie, 

but the entire trip experience because even though I had outgrown all these 

movies and television shows, I still loved the way Disney World made me feel so 

happy, and I loved practically everything about it. After that I had become much 

more interested in the life of Walt Disney and how he had created Disney 

studios. I started to learn more about him, and was fascinated in his process of 

           I know that most everyone, in America at least, knows Disney studios, but 

I find it troubling how many people don’t know the man responsible for it all, and I 

think the kids who love to watch all the Disney movies and shows and all that 

stuff don’t really know how this came to be. So I’m writing this book to help kids 

learn about this fascinating man and all that he has done for the kids. I think he is 

inspiring because he made me feel that I could create anything I wanted to, even 

if I had very little to start with, and I think kids should feel this way too. This story 

is my way of teaching kids about a man who has created the thing that kids 

         Walt Disney opened up Disney studios in the early 20s, and it is still 

around today, that’s almost an entire century. He did so much with Disney 

studios from the time he opened it to the time he died. “During his lifetime, some 

81 films were released from his studio, for which he won a record of 32 Academy 

Awards.” (http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/walt-disney.html) 

He started from the bottom, and he was able to create a studio known to millions, 

maybe even billions of people today. Walt Disney was truly a remarkable man 

“He started out in Hollywood with $40 and a sketch book and built a multi-billion 

dollar empire which came to symbolize family entertainment. From Mickey 

Mouse to world domination.” 

(http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/walt-disney.html) Walt 

Disney really shows that you can do anything if you work hard for it and believe 

in your self, and doesn’t that sound like something he would say?