Why Walt Disney Inspires Me

     Not only did Walt Disney ultimately change the world, he also inspired many people to do the same.  Walt Disney did so many memorable things and was overall and incredibly memorable person.  He was a mover, a visionary--someone who had an dream and never let anything or anyone stop him from making it come true.  He produced the first animated film with synchronized sound, and produced the first full-color cartoon, Flowers and Trees, for which he won an Academy Award.  In 1937, he released the first full-length animated feature film to be produced with Technicolor, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, nearly risking everything he owned in the process.  The film took $1.5 million to make, which was an almost impossible amount during the Great Depression.  His company made it through both the Great Depression and World War II.  In 1944, it re-released Snow White into theaters which began the common strategy of re-releasing films every 10 years, as well as later changing the availability of Disney films on VHS and DVD. 


     Not only did Walt Disney completely take Hollywood by storm but he also had an even bigger vision.  This new vision began with a TV program in 1954, called Disneyland.  Within a few years, Disney founded WED Enterprises and began his planning for Disneyland, the theme park.  Disney developed this park in secret, and the park opened in 1955.  Soon after the success of Disneyland, plans for an even bigger theme park, Walt Disney World began. Walt Disney World opened in 1971, and was even grander than the first.  Today, Walt Disney World as well as the other Disneylands (one in California, one in Tokyo, one in Hong Kong, one in Paris, and one in Shanghai) are the most successful theme parks in the world.  


     Walt Disney provided positive entertainment through his films and cartoons during a very dark time in American society. Through his work, he influenced Americans to never give up hope that a "Happily ever after" still exists.  He also changed America's perception of amusement parks.  Before Walt Disney World, amusement parks were dirty, unsanitary and noisy places.  Walt Disney effectively created safe, clean places with a positive theme for families and their children.  Walt Disney also had an optimistic view of America's future and invested a lot of his time into the advancement of technology.  He believed in a great future, and this vision was originally portrayed in his plan for the Experimental Prototype Community of the Future (EPCOT).  He envisioned a high-technology, clean, efficient and orderly city which would be a starting ground for multiple advances America's civil services such as garbage disposal, transportation, and utilities.  Despite Walt's original plans, EPCOT never became the reality that he envisioned. However, the ideas have been implemented throughout Walt Disney World as well as in the nearby town Celebration.  In Celebration, there is a vacuum system that takes away trash to a processing facility, and the city's water treatment includes using plants to clean the water.  


     Walt Disney has inspired me to live to my highest potential.  He achieved the impossible despite his circumstances.  I lived in Orlando, and I would go to Disney World every weekend as a kid.  I truly had the "Disney life" for a while.  Every time I would go to Disney World, I always felt that magic, that wonderful vision that Walt had.  It reminds me to keep believing in myself.  His beautiful vision as well as his ambition is why he inspires me to keep pursuing my dreams.