This video is sponsored by Keeps. Walt Disney is an American icon. Through his characters, movies and theme
parks, he strived to bring out that hope and inner child that every person needs. And in the process, he built one
of the most successful and powerful companies in the world — worth
an estimated $130 billion. But before he was anywhere close to
achieving success, he was homeless and only had $40 in his pocket. Before we get into the next part of
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to receive 50% off your first order. That's K-E-E-P-S dot com slash hook. In 1901, Walt Disney was born in Chicago
and raised on a farm in Marceline. His mother, Flora, was a
teacher, and his father, Elias, was a farmer and businessman. Elias started many ventures but
failed at each of them — forcing him to become a carpenter. When the Disney family grew
to seven, the pressure to make ends meet took a toll on Elias. He and Flora had four sons, Herb, Ray,
Roy, and Walt, and one daughter, Ruth. Elias became cold and even
violent toward his children. It became so unbearable that
Herb and Ray secretly ran away. The loss of two sons marked the start of a
string of bad luck for the Disney family. Elias caught typhoid and then pneumonia. As he recovered, Roy took on the
burden of taking care of the farm. But the work was too difficult for
him — let alone any 16-year-old. So Flora urged Elias to sell the farm. He resisted but eventually caved
and moved the family to Kansas City. Soon after, Walt’s sister, Ruth,
became bedridden with the measles. To keep her entertained, Walt drew
a series of figures that appeared to move when the papers were flipped. It was his first attempt at
animation and one of the rare moments where he could play. Unlike most nine-year-olds who spent
time outdoors running and laughing, Walt had little time to play, his
days passing by with drudgery. After moving to Kansas City, Elias
bought a newspaper business and forced Walt to make deliveries before dawn. He refused to pay Walt for all his
work, so Walt took up odd jobs: selling newspapers, delivering drugstore
prescriptions, and sweeping floors. It wasn’t long until Walt’s
teachers became concerned. They complained that he often fell
asleep in class, and when he was awake, he had trouble paying attention. It didn’t help that he was more
interested in things outside his lessons. Walt was engrossed with drawing
cartoons and reading stories about success and adventures. He also became enthralled by
entertainment — which he discovered through his classmate, Walt Pfeiffer. When Pfeiffer caught the mumps, Walt
visited him at home since he was immune from having it in the past. The Pfeiffer family welcomed Walt
and introduced him to the world of entertainment through motion
pictures and vaudeville shows — which featured musical and magic acts,
acrobatic, and comedy routines. Afterward, Walt and Pfeiffer
started going to the theaters. Walt kept it a secret from his father, who
considered entertainment a waste of time. But eventually, he didn’t need to. Like their older brothers Herb and Ray,
Walt’s third brother, Roy, found their father’s cold and violent tendencies
unbearable and secretly ran away. The loss of three brothers forced
Walt to take on more responsibilities. While he was just 10-years-old,
Walt had to work more and help to renovate the family home. Whenever Elias grew impatient
with Walt, he struck him with whatever was in his hand. Once, it was the handle of a hammer,
and another time, it was a wooden board. “How do you expect Walt
to know those things? He’s only a boy,” Flora
pleaded to no avail. From then on, Walt found himself caught
in the family’s string of bad luck. One cold evening, he was delivering
newspapers for his father’s business. As he crossed the street, he kicked
a piece of ice and felt a sharp pain. A horseshoe nail pierced through
his boot and jammed into his toe. “Help! I’m stuck!” Walt yelled. Not a single person on the street stopped
to help him as he laid on the ground. It wasn’t until much later that a driver
parked his wagon to bring him to a doctor. “Kid, I’ve got nothing
to give you for the pain. You’ll just have to hang on,”
the doctor warned — before removing the nail with pliers. It took two whole weeks for
Walt to recover from his injury. Being free from work on bed
rest for so long, encouraged the 14-year-old to think about his future. He doubted that he could obtain
a prestigious job like a doctor or lawyer or even attend college. No one in his family had ever
been able to afford the luxury. Walt decided to think about what
he was most passionate about. It was clear that it was drawing. It had always been his solace
during difficult times. He enjoyed how his cartoons brought
joy and laughter to those around him. At that moment, Walt decided
to become a cartoonist. Unbeknownst to him, pursuing his
passion would lead to building one of the biggest companies in the world. After seven years in Kansas City, the
Disney family moved back to Chicago. Elias’s newspaper business had
failed to grow, so he used all his savings and some of Walt’s money
to invest in a jelly factory. Walt was pressured into working
there as a handyman and night guard to contribute to the family income. If he didn’t, Elias wouldn’t allow him
to take art classes outside of school. Walt was paid very little at the factory. So after a while, he decided to quit
to earn more money as a gateman, mail sorter, and delivery boy. When the First World War entered its
fourth year, Walt quit all of his jobs since he was eager to join the effort. He also couldn’t bear the idea of
returning to high school, so he lied about his age to work for the
Red Cross as an ambulance driver. At the time, he was just 16-years-old. During Walt’s first assignment, an
influenza epidemic erupted and was killing millions of people worldwide. Walt caught the virus and was
ordered to head to a hospital. As he hopped into an ambulance, the
driver advised him to return home instead. “You’ll never come out of a
hospital alive,” he warned. Walt heeded his warning. Walt’s mother nursed both him
and his sister through days of high fevers and delirium. And while she also ended up catching
the virus, she continued caring for both of them until they fully recovered. Later, Walt discovered that two of
his close friends were taken to the hospital after getting infected. The next day, both of
them had passed away. Despite the realization that he
had escaped from the same fate, Walt continued working for the
Red Cross and was sent to France. When the war ended, Walt returned home
and refused to return to high school. Elias accepted his decision
and offered him a job at the factory for a fair salary. “Dad, I don’t want that
kind of job,” Walt insisted. “Then what do you want to
do, Walter?” Elias asked. “I want to be an artist…” “How do you expect to make
a living as an artist?” “I don’t know,” Walt admitted. After Walt’s experience in
France, one thing was certain: he needed to forge his own path. Against his father’s wishes, Walt
packed all his belongings and boarded a train for Kansas City. His brother, Roy, and some of
his childhood friends were there. And Walt was certain that he could become
a cartoonist for the Kansas City Star. Once Walt got settled, he headed
to the Kansas City Star’s office. An HR employee curtly informed him that
there were no openings for a cartoonist. Walt decided to come up with a new
plan to get his foot in the door. He noticed there was an opening for a
copy boy and asked if he could apply. The HR employee insisted Walt find a
job in transportation instead since he previously worked as an ambulance driver. Afterward, Walt decided to try his
luck at the Kansas City Journal. Once again, he was told there
were no openings for a cartoonist. When Walt confided in Roy about
his struggles, Roy urged him to do something more practical. Walt refused to give up. Later, Roy complained to his
colleague about Walt’s stubbornness. His colleague suggested that
Walt apply to an art studio that was looking for an apprentice. Roy immediately told Walt, who
rushed over to the studio to apply. The owners were impressed with his
eagerness and offered him the job. At the studio, Walt met
a man named Ub Iwerks. Like Walt, Ub was a high school dropout
and hopped from one odd job to another. The two artists became friends
and discovered their skills complemented each other. Walt was a visionary, and
Ub was fast and flexible. When both of them were laid off after
the holidays, they remained optimistic and decided to start a business together. It was called Disney-Iwerks. Disney-Iwerks only lasted for one month. The Kansas City Film Ad Company
was looking for an artist and offered Walt the position. Walt preferred to devote all of his
time to his new business with Ub, but Ub insisted that he accept this
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Ub was certain that he could manage the
business alone during Walt’s absence. But he wasn’t outgoing enough to bring
in sales, so the business fell apart. Afterward, Walt persuaded
his boss to hire Ub. The failure of Disney-Iwerks turned
out to be a blessing in disguise. At work, Walt was introduced to animation
using cutout human and animal figures. He was curious about how it worked
and befriended a cameraman to learn. Soon after, he could operate
the camera on his own. Later, Walt realized animation looked
more realistic when using hand-drawn figures — instead of cutouts. He also noticed the top studios in New
York were making movie cartoons like the Koko the Clown series this way. He headed to a library to pick
up a few books and photocopy each page to guide him as he practiced. The Kansas City Film Ad Company was so
impressed with Walt’s new skill that they asked him to produce animations using
hand-drawn cartoons for their clients. Walt was thrilled but eager to
experiment beyond the material given to him by the company’s copywriters. So he borrowed the company’s camera,
created a makeshift studio in his garage, and started making his own cartoons. After completing 300 feet of film,
Walt felt confident enough to show his cartoons to the manager
of the Newman Theater Company. The manager was impressed and
agreed to feature Walt’s cartoons. They became so popular that Walt
quit his job and started a new business called Laugh-O-gram Films. To differentiate Laugh-O-gram from
other studios, Walt decided to focus on something new: a series of animated
cartoons based on traditional fairy tales. He pitched the idea to investors and
raised enough money to rent out an office and poach Ub and five other animators. Soon after, he signed a
deal with Pictorial Clubs to produce six fairytale cartoons. While Walt and his team were able
to complete all six cartoons that same year, after sending them to
Pictorial Clubs, no money came in. Pictorial Clubs went bankrupt. After discovering that Pictorial Clubs
was no more, Laugh-O-gram followed suit. Walt became homeless — and even shoeless. The only pair of shoes he had left
was at a cobbler, and he couldn’t afford the small cost to pick them up. For the first time in his life, Walt
doubted his career as a cartoonist. Maybe his father and Roy were right. Being a cartoonist wasn’t going to pay
the bills or keep food on the table. Walt decided it was time to give up on
being a cartoonist and sold his camera. Afterward, he headed to Hollywood
with just $40 in his pocket. His plan was to stay with his
uncle Robert and get into the movie business as a director. Walt’s luck was no different in Hollywood. Every single studio that he applied
to as a director rejected him. And when Walt begged the studios
for any kind of job, they told him that there were no openings. Eventually, Walt ran out of
money and had to borrow from Roy. Roy suggested that he start
making cartoons again. “No, I’m too late,” Walt insisted. “I don’t see how I can top
those New York boys now.” At the time, there were no cartoonists
in Hollywood, and the top studios that made movie cartoons remained in New York. Walt doubted that he could
compete with them from Hollywood. Walt continued to apply for studio
jobs and even tried his hand at acting. After a gig fell through, Walt’s
uncle, Robert, nagged him about being unemployed and having no prospects. Walt concluded that the only
way he could get his foot in the door in the movie business was by
making fairytale cartoons again. Afterward, Walt created a makeshift
studio in his uncle Robert’s garage and then pitched ideas to film distributors. One of his ideas was to produce a series
of Alice's Wonderland comedies for a New York distributor named Margaret Winkler. Fortunately, Margaret
agreed to work with Walt. Afterward, Walt convinced Roy
and Ub to leave their jobs and start a new business with him. Alice's Wonderland was a hit
and grew into a longer series. By the time the excitement wore
off, a new opportunity had come in. Universal Pictures asked Margaret's
husband, Charles Mintz, to find someone to create a series starring a rabbit. Margaret encouraged Charles
to give Walt the job. Walt accepted and quickly
started production. The final product was called
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Its first short film, Trolley
Troubles, was an instant success and caught the attention of
the top animators in New York. Walt was certain that Charles would renew
his contract to grow the Oswald series and headed to his office to discuss the terms. Before leaving, Ub warned Walt that
Margaret’s brother was spending an unusual amount of time in
their studio with their employees. Walt brushed off his suspicions. Considering Oswald's popularity,
Walt asked for a slight pay increase for each new episode. Charles suggested a different offer. It was significantly less than
what he was paying Walt before and wouldn't even cover production costs. Walt was puzzled and
asked for an explanation. “Either you come with me at my
price, or I’ll take your team away from you,” Charles insisted. “I have your employees signed up.” While Walt froze in disbelief,
Charles pressed him for an answer. Walt turned him down and vowed to
own every character he created. Universal Pictures had only
commissioned Walt to create Oswald and the company owned the rights. “Protect yourself, Charlie,” Walt advised. “If my artists did it to
me, they’ll do it to you.” Before heading home,
Walt sent a letter to Roy. “Keep your chin up. We will be able to laugh last
— that’s the best laugh of all.” When Walt returned to his
studio, he wasted no time in creating a new character. He started sketching different animals
and landed on the idea of a mouse. Ub took over and started drawing a
caricature of a mouse instead of a real one since animation required efficiency. The fewer the lines, the better. The final product was a mouse
with a round belly and skinny arms wearing two-button shorts, the
style worn by young men at the time. In spite of Walt's success with Oswald,
he had trouble finding a distributor for his first animated short film,
Steamboat Willie, featuring Mickey Mouse. A show business veteran named Harry
Reichenbach explained to Walt why distributors were turning him down. “Those guys don't know what's
good until the public tells them.” Harry suggested that Walt play
Steamboat Willie in a Broadway theater. Walt was scared that it would
make it harder to release to a distributor, but Harry convinced
him it would do the opposite. Several months later, Steamboat Willie
was released at the Colony Theater. It made history as the first
animated cartoon with sound and received rave reviews from
The New York Times and Variety. And just like Harry predicted,
several distributors made offers to release the film. But every single one of them
were insisting on owning the rights to Mickey Mouse. Walt shared his frustrations with Pat
Powers, one of the founders of Universal Pictures and the owner of the sound
system used for Steamboat Willie. Pat sympathized with Walt and
offered to release his film under his company — as long as he
continued to use his sound system. Walt quickly agreed to Pat's offer. It was much fairer than what other
distributors were offering, and Pat was willing to advance the money
Walt needed to make more cartoons. But like most stories made in
Hollywood, it was too good to be true. After Walt signed a deal with
Pat, Mickey Mouse became a national sensation in the U.S. “Mickey’s a nice fellow who never does
any harm, who gets in scrapes through no fault of his own but always manages
to come up grinning,” Walt explained when asked about Mickey’s popularity. Walt was certain that he’d
receive plenty of checks from Pat, but not a single one came in. Pat decided to keep all the profit he
made off Mickey Mouse and owed Walt hundreds of thousands of dollars. Still, Walt decided not to pursue legal
action because of Pat’s influence in Hollywood and end his contract instead. Pat was bitter that he lost Walt’s
business and threatened to take down any company that signed a deal with him. MGM gave in to Pat’s threats and
ended talks of a potential deal. Meanwhile, Columbia Pictures
was not as timid and set up a legal fund to combat his threats. With Columbia Pictures’ backing, Walt
pushed himself and his animators to produce higher quality animations — even
if it meant slipping further into debt. Eventually, the stress took a toll on
Walt and led to a nervous breakdown. After seeing a doctor, Walt decided
to take a vacation with his wife, Lilly, and headed to France. When Walt returned to his studio,
he discovered it was becoming more difficult to meet payroll. So he decided to ask Columbia Pictures
for an advance for each cartoon produced but their answer was no. Walt shared his frustrations with
Sol Lesser, a veteran producer, who mentioned them to his friend, Joseph
Schenck, the president of United Artists. Joseph sympathized with Walt and reached
out to him to become his new distributor. Walt was thrilled since United
Artists was co-founded by his biggest idol, Charlie Chaplin. It encouraged Walt to finally
take his animations to the next level by adding color. Roy pleaded with him to reconsider. “We’d be crazy to take on the
expense of color,” Roy argued. “But the pictures will create so much
excitement that we’ll get longer playdates and bigger rentals,” Walt insisted. “That’ll bring the money back eventually.” Roy and Walt’s employees
remained unconvinced. Still, Walt forged ahead with
a new undertaking: his first feature film with color and sound. The chosen fairytale was Snow
White and the Seven Dwarfs. As Walt began production, he discovered
that Snow White was being called “Disney’s Folly.” behind his back. Many predicted that this crazy
venture would fail like the others and even lead to bankruptcy. Walt became concerned and
sought advice from Hal Horne, a publicist at United Artists. “What should I do about all this bad
talk about the feature?” Walt asked. “Nothing,” Hal advised. “Keep them wondering. Let ‘em call it ‘Disney’s Folly’
or any other damn thing, as long as they keep talking about it. That picture is going to pay off,
and the more suspense you build up, the more it’ll pay off.” Walt heeded his advice and remained
focused on making Snow White a success. Three years later, Snow
White was finally released. It made history as the first
animated feature film in the world with a running time of 83 minutes. It was a critical and commercial success
and became the highest-grossing film of its time, bringing in more than $8
million during its first year — the equivalent of over $100 million today. Finally, Walt was able
to pay off his debts. From then on, he decided to focus on
producing feature films instead of shorts. Walt’s newfound success allowed him
to buy a new studio and a new home for his once-skeptical parents. But it seemed that after every
new milestone, bad luck followed. Flora passed away from asphyxiation due to
a furnace leak in the new home that Walt purchased, and the Second World War led to
dozens of business deals falling through. Walt blamed himself for his mother’s
passing and struggled to save the company. His new feature films, Pinnochio and
Fantasia, resulted in financial losses from going over budget — driving the
company on the brink of bankruptcy. Walt had no choice but to scale down his
feature films and take the company public. While the IPO was a success and
brought in millions of dollars, it inadvertently fueled a studio strike. After the financial losses of Pinnochio
and Fantasia, Walt had to lay off staff, cut wages, and deny bonuses. Many of his employees remained bitter
and went on strike for five weeks. In spite of all of Walt’s troubles, he
forged ahead with planning more feature films and his biggest undertaking
yet: a new Hollywood attraction. “You know, it’s a shame people come
to Hollywood and find there’s nothing to see,” Walt mentioned to a friend. “They expect to see glamour and movie
stars, and they go away disappointed … Wouldn’t it be nice if people could
come to Hollywood and see something?” Walt’s mind was set on
building an amusement park. The idea came after several trips
to the Griffith Park merry-go-round with his daughters, Diane and Sharon. Each time his daughters rode the
carousel, he saw the same pattern: the parents were bored, the operators
were cheerless and unfriendly, and the grounds were dirty and littered. Roy opposed his idea, reminding
him that the company was in debt. If he wanted to continue with his plans,
he would have to finance it alone. Walt remained determined and
borrowed on his life insurance. Over the next few years, Walt
visited all kinds of attractions in America and Europe for inspiration. He finally found what he was
looking for at the Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen: a park that featured
family-friendly rides, nice restaurants, beautiful gardens, and fireworks. "Now, this is what an
amusement park should be!" Walt enthused to his wife, Lilly. By the time Walt settled on the
name Disneyland, his plans had grown beyond his initial inspiration,
and money was running out. So Walt decided to launch a weekly TV
show to finance the park's construction. Roy finally supported the idea, but
Walt needed the board's approval. When Walt pitched the idea, the board
complained that the company wasn't in the amusement park business. Walt argued that it was in
the entertainment business, and so were amusement parks. Still, the board couldn't envision
Disneyland the way that Walt did. "There's nothing like it in the
entire world," Walt insisted. "I know, because I've looked. That's why it can be great:
because it will be unique. A new concept in entertainment, and I
think— I know— it can be a success." By the end of Walt's plea,
tears filled his eyes. The board was not only moved by
his display of passion, but finally convinced, gave Walt their approval. After being given the green light,
Walt signed a deal with ABC. They agreed to invest in his amusement
park and guaranteed loans in exchange for a TV series with hour-long episodes
called Disneyland — showcasing feature and short films and documentaries. Walt was thrilled but
held back on celebrating. He received backlash for his
plans since TV was a new medium, and theatre owners feared that
it would affect their business. They even threatened to boycott the
product of any collaborating studio. Walt insisted TV would encourage a
broader audience to watch movies in theatres and forged ahead with his plans. Two years later, Disneyland finally
opened in Anaheim, California. The media called its first day a failure. Thousands of scammers created
counterfeit tickets, rides broke down, restaurants ran out of food, and a
gas leak was detected in one area. But like always, Walt remained
undeterred and turned things around by making operational changes
and inviting the press to return. Within one year, over three million
people visited Disneyland, and the ABC series became the highest-rated TV show. Finally, after three whole
decades in Hollywood, Walt achieved financial stability. In an interview, Walt shared his
thoughts on the secret to success. "This special secret, it seems to
me, can be summarized in four C's. They are curiosity, confidence,
courage, and constancy, and the greatest of these is confidence. When you believe a thing, believe it all
the way, implicitly and unquestionably." Today, Disneyland is called the
happiest place on earth, and Walt Disney is one of the most successful
and powerful companies in the world — worth an estimated $130 billion. This is the story of how a high school
dropout — who was once homeless — became an American icon by pursuing his passion. For more inspiring stories and advice
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