Walt Disney: A Short Biography

(a condensed version of the Long

Biography)
Walt Disney was born on December 5, 1901 in Chicago Illinois, to his
father Elias Disney, and mother Flora Call Disney. Walt was one of five children,
four boys and a girl.
After Walt's birth, the Disney family moved to Marceline Missouri, Walt
lived most of his childhood here.
Walt had very early interests in art, he would often sell drawings to
neighbors to make extra money. He pursued his art career, by studying art and
photography by going to McKinley High School in Chicago.
Walt began to love, and appreciate nature and wildlife, and family and
community, which were a large part of agrarian living. Though his father could be
quite stern, and often there was little money, Walt was encouraged by his mother,
and older brother, Roy to pursue his talents.
During the fall of 1918, Disney attempted to enlist for military service.
Rejected because he was under age, only sixteen years old at the time. Instead,
Walt joined the Red Cross and was sent overseas to France, where he spent a year
driving an ambulance and chauffeuring Red Cross officials. His ambulance was
covered from stem to stern, not with stock camouflage, but with Disney cartoons.
Once Walt returned from France, he began to pursue a career in
commercial art. He started a small company called Laugh-O-Grams, which
eventually fell bankrupt. With his suitcase, and twenty dollars, Walt headed to
Hollywood to start anew.
After making a success of his "Alice Comedies," Walt became a
recognized Hollywood figure. On July 13, 1925, Walt married one of his first
employees, Lillian Bounds, in Lewiston, Idaho. Later on they would be blessed
with two daughters, Diane and Sharon .
In 1932, the production entitled Flowers and Trees(the first color cartoon)
won Walt the first of his studio's Academy Awards. In 1937, he released The Old
Mill, the first short subject to utilize the multi-plane camera technique.

On December 21, 1937, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first fulllength animated musical feature, premiered at the Carthay Theater in Los Angeles.
The film produced at the unheard cost of $1,499,000 during the depths of the
Depression, the film is still considered one of the great feats and imperishable
monuments of the motion picture industry. During the next five years, Walt
Disney Studios completed other full-length animated classics such as Pinocchio,
Fantasia, Dumbo, and Bambi.
Walt Disney's dream of a clean, and organized amusement park, came true,
as Disneyland Park opened in 1955. Walt also became a television pioneer, Disney
began television production in 1954, and was among the first to present full-color
programming with his Wonderful World of Color in 1961.
Walt Disney is a legend; a folk hero of the 20th century. His worldwide
popularity was based upon the ideals which his name represents: imagination,
optimism, creation, and self-made success in the American tradition. He brought
us closer to the future, while telling us of the past, it is certain, that there will
never be such as great a man, as Walt Disney.

A Brief Pablo Picasso Biography

By: Rachel Mork
This Pablo Picasso biography will give you an idea of who Picasso was, both as
an artist and as a person. Picasso lived a colorful life, full of rich experiences
paralleled only by his famous paintings.
1881-1899
Picasso was born in 1881 in Spain. His birth name is 23 words long; the family
called him Ruiz, not Pablo, when he was a boy.
His father taught drawing at a local Fine Arts school, which allowed Picasso to
receive formal drawing and painting lessons from a very young age. In 1895,
Picasso's father got a job at the School of Fine Arts in Barcelona. The professors
at the school immediately recognized Picasso's talent; the young Picasso was
accepted into the school and passed exams with comparable ratings to senior
students.

At the tender age of 15, Picasso's famous oil painting "The First Communion"
went on display in an exhibition in Barcelona. A year later, his painting "Science
and Charity" won a competition in Malega. Picasso spent hours in the Prado, a
local art museum, studying and copying works by master painters.
In 1898, Picasso came down with scarlet fever and was so sick that he had to take
a break from school and art. Picasso finally recovered in early 1899 after more
than six months of illness.
1900
In 1900, Picasso changed his name from Ruiz to Pablo Picasso. He moved to Paris
and strained his relationship with his parents by rejecting fine art styles in favor of
new techniques. Picasso landed his first paid job, earning 150 francs each month
for his paintings. Picasso wandered throughout Europe, a habit that he would
continue for the rest of his life.
1901-1904
The blue period in Picasso's work began after his dear friend, Casegemas, shot
himself in the head after a woman rejected his love. This triggered a flurry of
paintings, starting with "Death of Casegemas," painted in shades of blue. For three
years, Picasso moved almost constantly and painted many depressing paintings,
all in shades of blue, depicting sorrowful scenes.
1904-1906
In 1904, Picasso began to work more colors into his palette again, especially
shades of rose, which is why this time is referred to as his rose period. The subject
matter he painted was still somber, depressing or disturbing, but lighter colors
again appeared in his work. During these years, Picasso fell in love with a married
model named Fernande Oliver, who refused to leave her husband. Picasso found
himself fascinated by performers at the circuses he attended with Olivier. Many of
his paintings from this era feature circus performers, who Picasso saw as
representative of the outcasts of society.
1907-1918
In 1907, Picasso became fascinated with angular African sculptures. Inspired by
these sharp angles, Picasso began to paint in the style now known as Cubism. He
began by painting profile noses onto frontal views of faces, but the style soon
evolved to include still life paintings of fruit and other subjects.
1918-1936
Picasso settled down and married a dancer named Olga Khokhlova. At first,
Picasso returned to a more conventional style as he painted dancers and mothers
with children. As his struggles with his celebrity status increased, his style
changed again and again and he delved into surrealism. During this time, Picasso
had an affair with a young nurse in charge of his child.
1937-1945
Picasso's work became political for a short while, including a mural he painted
depicting the bombing of Guernica. Picasso actively handed the Nazis copies of
anti-war prints he had produced during the occupation of France.
1946-1973
In his later years, Picasso devoted his talents to painting humanitarian images and

fighting for peace. He even named one of his children Paloma, which means
"peace". Picasso had many lovers over the years and seemed unable to remain
faithful to any one woman. He passed away at the age of 92.