Walter Disney: One of the World 华特•迪士尼——制造快乐的梦想家

涂淑梅

华特·迪士尼是一个极度有创意、预见力的人，他是迪士尼公司的创始人。他曾说：“你可以梦想、创作、设计和建造世界上最奇妙的地方。可是，这是梦想都需要努力的人才能成真。”让我们一起阅读下文来感受华特的努力，看他如何梦想成真。

Walter Disney was born in Chicago. When he was young， Walt took classes at the Chicago Art Institute and drew for the school newspaper. When he was sixteen， Walt decided to help fight in World War I. Since he was still too young to join the army， he dropped out of school and joined the Red Cross. He spent the next year driving ambulances for the Red Cross in France.

Disney returned from the war， ready to begin his career as an artist. He met an artist called UbIwerks and learned about 1）animation. Walt wanted to make his own animation cartoons. He started his own company. He hired some of his friends including UbIwerks. They created short animated cartoons. Although the cartoons were popular， the business didn't make enough money and Walt had to 2）declare 3）bankruptcy.

One failure was not going to stop Disney， however. In 1923， he moved to Hollywood and opened a new business called Disney Brothers' Studio. He again hired UbIwerks and a number of other animators. They developed the popular character Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

The business was a success. However， Universal Studios gained control of the Oswald 4）trademark and took all of Disney's animators except for Iwerks.

Once again， Walt Disney had to start over. This time he created a new character named Mickey Mouse. He created the first animated film to have sound. It was called Steamboat Willie and starred Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Walt performed the voices for Steamboat Willie himself. The film was a great success.

Disney continued to work， creating new characters such as Donald Duck， Goofy， and Pluto.

In 1932， Disney decided to make a full-length animated film called Snow White and the Seven

1） animation [ˌænɪˈmeɪʃn] n.活潑，有生气;动画片，动画片制作

2）declare [dɪˈkler]v.表明;宣布;强调;申报（收益）;申报（应纳税品）

3）bankruptcy [ˈbæŋkrʌptsi] n.破产

4）trademark [ˈtreɪdmɑːk] n.（注册）商标;（人的行为或衣着的）特征，标记

Dwarfs. People thought he was crazy for trying to make a cartoon that long. However， Disney was sure the film would be a success. It took five years to complete the film which was finally 5）released in 1937.

The film was a huge box office success， becoming the top film of 1938.

Disney used the money from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to build a movie studio and to produce more animated movies including Pinocchio， Dumbo， Bambi， Alice in Wonderland， and Peter Pan.

In the 1950's， the new technology of television was taking off. Disney wanted to be a part of television as well. Early Disney television shows included Disney's Wonderful World of Color， the Davy Crockett series， and the Mickey Mouse Club.

Always coming up with new ideas， Disney had the idea to create a theme park with rides and entertainment based on his movies. Disneyland opened in 1955. It cost $17 million to build. The park was a huge success and is still one of the most popular vacation 6）destinations in the world. Disney would later have the idea to build an even larger park in Florida called Walt Disney World. He worked on the plans， but died before the park opened in 1971.

5） release [rɪˈliːs] v.发行，上映

6） destinations [ˌdɛstɪˈneɪʃnz] n.目的地

词组加油站

drop out of school退学;辍学

taking off（飞机的）起飞;（经济的）起飞;开始;起跳

Disney died on December 15， 1966 from lung cancer. His 7）legacy lives on to this

day. His movies and theme parks are still enjoyed by millions of people each year. His company continues to produce wonderful movies and entertainment every year.

7）legacy [ˈleɡəsi] n.遗赠（物）;遗产

华特·迪士尼出生于芝加哥。小时候，华特在芝加哥艺术学院上课，并为校报画插画。在他十六岁时，华特决定参与第一次世界大战。但因为年纪太小而不能入伍，于是他辍学加入了红十字会。接下来的一年，他在法国为红十字会开救护车。

战后，迪士尼回国，准备开始他的艺术家生涯。他遇到了一位名叫乌比·伊沃克斯的藝术家，并从他那了解了动画片。华特想要制作自己的卡通动画片。他开了自己的公司，并聘请了一些朋友包括乌比·伊沃克斯。他们创造了一些卡通动画短片。虽然这些卡通片很受欢迎，但公司没有赚到足够的钱，华特不得不宣布破产。

然而，一次失败并不能阻止迪士尼。1923年，他搬到了好莱坞，开了一家新公司，名叫迪士尼兄弟制片厂。他再一次聘请了乌比·伊沃克斯和其他一些动画片制作者。他们创造了受人欢迎的角色——幸运兔奥斯华。

新公司成功了。然而，环球影业获得了奥斯华商标的控制权，并且带走了迪士尼除了伊沃克斯之外所有的动画片制作者。

华特·迪士尼不得不再一次从头开始。这一次，他创造了一个名叫米老鼠的新角色。他创作了第一部有声动画电影——《威利汽船》，是由米老鼠和米妮鼠主演的。华特亲自为《威利汽船》配音。这部电影取得了巨大的成功。

迪士尼继续开展工作，创造出新的角色，比如唐老鸭、高飞狗和布鲁托。

1932年，迪士尼决定制作一部名为《白雪公主和七个小矮人》的长篇动画电影。人们都认为他一定是疯了才会尝试把卡通片的时间做得那么长。然而，迪士尼确信这部电影会成功。这部电影花费了五年时间才完成，它最终在1937年上映。

这部电影获得了巨大的成功，并成为1938年票房最高的电影。

迪士尼用《白雪公主和七个小矮人》赚到的钱建立了一家电影制片厂，并制作了更多的动画电影，包括《匹诺曹》《小飞象》《小鹿斑比》《爱丽丝梦游仙境》和《彼得潘》。

20世纪50年代，新的电视技术正在腾飞。迪士尼也想成为电视产业的一员。早期的迪士尼电视节目包括《迪士尼精彩的色彩世界》《戴维·克罗克特》系列片和《米老鼠俱乐部》。

迪士尼总是能够有新想法，他想了一个主意——建立一个以自己的电影为基础、有狂欢游行和娱乐设施的主题公园。迪士尼乐园1955年开放，建造该游乐园花费了1700万美元。迪士尼乐园又是一个巨大的成功，至今它仍然是世界上最受欢迎的假期目的地之一。不久后，迪士尼又有了一个新想法——在佛罗里达州修建一个更大的、名叫“华特·迪士尼世界”的游乐园。他致力于推进这项计划，却在1971年游乐园开放之前去世了。

迪士尼于1966年11月15日因肺癌去世。他的遗产留存至今。他的电影和主题公园每年仍然受到数以百万计的人们的喜爱。每年，他的公司仍继续创作着绝妙的电影和娱乐节目。