Have you ever wondered how the
entertainment industry ended up in California? Or how the Hollywood sign was
even a thing? Well these questions could be answered by looking back in
history. Walt Disney was also a big part of the beginning of the entertainment industry
as well. He was the man that started the base for all of the Disney movies you
still see to this day. He was an amazing man. There were also great movies that
were being made in that later time like Gone with the Wind. People started
talking about movies instead of politics. This was the start of the great movie
industry that we have today.
Who started the entertainment
industry? It isn’t exactly someone you would have as your first guess. Thomas
Edison. Yep, this man was a great inventor of many things but no one really
puts him and the movie industry together. Among his inventions he created video
recording devices. This made him want to take over this industry. He didn’t
want anyone to take his idea and he wanted to own the industry. Well, that didn’t
last because there were people who wanted to join in the industry, which wasn’t
wrong. There’s usually some competition in every business. But Thomas Edison
didn’t like this. He did all that he could to shut all of them down. People
started to get fed up and they wanted to get as far away from this man as they
could. So this is the reasoning behind why the entertainment industry stayed in
Hollywood. Why you ask? Well everyone wanted to get away from Thomas Edison who
was at the time in the east. So the smart thing to do is to go west. What could
he do if you were on the complete opposite side of the country? Hollywood was
actually a great place for movie makers because of the scenery. With great
scenery, it’s a great place to film movies. Everything started to fall into
place perfectly. To this day there are monuments in Hollywood to show how much
movies have had a great impact on that area. For example, this area is known for
their iconic Hollywood sign. It was actually not a sign for Hollywood
originally. I know that probably makes you very confused but it’s true. It
started out as an advertisement for Hollywoodland. It was a neighborhood area
that was nearby. But, this sign was just a temporary advertisement so it wasn’t
put there for permanent purposes. When they had to repair it they just took the
“land” part of it away and just made the sign represent the whole area which is
Hollywood. Now it’s very popular to this day and creates the image that people
have when they think of Hollywood. There is one other monument that people like
to visit when they go to this area. This monument is The Walk of Fame. This is
where there are stars that are engraved into the ground and on each one, there
is a person’s name on it that is a part of the entertainment industry. This
commemorates all of them.
One of the famous movie makers that
I want to talk about is Walt Disney. He was a man that accomplished many
things. Even to this day there’s many movies that would not be here if he didn’t
create his own studio. He started Walt Disney Animation Studios with his
brother Roy. In there he was the man who created the famous Mickey Mouse along
with his friends Goofy, Minnie, Pluto, and many more. But that wasn’t the first
project that he started right away. Mickey Mouse is now a slogan or logo of
Disney, but that was not the original plan. Walt created the character Oswald
the Lucky Rabbit. Unfortunately, that was stolen from Walt Disney Animation
Studios. It was stolen by someone they partnered with previously. But, you don’t
see an Oswald World do you? So that didn’t turn out to be a success for the people
who stole the rights to it. But Disney knew what to do. Of course, it is a letdown
to see your ideas taken from you, but you can’t really do anything about it. This
was when Mickey Mouse was in the making. His wife actually was the one who came
up with the name Mickey. It’s very inspiring to see how that one awesome idea that
he came up for his studios that got taken away from him, didn’t stop him from
his goal. That’s a great lesson for everyone to learn. If there is something
that knocks you down, you have to fight to rise up higher than ever before, and
that’s exactly what Walt did. If it weren’t for that incident, we wouldn’t have
the wonderful Mickey Mouse that we have to this day!
It wasn’t just the movies that he
got into, he also made a theme park called Disneyland in Anaheim, California.
We are familiar with two Disney parks in the U.S. but it wasn’t until after he
passed away that they created Disney World which is located in Florida. I love
that he thought of creating these parks because it really gives kids
imagination. His movies do that too. Whenever I watch any Disney film whether
it’s new or old, I get into it. I feel like I’m in a completely different
world. If I’m having a bad day or just stressed out, I watch Disney movies
because it honestly makes every single bad thing disappear. I love being
imaginative, and so did he and Walt had a big imagination that he shared to the
world. I’m glad he did.
Walt started out making animated
shorts and later moved on to longer films. Snow
White and the Seven Dwarfs was
actually the first feature-length movie he made. Even though it was his first,
it was one of the biggest successes he’s ever had. It was so popular in the
movies, they kept releasing it in the theaters until it came out on video. It
is still one of the top ten movies that has been released (adjusting the
inflation). One of the short cartoons that he made previously called Steamboat Willie, was also a success for
him. I watched it and even though it’s an oldie, it’s a goodie. Honestly, that
animated short is really entertaining. If you have ever watched a Disney movie,
they still put a little clip of mickey whistling. That was part of the Steamboat Willie short. I like that they
put that in the introduction of the Disney movie because it still commemorates the
great works that Walt did in the beginning. I hope they keep that up because
you should never forget the person that made it all happen. I would have loved
to meet Walt Disney because he is truly inspiring.
There were many other successes in
the movie industry and many great movies that were made but I wanted to focus
on Walt Disney because he is the one that I can connect to the most. I watch
Disney movies all the time and I always think to myself, that one incredible
man made all of this happen. I will always watch Disney movies because they are
truly amazing. We have Walt Disney to thank for creating Mickey Mouse, and all
the other older films, because that started it all.
“If
you can dream it, you can do it. Always remember that this whole thing
was
started with a dream and a mouse.”
-Walt
E. Disney
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