Who Was Walt Disney? by Whitney Stewart

 Who Was...? biography series for middle grade captivates with the story of Walt Disney – a leader in the American animation industry.

Walter Elias Disney (1901-1966) was born in Chicago. When he was four, his family moved to a farm in Marceline, Missouri. It was a happy childhood for Walt. He liked to ride on pigs which often meant landing in mud. After school, he fished and skinny-dipped. In winter, he went sledding or skating on a frozen creek. From childhood, he had a natural nag for entertaining people. He liked attention and liked being the class clown. Once, he caught a field mouse, made a leash for it, and paraded his new pet around the classroom. He also had some talent for drawing which at times got him in trouble, especially after drawing with the tar on the side of their white house. 

When his father became sick, the family moved to Kansas City where Walt had to pitch in. At nine, he started delivering papers. 

In school, he wasn’t doing well. Instead, he was thinking of ways to make his classmates laugh. He also liked drawing funny characters or animal in the corner of the pages making it appear as moving while flipping the pages. These were his first cartoons.

Walt attended High School in Chicago where the family returned, but again he was bored in all of his classes. The only thing he liked was drawing cartoons for the school newspaper. After a year, he dropped out of school. At the time, he didn’t know what he wanted to be, but he certainly had faith in himself. 

At night, he took art classes. He bought himself a movie camera. 

When he applied for a job at the post office, he was told that he was too young. He went home, put on a man’s hat, drew a mustache on his face and went back to the post office where this time, he got the job. He knew how to find a solution to a problem. 

When he moved back to Kansas City, he teamed up with another artist. They got jobs at the Kansas City Slide Company. Here, Walt learned all about animation. This was life changing for him. After creating his first cartoon, he sold it to the Newman theatres, and started up a small company. 

He recruited artists to help him make cartoons. He promised to share any money earned from the cartoons. But he went bankrupt. Kansas City was not the center of entertainment business. He moved to Hollywood. 

With his brother Roy, they formed the Disney Brothers Studio. They were doing well with Oswald cartoons which in a way got stolen from him. Then, in secret with a few trusted people, Walt created a new character – a mouse. Mickey Mouse was born. Then, came Donald Duck.

As popular Mickey Mouse is today, at the time of its inception no theater wanted to show mouse cartoons. But Walt wasn’t someone to give up. Once, he added soundtracks, the audience fell in love with Walt’s characters. Then, Mickey Mouse Club was created and sprang up all over America.

Walt was always looking for the next big idea, pushing the boundaries. Up until then, cartoons were short. His next goal was a full – length movie. It took him years to create Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. He borrowed more than one and a half million dollars for this project. Snow White was called a masterpiece and won a special Academy Award. 

In the following years, he produced: Fantasia, Pinocchio, and Bambi. 

And he continued to face challenges. There was WWII which affected the sales in Europe. Then, his employees went on strike. His following movies weren’t as successful.

When he spent time with his two daughters, playing and goofing around, it gave him his next idea of an amusement park. Thus, Disneyland was born in Anaheim, California. Even with age, he never slowed down. He had too many ideas to quit working.

At sixty-five, he died of lung cancer. He didn’t get to see the opening of Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida.

This biography illustrates a man who believed in himself and the characters he created. Despite many obstacles, he persisted with what he believed in. 

This illustrated biography for young readers, ages 7-10, is presented in a relatable way, with simple sentences, and insightful inserts.

Published in 2012 by Grosset & Dunlap

 

 

TRENDING INSPIRATION: Never Give Up believing in Yourself

 

Traits:

·         From childhood, he had a natural nag for entertaining people.

·         He liked attention and liked being the class clown.

·         He had some talent for drawing. To improve it, he took evening classes.

·         In school, he wasn’t doing well. Instead, he was thinking of ways to make his classmates laugh.

·         He liked drawing funny characters or animal in the corner of the pages making it appear as moving while flipping the pages. These were his first cartoons.

·         While in HS, the only thing he liked was drawing cartoons for the school newspaper.

·         After a year, he dropped out of high school. At the time, he didn’t know what he wanted to be, but he certainly had faith in himself.

·         While working at the Kansas City Slide Company, he learned all about animation. This was life changing for him.

·         After creating his first cartoon, he sold it to the Newman theatres, and started up a small company in Kansas City which went bankrupt due to location.

·         Thus, he moved to Hollywood, with his brother Roy, they formed the Disney Brothers Studio.

·         His Oswald cartoons got stolen from him but this didn’t stop him. Afterwards, came his most successful characters: Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.

·         Walt was always looking for the next big idea, pushing the boundaries. Up until then, cartoons were short. His next goal was a full – length movie. It took him years to create Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs which was called a masterpiece and won a special Academy Award.

·         In the following years, he produced: Fantasia, Pinocchio, and Bambi.

·         He continued to face challenges. There was WWII which affected the sales in Europe. Then, his employees went on strike. His following movies weren’t as successful.

·         When he spent time with his two daughters, playing and goofing around, it gave him his next idea of an amusement park. Thus, Disneyland was born in Anaheim, California.

·         Even with age, he never slowed down. He had too many ideas to quit working.

 

 

“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” – Walt Disney

“It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.” – Walt Disney

“If you can dream it, you can do it.” – Walt Disney

“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” – Walt Disney

Who Was Bruce Lee? by Jim Gigliotti

 Who Was...? biography series for middle grade enthralls with the story of Bruce Lee – one of the greatest martial-arts masters of all time.

Bruce Lee (1940-1973) from childhood was a bundle of energy, always playing, running or jumping. His family called him ‘never sits still.” 

He was born in San Francisco. His father was an actor in a traveling Chinese opera. 

When he was just a few months, his family returned to Hong Kong, where his parents were born. His dad’s job meant that Bruce was around the performing arts at a young age. 

He didn’t have the same enthusiasm for school. Instead, he was getting into fighting. One day, he lost a fight and got beat up. He decided he had to learn to protect himself better. So he began to study the martial arts called kung fu.

But he continued to get into many fights. When police knocked on the door of the family and warned that next time it will be jail, the family decided to send Bruce back to the US. 

He stayed at their friend’s house in Seattle where he enrolled at the University of Washington where he studied philosophy. It made him question his behavior and his attitude about fighting started to change. 

While still in school, he began to teach his friends kung fu. Later, he opened a teaching studio. 

After getting married and having his son, the family moved to Oakland, California, where he opened his studio and began developing his own martial-arts system. 

In 1964, at the First International Karate Tournament in Long Beach, California, Bruce showcased his skills. Jay Sebring was in the crowd and introduced Bruce to his friend William Dozier, Hollywood producer. Bruce was cast in a few roles but his acting didn’t really take off.

He went back to teaching kung fu, but thanks to his moves on the screen, the martial arts became very popular in the US. The Hollywood stars started knocking at his door. This led him to choreographing the martial-arts scenes in some movies.

In 1970, Bruce developed a pain in his back. He had permanently damaged a nerve in his back. He was told that his career was over. As Bruce was confined to bed, he didn’t waste any time. Instead, he continued to develop his philosophy – his personal code of conduct. After six months, he slowly began his own strategy for getting better.

Same year in 1970, he took a trip to Hong Kong where he met adoring fans. This gave him an idea to do acting in Chinese movies, which he did. He started breaking records in Asia. Then, Hollywood started to make notice of his movies. 

But on July 1973, while working on another movie, he developed a headache. He took some medicine and went to sleep. He never woke up. He had brain swelling.

This biography exemplifies a man who never faltered at challenges. When life knocked him down, he used it to ponder about life; its meaning and how to be a better human being.

This illustrated biography for young readers, ages 7-10, is presented in a relatable way, with simple sentences, and insightful inserts. 

Published in 2014 by Penguin Workshop

 

 

TRENDING INSPIRATION: “If you love life, don’t waste time, for time is what life is made up of.” – Bruce Lee

 

Traits:

·         From childhood, Bruce was a bundle of energy, always playing, running or jumping.

·         At school, he did poorly as it was hard for him to sit still.

·         He got into fights all the time to a point that he almost faced jail, and was sent from Hong Kong to the US.

·         Despite his lack of enthusiasm for education, he was still encouraged to enroll in philosophy, which was a life changing experience for him. It opened his eyes, and made him realize that he was wrong to have sought out fights as a youngster.

·         In Hong Kong, he began to study the martial arts called kung fu. In the US, he began teaching it. Later combining it with philosophy, he began developing his own martial-arts system.

·         His acting didn’t take off in the US, but when visiting Hong Kong and seeing all the fans there, he realized that his audience was in Asia. Thus, he got into Chinese movies, and breaking records in Asia, which made Hollywood notice Bruce.

 

“Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind.” – Bruce Lee 

“I don’t believe in pure luck. You have to create your own luck. You have to be aware of the opportunities around you and take advantage of them.” – Bruce Lee 

“If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.” – Bruce Lee

“Always be yourself; express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.” – Bruce Lee 

“Though we possess a pair of eyes, most of us do not really ‘see’ in the true sense of the word.” – Bruce Lee

 

 

FURTHER INSPIRATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS:

 Inner Engineering: A Yogi's Guide to Joy by Sadhguru

Sadhguru is a guru from India. He teaches about self-transformation and exemplifies what he teaches about.

In this book, he relates the moment of his own awakening, and gives guidance to our highest spiritual enlightenment. He is devoted to humanitarian causes.

He explains the term guru: “dispeller of darkness, someone who opens the door for you…” He states, “As a guru, I have no doctrine to teach, no philosophy to impart, no belief to propagate. And that is because the only solution for all the ills that plague humanity is self-transformation. Self-transformation means that nothing of the old remains. It is a dimensional shift in the way you perceive and experience life.”