Walter Disney: One of the World 華特?迪士尼——制造快樂的夢想家

涂淑梅

華特·迪士尼是一個極度有創意、預見力的人，他是迪士尼公司的創始人。他曾說：“你可以夢想、創作、設計和建造世界上最奇妙的地方?？墒?，這是夢想都需要努力的人才能成真?！弊屛覀円黄痖喿x下文來感受華特的努力，看他如何夢想成真。

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 [??n??me??n] n.活潑，有生氣;動畫片，動畫片制作

2）declare [d??kler]v.表明;宣布;強調;申報（收益）;申報（應納稅品）

3）bankruptcy [?b??kr?ptsi] n.破產

4）trademark [?tre?dmɑ?k] n.（注冊）商標;（人的行為或衣著的）特征，標記

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 [r??li?s] v.發行，上映

6） destinations [?d?st??ne??nz] n.目的地

詞組加油站

drop out of school退學;輟學

taking off（飛機的）起飛;（經濟的）起飛;開始;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 [?leɡ?si] n.遺贈（物）;遺產

華特·迪士尼出生于芝加哥。小時候，華特在芝加哥藝術學院上課，并為校報畫插畫。在他十六歲時，華特決定參與第一次世界大戰。但因為年紀太小而不能入伍，于是他輟學加入了紅十字會。接下來的一年，他在法國為紅十字會開救護車。

戰后，迪士尼回國，準備開始他的藝術家生涯。他遇到了一位名叫烏比·伊沃克斯的藝術家，并從他那了解了動畫片。華特想要制作自己的卡通動畫片。他開了自己的公司，并聘請了一些朋友包括烏比·伊沃克斯。他們創造了一些卡通動畫短片。雖然這些卡通片很受歡迎，但公司沒有賺到足夠的錢，華特不得不宣布破產。

然而，一次失敗并不能阻止迪士尼。1923年，他搬到了好萊塢，開了一家新公司，名叫迪士尼兄弟制片廠。他再一次聘請了烏比·伊沃克斯和其他一些動畫片制作者。他們創造了受人歡迎的角色——幸運兔奧斯華。

新公司成功了。然而，環球影業獲得了奧斯華商標的控制權，并且帶走了迪士尼除了伊沃克斯之外所有的動畫片制作者。

華特·迪士尼不得不再一次從頭開始。這一次，他創造了一個名叫米老鼠的新角色。他創作了第一部有聲動畫電影——《威利汽船》，是由米老鼠和米妮鼠主演的。華特親自為《威利汽船》配音。這部電影取得了巨大的成功。

迪士尼繼續開展工作，創造出新的角色，比如唐老鴨、高飛狗和布魯托。

1932年，迪士尼決定制作一部名為《白雪公主和七個小矮人》的長篇動畫電影。人們都認為他一定是瘋了才會嘗試把卡通片的時間做得那么長。然而，迪士尼確信這部電影會成功。這部電影花費了五年時間才完成，它最終在1937年上映。

這部電影獲得了巨大的成功，并成為1938年票房最高的電影。

迪士尼用《白雪公主和七個小矮人》賺到的錢建立了一家電影制片廠，并制作了更多的動畫電影，包括《匹諾曹》《小飛象》《小鹿斑比》《愛麗絲夢游仙境》和《彼得潘》。

20世紀50年代，新的電視技術正在騰飛。迪士尼也想成為電視產業的一員。早期的迪士尼電視節目包括《迪士尼精彩的色彩世界》《戴維·克羅克特》系列片和《米老鼠俱樂部》。

迪士尼總是能夠有新想法，他想了一個主意——建立一個以自己的電影為基礎、有狂歡游行和娛樂設施的主題公園。迪士尼樂園1955年開放，建造該游樂園花費了1700萬美元。迪士尼樂園又是一個巨大的成功，至今它仍然是世界上最受歡迎的假期目的地之一。不久后，迪士尼又有了一個新想法——在佛羅里達州修建一個更大的、名叫“華特·迪士尼世界”的游樂園。他致力于推進這項計劃，卻在1971年游樂園開放之前去世了。

迪士尼于1966年11月15日因肺癌去世。他的遺產留存至今。他的電影和主題公園每年仍然受到數以百萬計的人們的喜愛。每年，他的公司仍繼續創作著絕妙的電影和娛樂節目。