Born on December 5, 1901, in Chicago, United States, Walter Elias Diasknown worldwide simply as Walt Disneyis one of the most important filmmakers, producers, screenwriters, voice actors, animators and entrepreneurs in the history of cinema.
In 1923, alongside his brother, Roy Disney, founded The Walt Disney Company, the entertainment company that turns 100 years old this Monday, the 16th, where they produced films using the cartoon technique. In 1928, the character that would become one of the studio’s main symbols debuted, Mickey Mouse, who made his first appearance in the short “Steamboat Willie”.
In 1937, Disney made history with the release of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”, the first feature-length animated film in the history of cinema, as well as being the first made entirely in color. With its arrival, it also marked the beginning of a group that would become one of the company’s biggest franchises: the Disney Princesses.
Even though it was one of the studio’s biggest hits, throughout its career, Walt Disney He only worked on the production of three princesses: Snow White (1934), Cinderella (1950) and Aurora, protagonist of the animation “Sleeping Beauty” (1967).
Despite having had the opportunity to produce few princesses, Disney owned his favorite character: Cinderella. According to the E!News portal, the information about the filmmaker’s preference was revealed by him to Ilene Woodofficial English voice actress for the princess.
Furthermore, Walt He also revealed in an interview that his favorite scene among all the films he worked on was the transformation of Cinderella’s dress after the Fairy Godmother’s magic, where the outfit changes from completely torn clothes to a beautiful ballroom outfit.
The importance of Cinderella
It is worth remembering that “Cinderella” is an extremely important film for Disney. The animation arrived in cinemas 13 years after the debut of the first princess, due to one of humanity’s worst conflicts: the Second World War.
At that time, the studio began producing and disseminating military advertisements to help the government encourage the population to enlist and defend their nation. The projects featured characters such as Donald Duck and in addition to developing films for military training, Disney also produced badges and even educational shorts.
Some studios became housing for soldiers, and several company employees ended up enlisting to serve in the war. With the reduced team, and the public’s lack of interest in consuming animations in the middle of an armed conflict, Disney began to have serious financial problems, reaching the end of the fight with a debt of 4 million dollars.
To try to save the studio, Walt Disney decided that he would replicate the successful 1937 formula, and re-adapted a princess fairy tale. “Cinderella” debuted in 1950, and was a huge success. Today, the film is one of the company’s classics, and has earned more than $263.6 million at the global box office.
Source: Recreio
