Just Like Walt Disney

Nowadays, the existence of huge animation studios is a normal concept. Dozens of movies are produced each year by these companies, some of them good, most of them anonymous. But in the early 1900’s, the idea of an animation studio run by just two brothers was an adventurous idea. And that is exactly what Walt Disney did.

After serving in the Red Cross during World War I, Disney looked for an outlet for his creative expression. After a short stay as an advertising cartoonist in Missouri, he was hired by Universal Studios, one of the largest film studios in North America at the time. However, upset with his role (and money) he was making, he left and formed his own company with his brother known at the time as “The Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio”.

Walt risked his safe employment at the powerful Universal Studios because he had a desire to have his own vision shown to the world. That kind of commitment to his art and his willingness to risk everything for it makes him a true entrepreneur. His creative drive didn’t stop once his studio and finance was secure. In the midst of the Great Depression, Disney Studios financed the first feature length movie produced in technicolor, costing $1.5 million dollars which was an unfathomably high number at the time for a movie.

Disney’s fearless nature has paid off in more ways than one, as The Walt Disney Company now has influence over variety of industries such as radio, theater, publishing, online news, and even music. The combined revenue of  Walt Disney studios (as of 2010) is $38 billion dollars annually.