The Financial Troubles of Walt Disney

From the early start Walt grew up in poverty. In the years 1901-1920's, he passed most of his youth in a financially unstable household. Nevertheless, he's working on odd jobs to make a living, while he was trying to become an artist. Inside this family which struggled to make ends meet, he dreamed to be a filmmaker. A dream that never forgot.

When he was 20 years old, Walt Disney started his first business for animated films. He named it Laugh-O-Gram Films and it was founded in Kansas City. The little studio collapsed under debt after almost two years. 1923 and the young Disney didn't have his business anymore. His failed plans didn't stop him to keep trying catch his dream, so beautifully.

Some particular reasons had forced him to abandon the project. He couldn't pay his employees and he lived on almost nothing. At one point, he was sleeping in his failed studio. This bankruptcy forced him to move to Hollywood and start over again.

At the late 1920's, he created Mickey Mouse with his partner Ubbe Ert Iwerks. In 1928 Mickey Mouse was on the big screen making his debut on New York's theaters. Even after creating Mickey, Walt Disney was often cash poor. His ambition pushed expensive projects that routinely overran budgets and left him in the studio deeply in debt.

Walt sometimes mortgaged his home and he personally guaranteed loans. During the 1941 strike & financial crisis, the studio was in debt from failed underperforming films. The animators’ strike hit Walt emotionally. He feared of losing the company and he took a government sponsored trip to South America, partially to escape the stress.

Despite later wealth, Walt Disney remained extremely cautious and often stressed about money. If Disneyland had failed in 1955, Walt would have been personally bankrupt. The park’s early financial chaos put huge pressure on him, though it finally succeeded. Mister Disney reinvested nearly everything back into projects, leaving a minimum personal liquidity.

Walt Disney's life was quite paradoxical. But he achieved to make sense out of it and living by his work. Fun Fact: He disliked being controlled by financiers, which is why he created separate entities (e.g., WED Enterprises) to regain independence.

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