Adesuwa Omoruan is dubbed the "queen of selfies" by her siblings. She confesses to taking more selfies than regulars photographs. When Adesuwa Omoruan was a child, she never thought or imagined herself becoming a broadcaster; it was the last thing she ever thought of becoming. As far as she was concerned, the lifestyle of reporters was not up to par with the kind of life she wanted, as the young dreamer that she was at the time. She wanted a life that was rich and full of the best life could offer, although she wasn't seeking a life that was necessarily flamboyant. "I just felt that journalist were not paid enough... My idea of a journalist wasn't just working at that time. Sometimes they looked very stressed, very few of them had cars... Growing up, I had this picture of what I wanted to be in life..." She had wanted to become a banker! As a child, she had taken trips to the bank with her mother on several occasions to cash-in her moth
Born Walter Elias Disney in Chicago on December 5, 1901, Walt Disney is best known for his ingenious cartoon creations that gave rise to characters such as the infamous Mickey Mouse.
When Disney was about 5 or 6, his family moved to Marceline, Missouri where he had his first direct contact with nature. There, his dream began to take shape. With a coloring book his aunt gave him, Disney spent his time in the woods, watching and drawing animals he saw.
In the year 1910, the Disney family moved to Kansas City. It was to be the end of Walt Disney's happy childhood at the woods coloring away, and yet, it was this move that cemented his drive to succeed. It was while working for his father, delivering newspaper that he secretly swore to be financially independent and be successful one day. History shows, it was not a mere braggadocio.
The family moved back to Chicago after the First World War, where Disney, 16 at the time, took up a job at his father's Jam-making company. But crushing fruit and stacking cans all day long, became boring to this budding talent. He started taking an art course at the Chicago School of Fine Arts, but he eventually left to enlist as a volunteer Red Cross ambulance driver, after lying about his age. This facilitated his move to France, after the declaration of Armistice, where his commanding officers took note of his special talent for the arts. There, Disney got his first "job" drawing posters, designed to direct soldiers to the various medical services.
In order to make some money, a friend of his, had a brilliant idea he needed Disney's artistic input for. They took German helmets and Disney had the idea of applying poor quality paint to them to make them look battle scarred, then he shot bullets holes in them and he and his friend sold the helmets to soldiers. It was a brilliant but less commendable scheme. It was there, he however, learnt to be totally self-reliant.
The Disney that returned from France was a determined young man. His father had already mapped out his future for him, but Disney had only one future in mind, he had no doubt about it- he was going to make money dabbling in the arts. It was a silly dream, but it was his dream; he wanted to do something he truly enjoyed, drawing.
"To really succeed and be happy, you have to do what you enjoy."
Walt Disney moved to Kansas city to live with his brother, Roy. It was in Kansas, he enjoyed his first real success at drawing. Disney mastered his craft while working for the Gray Advertising agency. He eventually left to work for himself. Along with a friend, Ube Iwerks, he set up his first commercial art agency. Their client was a restaurant chain and they were able to make so much more than they would have made working for someone else.
Although, he was recording much success at this job, Disney soon took up a job working for the Kansas City Film Ad Company, so he could master new skills. This was the year 1920, the year he finally stepped into the world of cartoon animation.
Walt Disney's originality, although impressed the boss, annoyed many of his immediate bosses. After, he got permission to take one of the company's camera home, he started making short animated films using his own innovative techniques. He then showed them to a top cinema director who was favorably impressed with them, who in turn released them to cinemas to take the place of commercials during intermissions. He called them 'Laugh-O-Grams', and they delighted the public.
He subsequently started a small company, Laugh-O-Grams Corporation with an initial $15,000 capital investment. He was barely 20 at the time.
He stopped working for Kansas City Film Ad Company, to work entirely for himself but the challenges he faced soon put an end to his enterprise. He became broke and penniless, living in his workshop.
Despite his adversity however, Disney left for Hollywood in 1923 to carve a niche for himself in the World of Motion Pictures. While there, he began to visit film studios one after the other. He was ready to accept anything at all, as long it was related to film making.
"To get ahead in a specialty area you must get your foot in the door no matter what it costs."
Although, he quickly discovered how difficult it was to get into Hollywood, he nevertheless refused to let this dampen his drive for success at the Big Screen.
He soon got his break, after drawing comic strips which enchanted a cinema owner who bought a whole a series of comic strips and ordered a sequel to Alice in Wonderland, which Disney had begun shooting while in Kansas City.
After Alice in Wonderland, Disney created the infamous character, that endeared movie goers, Mickey Mouse which became an international celebrity in its own right.
As soon as "talking pictures" appeared, Disney got down to business, innovating new techniques. He created popular animated movies like Bambi, Silly Symphony (which was his first color cartoon).
Disney soon surrounded himself with a mastermind group that consisted of assistants who were highly competent.
In 1930, he created his own school where budding cartoonist were taught techniques on cartoon animation.
In 1938, he introduced his first feature-length animated film, Snow White which he had worked on for two years.
Later on, he built his modern film studio at Burbank, California.
After World War Two, Disney success skyrocketed. It was during this period he created masterpiece such as Peter Pan, Cinderella and Bambi.
In the 1950s, Walt Disney had yet another dream to realize- that dream was to become Disneyland. His friends and bankers tried to dissuade him but he proved to them that big dreams can come through.
In 1955, Disneyland opened in Anaheim, California.
Walt Disney died in 1966 having lived his life to the fullest, achieving every dream. His life was ruled by two major principles- doing what he enjoyed and believing in his ideas.
He was a recipient of 900 citations, 32 Oscars, 5 Emmy awards and 5 honorary doctorates. He was a pioneer in the history of animation and one of the richest men in the world.
"To succeed, work hard, never give up, and above all cherish a magnificent obsession."
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