Walt Disney

Walt Disney (Walter Elias Disney) was born on December 5, 1901, in Chicago, Illinois. Being a little kid he developed his love for drawing and trains.

In 1911, his family moved to Kansas City, were he met The Pfeiffer, which were theatre fanatics. He was then introduced to the world of motion pictures. He attended at the Kansas City Art Institute and then, when his family returned to Chicago, he started taking night courses at the Chicago Art Institute.

In 1917 he dropped out of high school to join the army, but he was rejected; that is why he entered the Red Cross and was sent to France. After that, he returned to Kansas and began working on the Kansas City Film Ad Company. Working there is when he decided to become an animator and then decided to open his own business. He set his sights on establishing a studio in the city of the movie industry, Hollywood, California.

His first big and most important creation is Mickey Mouse. Its first appearance was in the short Plane Crazy (1928) and it followed Steamboat Willie (1928) the first cartoon with sound. Steamboat Willie became an instant success. Disney himself provided the voice for Mickey until 1946.

In 1934, Disney began planning a full-length version of Snow White (a German fairy tale), which many people believe would be a big failure. The movie was finally finished in 1937, and it was named Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It was released in 1938 and it was given a standing ovation. This was the first full-length animated feature film to be made in Technicolor. The movie was nominated for an Academy Award for best music, and next year (1939) he received an Academy Honorary Award in recognition of the important screen innovation.

After this big hit, many big movies followed. This period was called the Golden Age of Animation for Disney and movies as Pinocchio, Fantasia, Bambi, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan were created. Also, the animation department created the successful Lady and the Tramp (1955), Sleeping Beauty (1959), One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961), and The Sword in the Stone (1963).

In 1955, Disney’s biggest project was opened to public: the Disneyland Park, in California. It had been his dream for many years to create a place were people can visit the Disney Studio, and also were adults and children could have fun together.

"To all who come to this happy place: -Welcome- Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past ... and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams, and the hard facts that have created America ... with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world."

—Walter E. Disney, July 17, 1955

Walt Disney died on December 15^th, 1966 after being diagnosed with a tumor on his left lung. He was cremated and his ashes are located in California. It is a popular believes that he was frozen and his body is stored at the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, at Disneyland.

He is consider a visionary and a producer of the major entertainment empire and film art-animation.

Akira Kurosawa

Akira Kurosawa Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter and editor.

He was born on March 23, 1910, Tokyo, Japan. He was the youngest of eight children born to the Kurosawa family in a suburb.

Kurosawa's father was the director of a junior high school operated by the Japanese military. Financially, the family was above average. Isamu Kurosawa embraced western culture both in the athletic programs that he directed and by taking the family to see films, which were then just beginning to appear in Japanese theaters. Later, when Japanese culture turned away from western films, Isamu Kurosawa continued to believe that films were a positive educational experience.

In 1936, Kurosawa learned of an apprenticeship program for directors through a major film studio. He was hired and worked as an assistant director to Kajiro Yamamoto. After his directorial debut with Sanshiro Sugata (1943), his next few films were made under the watchful eye of the wartime Japanese government and sometimes contained nationalistic themes. For instance, The Most Beautiful (1944) is a propaganda film about Japanese women working in a military optics factory. Sanshiro Sugata Part II (1945) portrays Japanese judo as superior to western (British) boxing.

His first post-war film No Regrets for Our Youth (1946), by contrast, is critical of the old Japanese regime and is about the wife of a left-wing dissident who is arrested for his political leanings. Kurosawa made several more films dealing with contemporary Japan, for example Drunken Angel (1948) and Stray Dog (1949). However, it was the period film Rashomon (1950) which led to him being known internationally and won him the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.

In 1945, Kurosawa married actress Yoko Yaguchi. He had two children with her: a son named Hisao (who became a producer and worked with his father on the films Ran, Dreams, Rhapsody in August, and Madadayo) and a daughter named Kazuko.

He was known as "Tenno", literally "Emperor", for his dictatorial directing style. He was a perfectionist who spent enormous time and effort to achieve his desired visual effects.

His perfectionism also showed in his approach to costumes: he felt that giving an actor a brand new costume made the character look less than authentic. To resolve this, he often gave his cast their costumes weeks before shooting was to begin and required them to wear them on a daily basis and "bond with them." In some cases, such as with Seven Samurai, where most of the cast portrayed poor farmers, the actors were told to make sure the costumes were worn down and tattered by the time shooting started.

The following directors either were directly influenced by Kurosawa, or greatly admired his work:

Francis Ford Coppola - "One thing that distinguishes Akira Kurosawa is that he didn't make a masterpiece or two masterpieces, he made, you know, eight masterpieces.

Steven Spielberg - "the pictorial Shakespeare of our time"

Akira Kurosawa died in Setagaya on September 6th 1998 from a stroke. He was 88 years.

The Akira Kurosawa Foundation was established in December 2003.

In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Kurosawa's birth, the AK100 Project was created. The AK100 Project aims to "expose young people who are the representatives of the next generation, and all people everywhere, to the light and spirit of Akira Kurosawa and the wonderful world he created."

Filmography

Year – Title – Japanese -Romanization

1943 - Sanshiro Sugata aka Judo Saga - 姿三四郎 - Sugata Sanshirō

1944 - The Most Beautiful- 一 番美しく - Ichiban utsukushiku

1945 - Sanshiro Sugata Part II aka Judo Saga 2 - 續姿三四郎 - Zoku Sugata Sanshirô

-The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tai l - 虎の尾を踏む男達 - Tora no o wo fumu otokotachi

1946 - No Regrets for Our Youth - わが青春に悔なし - Waga seishun ni kuinashi

1947 - One Wonderful Sunday - 素晴らしき日曜日 - Subarashiki nichiyōbi

1948 - Drunken Angel - 酔いどれ天使 - Yoidore tenshi

1949 - The Quiet Duel - 静かなる決闘 - Shizukanaru ketto

-Stray Dog - 野良犬 - Nora inu

1950 - Scandal aka Shūbun - 醜聞 - Sukyandaru

-Rashomon - 羅生門 - Rashōmon

1951 - The Idiot - 白痴 - Hakuchi

1952 - Ikiru aka To Live - 生きる - Ikiru

1954 - Seven Samurai - 七人の侍 - Shichinin no samurai

1955 - I Live in Fear aka Record of a Living Being - 生きものの記録 - Ikimono no kiroku

1957 - Throne of Blood aka Spider Web Castle - 蜘蛛巣城 – Kumonosu-jō

-The Lower Depths - どん底 - Donzoko

1958 - The Hidden Fortress - 隠し砦の三悪人 - Kakushi toride no san akunin

1960 - The Bad Sleep Well - 悪い奴ほどよく眠る - Warui yatsu hodo yoku nemuru

1961 - Yojimbo aka The Bodyguard - 用心棒 - Yōjinbō

1962 - Sanjuro - 椿三十郎 - Tsubaki Sanjūrō

1963 - High and Low aka Heaven and Hell - 天国と地獄 - Tengoku to jigoku

1965 - Red Beard - 赤ひげ - Akahige

1970 - Dodesukaden - どですかでん- Dodesukaden

1975 - Dersu Uzala - デルス・ウザーラ - Derusu Uzāra

1980 - Kagemusha aka The Shadow Warrior - 影武者 - Kagemusha

1985 - Ran - 乱 - Ran

1990 - Dreams aka Akira Kurosawa's Dreams - 夢 - Yume

1991 - Rhapsody in August aka Hachigatsu no kyōshikyoku - 八月の狂詩曲 - Hachigatsu no rapusodī

1993 - Madadayo aka Not Yet - まあだだよ - Mādadayo

Tim Burton

Tim Burton (Timothy William Burton) was born on August 25, 1958 in Burbank, California. He was not a very good student; instead, he liked painting, drawing, and watching monster movies. He was a fan of actor Vincent Price.

In 1976, Burton attended the California Institute of the Arts (Cal Arts), and after his graduation, he was hired at Walt Disney Productions' animation studio, to work on The Fox and the Hound (1981).

In 1982, Burton made his first animated short, Vincent, based on a poem written by himself about a young boy who fantasizes that he is his hero, Vincent Price.

In 1984, he created his first major live-action short, Frankenweenie. The actor that embodies the character Pee-Wee Herman saw this movie and decided that Tim Burton was the chosen one to direct the full-length film, called Pee-Wee’s Big adventure (1985); the film was an instant success.

After three years of not doing any films, he was offered the script for Beetlejuice. This film was the perfect fit for his vision, and it was an even bigger hit. Because of this, Warner Bros. offered him to direct Batman.

Batman (1989) created a new model for superhero adaptations that is still seen today in many movies such as superman and spider-man. It is consider a blockbuster film because of the merchandizing that it generated, although Tim Burton was able to put his own stamp. The movie is Burton’s biggest box-office hit to date and one of the most influential Hollywood movies of the last few decades.

The success of the film helped establish Burton as a major director and also he was given the opportunity to make any kind of film he wanted. This film was Edward Scissorhands (1990); he had full control over the film, both regarding writing and producing. It marked the beginning of Burton being taken seriously as an artist.

Many important movies followed, such as: Nightmare Before Christmas, Sleepy Hollow, Planet of the Apes, big Fish, Corpse Bride and Sweeny Todd.

Burton is mainly known for his innovative live action features, although he has had a strong influence on the world of animation. That is why last year (2009) he received the Winsor McCay Award, given by the International Animated Film Society, ASIFA-Hollywood. This award is one of the highest honors given to a person in the animation industry in acknowledgment for the contributions to the art of animation.

Director filmography

· Vincent (1982)

· Frankenweenie (1984)

· Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985)

· Beetlejuice (1988)

· Batman (1989)

· Edward Scissorhands (1990)

· Batman Returns (1992)

· Ed Wood (1994)

· Mars Attacks! (1996)

· Sleepy Hollow (1999)

· Planet of the Apes (2001)

· Big Fish (2003)

· Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)

· Corpse Bride (2005)

· Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) - Golden Globe Award for Best Director

· Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Producer filmography

· Edward Scissorhands (1990)

· Batman Returns (1992)

· The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

· Cabin Boy (1994)

· Ed Wood (1994)

· Batman Forever (1995)

· James and the Giant Peach (1996)

· Mars Attacks! (1996)

· Corpse Bride (2005)

· 9 (2009)

· Frankenweenie (2011)

· Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012)

Animator filmography

· Stalk of the Celery (1979)

· The Fox and the Hound (1981)

· Luau (1982)

· Tron (1982)

· Family Dog (1987) (animation designer, executive producer)

· Amazing Stories (1987) (episode 1)

Cameos and other film work

· Singles (1992)

· Hoffa (1992)

· The Nightmare Before Christmas (deleted scene)

Art filmography

· Frankenweenie (1984)

· The Black Cauldron (1985)

Internet shorts

· The World of Stainboy (2000)