|
•Walt Disney s Horror Movie
by: Stephen Schochet
In 1934, when Walt Disney called for a meeting among his artists, a rumor had spread that he was going to shut the studio down and they would all be left unemployed during the great depression. Instead he personally told them in his own spellbinding way the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which he intended to make into his first feature length film. It was a risk unlike any other he had taken before. The film would cost a million and a half dollars at a...
•The Lessons Walt Disney Learned Still Apply Today
by: Stephen Schochet
Contrary to popular belief, Walt Disney spent more time as a struggler than a success. Described at a various times as a visionary and a genius there were actually many occasions he could not foresee the results of his ideas, and they nearly brought him to financial ruin. Yet the lessons he learned through the years are useful and timeless.
1) Ownership is key: Early in his career, Walt created a character on behalf of Universal Studios named Oswald the Rabbit. When...
•Walt Disney s Failures Could Inspire Entrepreneurs
by: Stephen Schochet
You are a struggling entrepreneur and sometimes it feels like you are pushing a 3 ton boulder up a steep hill. Costs keep mounting and you are considering giving up. Well before you do, check out these 10 setbacks that Walt Disney had, some were financial nightmares that put him millions of dollars in the red:
1) Walt formed his first animation company in Kansas City in 1921. He made a deal with a distribution company in New York, in which he would ship them his...
•Walt Disney Knew How To Get The Word Out
by Stephen SchochetYou have permission to publish this article electronicallywith a link or in print, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated.Walt Disney Knew How To Get The Word OutBy Stephen Schochetorgofhlly@aol.comCOPYRIGHT: ©2004 by Hollywood Stories. All rights reservedYou need to get the word out about your products but your economic resources are limited. That was often the dilemma that faced Walt Disney. Often...
•Walt Disney Is Coming To Town
by: Stephen Schochet
In 1923, twenty-one-year-old Walt Disney arrived in Los Angeles fresh from the disappointment of his first cartoon studio going bankrupt in Kansas City. He went to see his twenty-nine-year-old brother Roy in the Veteran's Hospital were he was recovering from tuberculosis. Roy, a former bank teller and navy man was concerned about his brother's skinniness. Hey kid, haven't you been eating? I'm supposed to be the sick one. So now that you're in L.A. what are you are...
•Mrs Disney
by: Stephen Schochet
Warren Beatty once observed, That if you get married in Hollywood, you should always do it before noon. That way if it doesn't work out, you don't kill your evening. But in 1925 Walt Disney, still getting his feet wet in Tinseltown was not interested in pampered starlets. His eye was on a employee of his named Lillian Bounds, originally from Lewiston, Idaho who worked for him as ink paint girl making fifteen dollars a week. She reminded him of the hard working...
•Walt Disney s Psychedelic Movie
by Stephen SchochetChasen's restaurant in old Hollywood was a legendary hangout were movie stars expected to dine in peaceful private booths on barbecued chili without putting up with celebrity gawkers. There were occasional breaks in the quiet. Jimmy Stewart's bachelor party was thrown there complete with midgets clad only in diapers jumping out of cakes. Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre got drunk one night and stole the restaurant's safe, carrying it out onto the street until they were...
•Strange Encounters With Hollywood Legends
by: Stephen Schochet
Meeting famous people is often a surreal experience for both parties. In 1956 when Elvis Presley arrived in Hollywood he and his entourage stayed at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. One day he got into the elevator. What floor? asked the operator. Tenth please. The operator looked at him with disdain. You can't go up to the tenth floor. Elvis is staying there. No one is allowed there. A bemused Presley said, I know. I'm Elvis. The hotel employee stared at him...
•Can I Have Your Autograph
?
by: Stephen Schochet
Being a celebrity means dealing with fan demands for autographs, ranging from polite and appropriate to rude and overbearing. One time Katherine Hepburn was performing on Broadway and tried to exit backstage through a crowd of jostling autograph hounds. Bodyguards helped her to her limo and once safely inside the very private star rolled down the window and shouted, Run em down! We'll clean up the blood later! The crowd scattered and the limousine sped away, pausing...
•Tales Of A Hollywood Tour Guide
by: Stephen Schochet
Author/Narrator Stephen Schochet researched Hollywood and Disney stories and lore for 10 years while giving tours of Hollywood. He had the unique idea the stories could be told anywhere and that's what led him to create the critically acclaimed audiobooks Fascinating Walt Disney and Tales Of Hollywood. Here he shares some stories that happened while he was actually giving tours:
On one tour I pointed out the Fox Plaza, the building that was blown up in the movie Die...
| 
