Walt Disney Quotes - 73 quotes

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Walt Disney

Walt Disney (1901-1966) was a pioneering American animator, film producer, and entrepreneur. He was born on December 5, 1901, in Chicago, Illinois. He co-founded Walt Disney Productions, which grew into one of the best-known motion picture producers in the world. Disney is celebrated for creating iconic characters such as Mickey Mouse and for revolutionizing the animation industry with the first synchronized sound cartoon, "Steamboat Willie" (1928). Disney's innovative spirit led to the creation of the first full-length animated feature film, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1937), which was a critical and commercial success. He also ventured into theme parks, opening Disneyland in 1955, which set the standard for modern amusement parks. He passed away on December 15, 1966, in Burbank, California. His legacy lives on through the global entertainment empire he built.

quote icon 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.

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quote icon Over at our place, we're sure of just one thing: everybody in the world was once a child.

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quote icon Once a man has tasted freedom he will never be content to be a slave. That is why I believe that this frightfulness we see everywhere today is only temporary.

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quote icon Tomorrow will be better for as long as America keeps alive the ideals of freedom and a better life. All men will want to be free and share our way of life.

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quote icon I thank God and America for the right to live and raise my family under the flag of tolerance, democracy and freedom.

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quote icon I only hope that we don't lose sight of one thing — that it all started with a mouse.

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quote icon You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.

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quote icon All the adversity I've had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me.

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quote icon I suppose my formula might be: dream, diversify and never miss an angle.

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quote icon Well, my greatest reward, I think, is that I've been able to build this wonderful organization.

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quote icon Well of course, happiness is a state of mind. You can be happy or you can be unhappy. It's just according to the way you look at things. You know.

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quote icon Some of us just wouldn't be satisfied with just carrying out a routine job and being happy.

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quote icon But all individuals are different. Some of us just wouldn't be satisfied with just carrying out a routine job and being happy. Yet I envied those people. I had a brother who I really envied because he was a mailman. But he's the one that had all the fun. He had himself a trailer, and he used to go out and go fishing, and he didn't worry about payrolls and stories and picture grosses or anything. And he was the happy one. I always said, "He's the smart Disney."

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quote icon A person should set his goals as early as he can and devote all his energy and talent to getting there. With enough effort, he may achieve it. Or he may find something that is even more rewarding. But in the end, no matter what the outcome, he will know he has been alive.

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quote icon I love Mickey Mouse more than any woman I've ever known.

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quote icon There is more treasure in books than in all the pirates' loot on Treasure Island and at the bottom of the Spanish Main... and best of all, you can enjoy these riches every day of your life.

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quote icon It's kind of fun to do the impossible.

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quote icon We're not trying to entertain the critics. I'll take my chances with the public.

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quote icon I could never convince the financiers that Disneyland was feasible, because dreams offer too little collateral.

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quote icon Courage is the main quality of leadership, in my opinion, no matter where it is exercised. Usually it implies some risk — especially in new undertakings. Courage to initiate something and to keep it going, pioneering an adventurous spirit to blaze new ways, often, in our land of opportunity.

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quote icon Until a character becomes a personality it cannot be believed. Without personality, the character may do funny or interesting things, but unless people are able to identify themselves with the character, its actions will seem unreal. And without personality, a story cannot ring true to the audience.

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quote icon All right. I'm corny. But I think there's just about a-hundred-and-forty-million people in this country that are just as corny as I am.

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quote icon When we do fantasy, we must not lose sight of reality.

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quote icon For every laugh, there should be a tear.

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quote icon All we ever intended for him or expected of him was that he should continue to make people everywhere chuckle with him and at him. We didn't burden him with any social symbolism, we made him no mouthpiece for frustrations or harsh satire. Mickey was simply a little personality assigned to the purposes of laughter.

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quote icon I do not make films primarily for children. I make them for the child in all of us...

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quote icon In my work I try to reach and speak to that innocence, showing it the fun and joy of living; showing it that laughter is healthy; showing it that the human species, although happily ridiculous at times, is still reaching for the stars.

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quote icon I do not like to repeat successes, I like to go on to other things.

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quote icon They say I'm a conservative, but I consider myself a true liberal.

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quote icon Mickey Mouse is, to me, a symbol of independence. He was a means to an end. He popped out of my mind onto a drawing pad 20 years ago on a train ride from Manhattan to Hollywood at a time when business fortunes of my brother Roy and myself were at lowest ebb and disaster seemed right around the corner. Born of necessity, the little fellow literally freed us of immediate worry. He provided the means for expanding our organization to its present dimensions and for extending the medium of cartoon animation toward new entertainment levels. He spelled production liberation for us.

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quote icon We felt that the public, and especially the children, like animals that are cute and little. I think we are rather indebted to Charlie Chaplin for the idea. We wanted something appealing, and we thought of a tiny bit of a mouse that would have something of the wistfulness of Chaplin — a little fellow trying to do the best he could.

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quote icon Somehow, I can't believe that there are any heights that can't be scaled by a man by a man who knows the secret of making dreams come true. The special secret it seems to me is summarized in four C's. They are Curiosity, Courage, Confidence and Constancy. And the greatest of all is Confidence. When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionably.

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quote icon All you've got to do is own up to your ignorance honestly, and you'll find people who are eager to fill your head with information.

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quote icon We like to have a point of view in our stories, not an obvious moral, but a worthwhile theme. … All we are trying to do is give the public good entertainment. That is all they want.

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quote icon But wide awake, not blind faith, moves me. My operations are based on experience, thoughtful observation and warm fellowship with my neighbors at home and around the world.

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quote icon I am interested in entertaining people, in bringing pleasure, particularly laughter, to others, rather than being concerned with "expressing" myself with obscure creative impressions.

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quote icon When I started on Disneyland, my wife used to say, "But why do you want to build an amusement park? They're so dirty." I told her that was just the point — mine wouldn't be.

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quote icon Disneyland is something that will never be finished. It's something that I can keep developing. It will be a live, breathing thing that will need change.

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quote icon Fantasy, if it's really convincing, can't become dated, for the simple reason that it represents a flight into a dimension that lies beyond the reach of time.

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quote icon Animation can explain whatever the mind of man can conceive. This facility makes it the most versatile and explicit means of communication yet devised for quick mass appreciation.

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quote icon Around here, however, we don't look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we're curious… and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.

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quote icon My own concept of prayer is not as a plea for special favors nor as a quick palliation for wrongs knowingly committed. A prayer, it seems to me, implies a promise as well as a request.

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quote icon A prayer, it seems to me, implies a promise as well as a request.

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quote icon ...prayer not only is a supplication for strength and guidance, but also becomes an affirmation of life and thus a reverent praise of God.

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quote icon Deeds rather than words express my concept of the part religion should play in everyday life.

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quote icon I don't believe in playing down to children, either in life or in motion pictures. I didn't treat my own youngsters like fragile flowers, and I think no parent should.

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quote icon Life is composed of lights and shadows, and we would be untruthful, insincere, and saccharine if we tried to pretend there were no shadows.

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quote icon Most things are good, and they are the strongest things; but there are evil things too, and you are not doing a child a favor by trying to shield him from reality.

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quote icon The important thing is to teach a child that good can always triumph over evil, and that is what our pictures attempt to do.

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quote icon The American child is a highly intelligent human being — characteristically sensitive, humorous, open-minded, eager to learn, and has a strong sense of excitement, energy, and healthy curiosity about the world in which he lives. Lucky indeed is the grown-up who manages to carry these same characteristics into adult life. It usually makes for a happy and successful individual.

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quote icon I have long felt that the way to keep children out of trouble is to keep them interested in things. Lecturing to children is no answer to delinquency. Preaching won't keep youngsters out of trouble, but keeping their minds occupied will.

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quote icon To me, today, at age sixty-one, all prayer, by the humble or highly placed, has one thing in common: supplication for strength and inspiration to carry on the best human impulses which should bind us together for a better world.

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quote icon Actually, if you could see close in my eyes, the American flag is waving in both of them and up my spine is growing this red, white and blue stripe.

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quote icon All your dreams can come true if you have the courage to pursue them.

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quote icon Disneyland is often called a magic kingdom because it combines fantasy and history, adventure and learning, together with every variety of recreation and fun designed to appeal to everyone.

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quote icon Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world.

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quote icon Every child is born blessed with a vivid imagination. But just as a muscle grows flabby with disuse, so the bright imagination of a child pales in later years if he ceases to exercise it.

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quote icon It's a mistake not to give people a chance to learn to depend on themselves while they are young.

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quote icon Laughter is America's most important export.

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quote icon That's the real trouble with the world, too many people grow up.

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quote icon That's the real trouble with the world, too many people grow up. They forget. They don't remember what it's like to be twelve years old. They patronize; they treat children as inferiors. I won't do that.

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quote icon To the youngsters of today, I say believe in the future, the world is getting better; there still is plenty of opportunity. Why, would you believe it, when I was a kid I thought it was already too late for me to make good at anything.

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quote icon I always like to look on the optimistic side of life, but I am realistic enough to know that life is a complex matter.

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quote icon With the laugh comes the tears and in developing motion pictures or television shows, you must combine all the facts of life — drama, pathos and humor.

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quote icon Leadership means that a group, large or small, is willing to entrust authority to a person who has shown judgement, wisdom, personal appeal, and proven competence.

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quote icon A man should never neglect his family for business.

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quote icon Art was always a means to an end with me. You get an idea, and you just can't wait. Once you've started, then you're in there with the punches flying. There's plenty of trouble, but you can handle it. You can't back out. It gets you down once in a while, but it's exciting.

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quote icon I believe firmly in the efficacy of religion, in its powerful influence on a person's whole life. It helps immeasurably to meet the storms and stress of life and keep you attuned to the Divine inspiration. Without inspiration, we would perish.

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quote icon Your talent makes you who you are. You should be proud of it.

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quote icon Childishness? I think it's the equivalent of never losing your sense of humor.

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quote icon My imagination creates my reality.

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quote icon There is no magic in magic, it's all in the details.

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quote icon “You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.”

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