Walt Disney Personality Analysis

Walt Disney Personality Analysis

Known the world over, Walt Disney remains a powerful force in the Disney empire today based on his personality that influenced "his" park in profound and lasting ways. Walt certainly had a clear vision of what he wanted to achieve during his lifetime, but he also had a more enduring vision of how he wanted "his" park and company operated and managed after he was gone. While there have been a number of theories developed over the years to help explain and interpret individual personalities, two in particular, cognitive and behavioral, provide a useful framework in which to examine Walt Disney's personality to provide some insights into his motivations and behaviors that can help explain how and why the Disney Company is where it is today. To this end, this study provides a review of the relevant peer-reviewed, scholarly and popular literature concerning Disney's early life and important influences on him, an analysis of Disney's emergent personality from the perspectives of behavioral and cognitive theories of personality, followed by a summary of the research and relevant findings in the conclusion.

Walt Disney according to Two Prevailing and Contrasting Personality Theories

Michael Jordan and Walt Disney share the distinction of being known all over the world by people who may not know any other Americans - or even any other Westerners. Walt Disney's enduring legacy can be found in his numerous theme parks in the United States, Europe China and Japan, as well as the countless motion picture productions and branded merchandise that have been spawned over the years. More importantly, Disney's legacy also involves some significant influences on American society itself in ways that Walt may not have intended, but which have nevertheless become the focus of an increasing amount of critical attention in recent years. To gain some understanding of how this situation developed, this study provides a review of the relevant peer-reviewed, scholarly and popular literature concerning Disney's early life and important influences on him, an analysis of Disney's emergent personality from the perspectives of behavioral and cognitive theories of personality, followed by a summary of the research and relevant findings in the conclusion

Review and Discussion

Brief Biography and Overview of Walt Disney.

Walt Disney was a "middle child" of five siblings. According to Bryman (1994), "Walter Elias Disney was born in Chicago on 5 December 1901 to Elias and Flora Disney. Elias Disney, both before and after Walt's birth, was a serially unsuccessful businessman who was continually seeking to improve his and his family's lot by moving on, both geographically and from business to business" (p. 4). Walt was the fourth son of five children (he was followed by the only daughter, Ruth, in 1903); Walt's closest sibling was Roy, who was the third child and was born in 1893 (Bryman). This biographer reports that, "Elias and Flora were unhappy about bringing Walt and the other children up in the disorder of a modern city, and they moved in 1906 to a farm in Marceline, Missouri, which many writers have viewed as the inspiration for the Main Street, USA attraction in Disneyland" (Bryman, p. 4).

In reality, Walt appears to have enjoyed a fairly idyllic childhood in Marceline. For instance, one biographer reports that:

For young Walt, Marceline was a wonderful new world waiting to be explored. The farm had 5 acres of orchards, which provided the family with fresh apples, plums and peaches, and the rest of the land was farmed for corn, sorghum and wheat. They also raised hogs, chickens, dairy cows and horses. Walt, Roy and Ruth would go around town selling their apples and Flora's homemade butter, and in the summer heat they'd swim in nearby Yellow Creek. (Burk, 2008) re-creation of the Disney family barn on its original setting is shown in Figure 1 below.

Figure 1. A re-creation of Walt's barn in Marceline.

Source: Burk at p. 4.

It was in Marceline that Walt spent the formative period of his life and Burk reports that the barn pictured in Figure 1 above was one of Walt and Ruth's favorite places to play, and it was in the original family barn that Walt had his first taste of show business, where he promoted a "barn circus" that featured a goat, dog, cat and a pig dressed in his sister's doll clothes. This biographer reports that, "Walt charged 10 cents admission to his barn circus, but when Flora heard about it, she made him return the money" (Burk, p. 5). Walt's later experiences with money would also have an impact on his personality development just as these early childhood experiences would contribute to his direction in later life.

These were clearly important influences on Walt's personality development and his visions for his theme parks, animated cartoons and motion pictures as well as his perceptions of what people would be interested in and how they would like to see it presented. In this regard, Bryman suggests that it was this locale that is frequently cited as the source of the interest in animals which was to be manifested in his animated productions. According to this author, "Most biographers depict him as not a strong school pupil, who tended to concentrate on his interests, like the movie house. The family left Marceline in 1910, after Elias was forced to sell the farm following financial problems and illness. Elias is depicted by many of Walt's biographers as a hard, humourless taskmaster who regularly beat his sons, and at around this time the two eldest sons deserted him" (p. 4).

Thereafter, the Disney family relocated to Kansas City, Missouri, where Walt and Roy secured employment as newspaper delivery boys for their father contracted for a distributorship (Bryman). Walt brother Roy left the family household in 1912 to assist his uncle in his farming operations and during this period, Walt's academic performance remained average but this lack of academic achievement is attributed to his penchant for letting his attention wander too much. This tendency can be attributed to Walt's earlier fond experiences with his "Dreaming Tree" in Marceline where he spent long hours imaging what could be, perhaps, and given the pastoral setting, it is understandable as well (see Figure 2).

Figure 2. Disney's "Dreaming Tree."

Source: Burk, p. 5.

According to Bryman, "During these years, Walt's interest in drawing developed but was frowned on by his father who saw it as a frivolous activity. Walt remained close to Roy, who periodically returned to see him. In his mid-teens, Walt developed an interest in gags used by burlesque comedians and others and kept a file of them; he also took a correspondence course in art, which his father was prepared to pay for because Walt contributed to the family finances by working in a jelly factory" (p. 4). At the end of the war, Walt enlisted with the Red Cross Ambulance Corps and was assigned to France for a year (Bryman).

Following his return in 1919, Walt became interesting in animation and began searching for employment as a cartoonist in Kansas City where a critical junction in his life would occur. In this regard, Bryman reports that Walt eventually secured a position with a commercial art studio where he met and became friends with another recently hired cartoonist, Ubbe Iwwerks (who later shortened his name to Ub Iwerks). According to this author, "Walt's job was short-lived and he teamed up with Iwerks to go into business. But Walt soon got a job as a cartoonist with the Kansas City Film Ad Company. Iwerks followed him shortly afterwards when their company went bankrupt in 1920. Although Iwerks is recognized as a brilliant draughtsman, he was a shy, diffident person, and it is generally reckoned that his personal traits contributed to a lack of ability at selling or generating interest in their products" (p. 5).

During his tenure at Film Ad, Walt first started working on short advertising films in the form of moving cartoons; however, the techniques during this time were still primitive and it was Walt's opinion that they could do better. Consequently, Walt's interest in animation was piqued and he began to formally study animation in earnest and experimented with his methods at night (Bryman). According to this biographer, Walt "found an outlet for his experiments in the Newman Laugh-O-Grams, which were brief cartoons based on simple gags made for the Newman Theater. In order to develop his experimental work further, Walt left his job and incorporated Laugh-O-Gram Films. Iwerks joined him, as did a number of other animators, and together they began work on fairy-tales" (p. 5).

This venture, though, experienced some problems early on when the cartoonists (including Iwerks) resigned for other opportunities. This turn of events proved to be a catalyst in Walt's career, it seems, and had a significant influence on his views about money and funding that would have important implications in the future in a Gone-With-the-Wind-I'll-Never-Be-Poor-Again-type of mindset. In this regard, Bryman reports that:

At one point, Walt was telephoned by a local dentist who was interested in commissioning a film for the promotion of dental hygiene. When the dentist asked Walt to come over to finalize the deal, Walt had to admit that he did not have the $1.50 to recover his shoes from the local cobbler. The dentist not only came to Walt to hand over $500 for the deal, but also gave him the cobbler's fee. Walt then began work on Alice's Wonderland, in which a child was placed against a cartoon background, but this stream of activity also went bankrupt. In 1923, Walt decided he was getting nowhere and left for Hollywood to work in the movies with just $40 in his pocket. (p. 5)

After he was unsuccessful in securing any other meaningful employment, Walt was encouraged by his brother Roy (who was living in Los Angeles at the time) to return to his earlier interest in animated productions and following Roy's successful negotiations in gaining some financial backing and a distributor, Margaret Winkler, who had been sent Alice's Wonderland, expressed interest in the work and provided further financial backing (Bryman). Thereafter, the company began production on a series of Alice adventures and Walt moved into offices whose front window were inscribed, "Disney Bros. Studio"; in February 1924, Walt hired his first animator and by May 1924, the series was complete (Bryman, p. 5).

Despite the successful completion of the series, the company did not realize as much return on their investment as they had initially expected, due in large part to rising costs of making technical improvements. As a result, Bryman reports that, "Walt decided to cease work on drawing and to concentrate on story-lines, and he persuaded Iwerks to join him. The Alice series then re-started. During this period Walt's romance began with one of the women working at the Studio-Lillian Bounds-whom he married in July 1925" (p. 5). Walt's brother Roy remained in charge of managing the business operations of the company and despite some setbacks when they lost their contacts with Margaret Winkler following her retirement after marrying Charles Mintz (who assumed control of the company), the Disney brothers relocated into a new studio location Hyperion Avenue near downtown Los Angeles where it became known as the Walt Disney Studio. According to Bryman, "The name-change occurred because Walt felt that the association of the studio with a single name would both appeal more to audiences and give it a stronger identity" (Bryman, p. 6).

Today, the Walt Disney Studio has grown into a global empire that operates the ABC Television Network and 10 owned television stations, the ESPN Radio and Radio Disney networks, and 46 owned radio stations. In addition, it various business segments own and operate ABC-, ESPN-, ABC Family-, SOAPnet-, and Disney-branded Internet Web site businesses, as well as Club Penguin, an online virtual world for children; the company's Parks and Resorts segment owns and operates the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida (including theme parks; hotels; vacation ownership units; a retail, dining, and entertainment complex; a sports complex; conference centers; campgrounds; golf courses; and water parks) (Walt Disney Company, 2008). The company's motion picture interests produce and acquire live-action and animated motion pictures, direct-to-video programming, musical recordings, and live stage plays and its Consumer Products business segment offers licensing for Disney characters, and visual and literary properties to manufacturers, retailers, show promoters, and publishers; in addition, the company publishes books and magazines, computer software, and video game products and markets its products through its own and licensed retail stores and through a Web site (Walt Disney Company). The road to this stellar level of success, though, has not been seamless or without its setbacks, but it is clear that the driving force behind the company's direction in the 21st century remains the blueprint established by Walt as discussed further below.

Cognitive Theory of Personality and Walt Disney.

According to Strack (2006), "The cognitive theory of personality is anchored in human evolution that emphasizes the adaptive function of genetically determined 'strategies' that facilitate survival and reproduction. Generally speaking, humans take in information from the environment, synthesize it, and develop a plan of action in order to survive in the physical and social environments" (p. 114). From this perspective, Disney's early efforts to salvage his first theme park by producing a series of Mickey Mouse Club episodes to secure the funding needed to complete it are completely understandable. Disney was "taking in information from the environment, synthesizing it and developing a plan of action in order to survive." Indeed, television programs such as the Mickey Mouse Club that specifically targeted young people as the audience were few and far between in the mid-20th century. In this regard, Baker and Dessart (1998) report that Disney's ambitious plans for this flagship theme park, Disneyland, required more funding than what he was able to secure but rather than simply give up, Walt persevered by conceiving and developing what was truly an innovation in television and in funding opportunities. According to these authors:

While neither NBC's nor CBS's actions represented, in and of themselves, a major shift in how children's television was perceived, ABC's actions clearly did. In October 1954, ABC, in a collaboration rich in meaning forty years later, premiered Disney's first foray into television, Disneyland; this show was remarkable because it represented the first time a major Hollywood studio had deigned to produce a series for television. The series became the ABC network's first hit. Both of the other networks had tried but failed to snare Walt Disney: among other things, they balked at his terms, which reportedly included $90,000 per episode (perhaps the highest cost per program at that time) and a $500,000 investment in a revolutionary idea, a theme park. As the world soon learned, Disneyland was successful as both a program and a theme park, and ABC made money on both. (Baker & Dessart, p. 163)

From a cognitive theory of personality development, Walt's early childhood experiences, although rich in affection in some ways and replete with numerous opportunities for youthful exploration and play, were still characterized by a lack of resources and it was this desire to achieve financial independence for himself and his flagship theme park that was the driving force behind the Mickey Mouse Club and Walt's subsequent endeavors. Such effective organizational leadership indicates that Walt possessed a charismatic personality but it requires loyal and dedicated followers for someone to be charismatic. Without the right people around him at the time, Disney's visions for the future would likely have failed. By surrounding himself with the right mix of professionals, though, Disney showed that his recognized what it took to survive and prosper in an unknown environment. In this regard, House, Spangler and Woycke (1991) point out that, "Certain leader personality characteristics contribute to the formation of a charismatic relationship with subordinates. Because charisma is a relationship and not a personality characteristic of leaders, charisma exists only if followers say it does or followers behave in specific ways" (p. 364). These authors provide the following example of such a relationship: "If man runs naked down the street proclaiming that he alone can save others from impending doom, and if he immediately wins a following, then he is a charismatic leader: A social relationship has come into being. If he does not win a following, he is simply a lunatic" (House et al., p. 364). Fortunately for Walt, though, enough of his subordinates (and financiers) believed in his vision to pull it off.

As Baker and Dessart (1998) point out, Walt was right on the money when it came to understanding what people wanted to see and when they wanted to see it: "The gamble was to pay off. The Mickey Mouse Club owned its time period, and the show's advertising strategy forever changed children's television" (p. 164). While the cognitive theory of personality development provides some useful insights into Walt's personality in later life, his approach to doing business can also be understood in terms of behavioral theories of personality development which are discussed further below.

Behavioral Theories of Personality and Walt Disney.

As the term implies, behavioral theories of personality development relate to how people form behaviors over time. According to Funder (2001), "The behaviorist approach to personality has undergone an interesting and even ironic evolution in recent years. Behaviorism began with the ambition of its founders -- John Watson (1925) and BF Skinner (1938, 1971) -- to excise from psychology all that is subjective and unobservable" (p. 197). Like bad habits being formed through the creation of a series of links in a chain, behavioral theories of personality development maintain that people acquire different attributes and traits over time that form the basis of their personalities. In this regard, Staats (1996) notes that, "It is suggested... that a personality level is necessary in behavioral theory,... that the individual learns enduring personality repertoires that determine his general behavior,... and... that behavior therapy must begin to include analyses of personality repertoires" (p. 334).

From a behavioral theory of personality development, then, Walt Disney's early experiences in life described above can clearly be seen as contributing to his later focus on ensuring that his house was in good fiscal order before anything else was considered. Notwithstanding the "Disneyland et al. experience" promoted by the company, a trip to any of the Disney theme parks is not for the timid or budget-minded and this is the result of Disney emphasis on making money first and foremost so that he could fund his other dreams. For example, in her book, the American Ritual Tapestry: Social Rules and Cultural Meanings, Deegan (1998) reports that while "the magic experience" promoted by Disneyland Productions concerns transformation, it is not transformational and cannot be for three fundamental reasons as follows:

The Disney theme park's design and mode of operation are a series of stimulatory interactions between a person and a machine. They may be "great fun" but they are actually stressful, emotional work.

Because of Walt Disney's personality and the decisive impact he had on 'his' park, it is highly unlikely that this obsessive-compulsive genius would have intentionally created an emancipatory event. Disney quite consciously stripped away the honky-tonk legacies of the carnival and created a controlled, middle-class, midwestern ideal.

Because the core code clusters are reflected in every detail of the park and milieu, they reinforce the dominant American cultural values: gender typing, time commodification, a bureaucratic-like power structure, and class differentials. Infantilization of adults exacerbates the power of this core code cluster. The 'magic experience' may be an exhilarating event, but it is not an emancipatory one (Deegan, p. 94).

According to Wasko (2001), the Disney Company is one of the three largest media firms in the world is frequently cited as the type of company that is well situated to dominate its market in the 21st century. "From its evolution as a small Hollywood animation studio," Wasko writes, "Disney has expanded into a giant media conglomerate. From a political-economic perspective we need to ask: How has Disney expanded beyond the commodification of children's culture to the commodification of culture more generally?" (p. 56). Some observers suggest that Walt's own enduring legacy on the company is responsible for this commodification of culture. For instance, according to Deegan, "Disney-speak' is the language taught to employees and used in internal communications within the organization. It creates a structure of thought and behavior congruent with the core codes of Disneyland Productions. It is the official talk within the theme park and in formal communications (advertisements; pamphlets sold at the park, and so on)" (p. 37).