| |
| |
|
Entrepreneurialism Information |
|
|
|
Walt Disneys Failures Could Inspire Entrepreneurs
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 cartoons and get paid six months down the road. Flushed with success, he began to experiment with new storytelling techniques, his costs went up and then the distributor went bankrupt. He was forced to dissolve his company and at one point could not pay his rent and was surviving by eating dog food. 2) Walt created a mildly successful cartoon character in 1926 called Oswald the Rabbit. When he tried to negotiate with his distributor, Universal Studios, for better rates for each cartoon, he was informed that Universal had obtained ownership of the Oswald character and they had hired Disney's artists out from under him. 3) When Walt tried to get MGM studios to distribute Mickey Mouse in 1927 he was told that the idea would never work-- a giant mouse on the screen would terrify women. 4) The Three Little Pigs was rejected by distributors in 1933 because it only had four characters, it was felt at that time that cartoons should have as many figures on the screen as possible. It later became very successful and played at one theater so long that the poster outside featured the pigs with long white beards. 5) Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was sneak previewed to College Students in 1937 who left halfway during the film causing Disney great despair. It turned out the students had to leave early because of dorm curfew. 6) Pinocchio in 1940 became extra expensive because Walt shut down the production to make the puppet more sympathetic than the lying juvenile delinquent as presented in the original Carlo Collodi story. He also resurrected a minor character, an unnamed cricket who tried to tell Pinocchio the difference between right and wrong until the puppet killed him with the mallet. Excited by the development of Jiminy Cricket plus the revamped, misguided rather than rotten Pinocchio, Walt poured extra money into the film's special effects and it ended up losing a million dollars in it's first release. 7) For the premiere of Pinocchio Walt hired 11 midgets, dressed them up like the little puppet and put them on top of Radio City Music Hall in New York with a full day's supply of food and wine. The idea was they would wave hello to the little children entering into the theater. By the middle of the hot afternoon, there were 11 drunken naked midgets running around the top of the marquee, screaming obscenities at the crowd below. The most embarrassed people were the police who had to climb up ladders and take the little fellows off in pillowcases. 8) Walt never lived to see Fantasia become a success. 1940 audiences were put off by it's lack of a story. Also the final scene, The Night On Bald Mountain sequence with the devil damning the souls of the dead, was considered unfit for children. 9) In 1942, Walt was in attendance for the premiere of Bambi. In the dramatic scene where Bambi's mother died, Bambi was shown wandering through the meadow shouting," Mother! Where are you, Mother?" A teenage girl seated in the balcony shouted out, " Here I am Bambi!" The audience broke into laughter except for the red-faced Walt who concluded correctly that war-time was not the best time to release a film about the love-life of a deer. 10) The sentimental Pollyanna in 1960 made Walt cry at the studio screening but failed at the box office. Walt concluded that the title was off-putting for young boys. Walt was human, he suffered through many fits of anger and depression through his many trials. Yet he learned from each setback, and continued to take even bigger risks which combined with the wisdom that experiencing failure can provide, led to fabulous financial rewards. About The Author Stephen Schochet is the author and narrator of the audiobooks Fascinating Walt Disney and Tales Of Hollywood. The Saint Louis Post Dispatch says," these two elaborate productions are exceptionally entertaining." Hear realaudio samples of these great, unique gifts at www.hollywoodstories.com.
MORE RESOURCES:
Entrepreneurialism - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Secret Revealed In The Business Code ? Beginners often rush into business without any planning.? Unless you do your homework, there could be many avoidable pitfalls. Great Tips Of Choosing An Office You have decided to strike it out on your own and set up a business consultancy. Chances are you want to look at getting your own office premises. Starting Your Business: 3 Tips for Bootstrapping Your Way to the Top Bootstrapping a business startup does not necessarily mean that you are unable to find traditional sources of capital. It may mean that you are clever, or that you know a bargain when you see it, or that you are the type of person who derives a certain satisfaction from crafting something using your own hands and vision, from scratch. History of Enterprise Car Rentals So few really understand the drives and motivations of entrepreneurs. Many write about them, some lecture and teach about what they are, how they operate and what they have achieved; yet so few really understand them. Message to Prospective Franchisees for Franchisors Many franchise companies fail to send the proper message to their prospective franchisees. This is partly due to the over regulation and intensity of litigation in the industry. Entrepreneurship Story; Over Regulation in Franchising Final Chapter Sally and Jim have launched their automotive franchise business and are now selling franchises; problems arise as lawyers and over regulation threaten to ruin their life's work, see how it ends; tragedy or success. A realistic story of modern day franchising. Boundary Setting 101 for Solo Entrepreneurs Select the best response to the statement below:As a solo entrepreneur, setting boundaries is all about?.a. Top 10 Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make Before They Even Start So you want to start a business. You have an idea. Starting Your Business By The Book I've gotten several questions recently about the legalities of starting a business. So, this week I thought I would address a few of the more common legal issues most new businesses face. Entrepreneurs - 9 Top Mistakes to Avoid 1. Isolating Yourself When setting up a business, you can get so overwhelmed with the administration that you don't focus on building up your network. The Six "F" Words Every Entrepreneur Should Know Start your own business, and soon enough, you find yourself in a situation where there are many things you want to say, all of them unprintable.It happens to every entrepreneur - a moment of extreme challenge that causes you to wonder why you started the (expletive) business in the first place. How to Become a Successful Entrepreneur on the Web Becoming a successful entrepreneur in the online world is no different than becoming a successful entrepreneur in the brick-and-mortar world. Both tasks require vision, determination, and hard work. The Heroic Entrepreneur: Profiting from Your Brilliance If you look up the definition of hero in Webster's, you'll find a definition something like, 'A person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life: soldiers and nurses who were heroes in an unpopular war'. Some heroes in our lives have earned that badge of honor by doing something everyone feels is heroic as defined in the traditional sense, whether it's running into a burning building to rescue a child, pulling an injured woman from a car accident, or fighting the enemy in the time of war. Is Running a Business for You? Not everyone is cut out to run a business. Not everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur. Financing Your Business Anyone who is serious about making some money is already very well aware of the fact that it takes some type of investment to make this happen. I've read a lot of copy that suggests one can build a business for free, if they are willing to spend an extra amount of time to compensate for their lack of financial backing. Achievements Outweigh Education and Experience Q: When it comes to succeeding in business, which do you think is more important: education or experience? -- Regina M.A: Regina, have you seen the television show, Fear Factor? If you haven't seen it you've probably heard about it. Start a Business Selling Government Surplus Did you ever wonder what happens to all that government equipment that is purchased each year by federal, state, and local governments? They don't just throw it away! By law, all unused and out-dated equipment must be sold back to the public at a public auction! That's right. Everything is available to you and I the American taxpayer. Walt Disneys Failures Could Inspire Entrepreneurs 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. ... in Pursuing the American Dream This morning I woke up at 4:30 in the morning, as usual, poured myself a cup of coffee, as usual, and thought about what my son said to me yesterday evening. You see, he's 2 1/2 years old and talking quite well, for his age. Starting a Company on a Shoe-String Budget A lot of people never start businesses because they believe they don't have enough money to do so. Unfortunately, these same people don't realize that many of the world's most successful companies were started on a shoe-string budget by an entrepreneur with limited resources.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
