Walt Disney

Introduction

History is full of imaginative and innovative thinkers. From Henry Ford's Model T to George Washington Carver's peanut resourcefulness to Alexander Bell's invention of the telephone - we are an imaginative species. So much so, that the cognitive processes are routinely studied by psychologists for research purposes to better understand why human beings operate the way they do on emotional, mental and physical levels. One psychologist who wanted to discover the rationale behind the ingenuity that arises from people was Abraham Maslow. 

To ascertain the cognitive processes and the reasoning behind the magnitude of brainpower that each of us has, Maslow’s theory of motivation was based on a pyramid of needs that he believed each individual had in their quest to unlock the hidden treasure within. Deemed the self-actualization process, Maslow provides an in-depth analysis on human beings and their mechanics. The pyramid was divided into five sections: physiological needs such as food, breathing, sex, sleep, excretion and homeostasis; safety needs such as security of employment, resources, property, family, health and body; belonging where he theorized that we all seek sexual intimacy, friendship and the power of family bonds; esteem needs which are confidence, achievement, respect of and by others and confidence and finally self-actualization, associated with creativity, morality, acceptance of facts, spontaneity and problem solving. 

Often in order to better understand Maslow’s theory, there must or rather should be an examination of someone of an historic nature. One such individual is Walt Disney. Walt Disney captures the essence of ingenuity and effectively provide insight into the discussion that Maslow identified on the processes of human beings. The purpose of this essay is to define Disney through the purview of Maslow’s theory and analyze how Disney achieved self-actualization.

Prenatal & Infancy

There more or less was a nominal amount of information that one could glean from Walt Disney's prenatal and infancy stages. Perhaps, the most noteworthy aspect of his life at that time was the fact that his father was a hard working individual. Movement encompassed the Disney family in the late 19th century. The Disney’s were very religious and that more or less played a pivotal role in the first level of Walt's physiological needs. This religious undercurrent seemingly affected Walt's temperament as a young child as he continually wanted his dad's approval and it could be said that Walt carried the psychological state of approval close to himself throughout his life.

Early & Middle Childhood

Walt Disney's early to middle childhood emphatically brought out Maslow's hierarchy of needs. It is during this stage that Disney received physiological needs. Gabler (2006) provided context for Disney's childhood in his book, Walt Disney: Triumph of The American Imagination, when he discusses Disney's recollection of Marceline, Missouri. Disney "would remember it more vividly than anything else in his childhood, perhaps more vividly than any place in his entire lifetime" (Gabler, 2006, p. 10). Marceline was where Disney received the basics: food, shelter, water, air, and sleep. His security needs were established in Marceline as well. It was a "cultural rite of passage that Disney loved and remembered [in addition to] the spirit of community" (Gabler, 2006, p. 13). Having moved from Chicago to Marceline, Disney saw the windy city as a mere afterthought. He did not feel that Chicago met his needs per se and more or less agreed with his family's choice to move to a place filled with apples and peaches, and a genuine spirit for mankind. That is not to say that Chicago did not provide those necessities but for Disney "Marceline was a template for how life was supposed to be and [establish] a sense of well-being, freedom and community" (Gabler, 2006, p. 18). 

This understanding of what Marceline represented would become a pivotal foundation in how he operated for the rest of his life. Essentially, his physiological needs had been notably met, despite the approval and attention that he wanted from his father. Poston (2009) added that in life, these needs remain unswerving, thus the need to uphold them will always be vital and crucial to the way we move through life and society. Maslow believed that if an individual's physiological needs were sufficiently met that the individual would then move to addressing the needs that were more prevalent for them. Disney's safety needs were also recognizable in early and middle childhood. 

Marceline as aforementioned was his rite of passage place from infancy to childhood. Disney and his family moved again from Marceline to Kanas City. It was this city where Disney began to determine his need to feel secure as Kansas City was diametrically different from Marceline. It “was a comedown” (Gabler, 2006, p. 19). Nevertheless, Kansas City seemed to bring out the creative genius that Disney had hidden within him. The city would open the proverbial treasure chest. The first instance of this came when “Walt would stand outside the gates of the Fairmount amusement park. [It] was the sole grace” (Gabler, 2006, p.19) that drew him away from the different elements that Kansas City had. 

Walt learned how to enact his own security needs in Kansas City. He got a job being a newspaper delivery boy. He performed this job with his family. At the onset of the route, Walt enjoyed the job, however, the excitement began to fade during the cold, harsh and icy winters he’d encounter. But it was through the newspaper delivery route that Walt learned the value of a dollar and “developed an appreciation of what spare time [he] did have and used it to great advantage” (Gabler, 2006, p. 21). Maslow observed that security needs can be best explained through the eyes of children as they often appear to be easier and much more obvious. Rationale for this was due in part to the child reacts to the threat or danger whereas adults seem to view it as non-existent or seek to inhibit it at all costs. Thus, the newspaper route was an attempt by Disney to ensure his safety and in turn satisfy his need for security. 

Adolescence

By the time he reached adolescence, Walt found himself immersed in being comedic and ensuring that irrespective of the various plights his family faced with regard to their physiological and security needs, he would remain as positive and optimistic as ever. Walt would "dress up in old clothes and be a clown. He modeled himself after Charlie Chaplin, whose popularity was soaring at the time. Walt Disney found himself hooked on performing" (Gabler, 2006, p. 21-27). This would become his launching pad into the business of entertainment. 

In addition to performing, Disney was showing signs of being a creative genius. Gabler (2006) stated that “while most of the boys were playing basketball in the school yard, [Disney] would sit on the stone wall and draw and that he drew constantly” (p. 29). Once he reached late childhood, Disney began having aspirations to join the Navy. Walt thought that war was an adventure rather than war. Therefore, he enlisted and landed in France. Despite the adventure he was having, Disney was homesick (Gabler, 2006). He in essence was not feeling secure being in the war. He ended up returning to Kansas City but wanted more than just to work beside his family or a regular job. Disney wanted something more, more adventure. 

The next group of needs that Maslow indicated an individual requires were social needs. This was what Disney was seeking in his escape from the routine. Disney would receive his first art job working in downtown Kansas City. "[He] could barely retain his joy. He was, at seventeen, a professional artist and making a great success illustrating advertisements and catalogs" (Gabler, 2006, p. 44-45). Walt would ultimately be fired because of the lag times that were associated with advertising and the amount of money that one could make. Disney would be hired at another job where he met Ubbe Iwerks, who afforded him the opportunity to soothe his social needs. Disney was often distracted by his creativity and imagination that his sociological imagination was not being met per se. Iwerks was “the perfect complement for Walt Disney. [They] would form the Iwerks-Disney partnership” (Gabler, 2006, p. 47). Additionally, Disney’s security needs were furthered with this partnership as now Disney could do illustrations for a whole host of advertisers and save money for himself in the process. 

Both (Jerome 2013) and Koltko-Rivera (2006) provided rationale into the social needs that individuals aspire to integrate in order to self-actualize. Through the affiliation with a group, one feels a sense of belonging to society and having something to show for it. It is an identity construct in certain cases and the personal self seeks out a desire to execute his/her divine qualities and talents (Jerome, 2013; Koltko-Rivera, 2006). As a result of his partnership, Disney began to draw film ads as these fascinated him significantly. He departed Iwerks-Disney shortly after gravitating toward moving picture work. Walt Disney felt that he could provide animation life. 

According to Gabler (2006), Disney felt “the process of animation of literally taking the inanimate and making it animate. It was at base a hubristic process in which the animator assumed and exercised godlike control over his materials and offered a feeling of empowerment" (p. 55). With animation, Disney would satisfy the first three levels of Maslow's hierarchy of needs further compelling himself into the fold of becoming a prime mover in the world of media through a sense of belonging there.

Emerging Adulthood & Adulthood

Disney had created what were known as Laugh-O-Grams, cartoons that were quite popular in the area of Kansas City and was able to acquire his own studio, known as Laugh-O-Gram. It eventually folded due to a noteworthy amount of debt and this caused both Disney and his brother, Roy would pool their money to get in order to successfully open this studio that would be located in Hollywood, CA. Disney would utilize the Laugh-O-Grams to engender people to visit his cartoon studio (Gabler, 2006).

It was during both emerging adulthood and adulthood that Disney would move into the next area of needs known as esteem. This phase in Disney's life coupled both aspects of the belonging dynamic and the esteem needs stated by Maslow. While it could be said that Hollywood was made for Disney, he often questioned whether or not Hollywood was truly for him. Walt was determined to create animations that were meaningful. While money was a significant part of why he was executing his precise craft, it was not his motivation. He "sincerely wanted to make good animations, and [continuously worked toward] improving [his] product" (Gabler, 2006, p. 85). Thus, such determination aligns with Maslow's hierarchy in that Walt sought the approval of as many people as possible as he believed that his animations were quality and always thought they needed to be better or improved upon. 

It was around this time that Disney began creating the Alice Comedies. The series predominantly focused on a woman named Alice. The series was prominent to say the least. However, while Alice was the star of the show, a cat named Julius emerged and took over, thereby diminishing Alice. Walt worked hard to ensure that the Alice Comedies were excellent and top-notch. The cat, Julius, became the center of attention in that many felt it mirrored Felix the Cat in appearance and so much so that "Walt warned his staff [that] they were flirting with copyright infringement" (Gabler, 2006, p. 88). While Disney wanted to belong and strengthen his sense of self in the world, he was not malleable in doing anything to appease.

By the year 1927, the Alice Comedies had ended due to a variety of bumps in the road with regard to Julius the Cat and overall. Disney would create a new series known as Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, which became a successful enterprise, with the work being drawn by Iwerks. Ultimately, Disney would lose rights to the character of Oswald as a result of the fact that Universal Pictures owned the rights to the series, not Disney. With this particular incident, Walt learned definitively that he "[had to be [more] careful in whom he trusted in business" (Gabler, 2006, p. 109). Maslow's hierarchy of needs dictates that an individual almost on autopilot seeks out esteem either through recognition or achievement when they are needing to fulfill their esteem needs. Hence, Walt had received praise associated with both the Alice Comedies and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

Mickey Mouse

The creation of Mickey Mouse can perhaps be stated to be what brought about Disney's esteem needs satisfaction and contentment. Heylighen (1992) argued that Maslow's esteem needs were an experimental process, that the "most striking feature of self-actualizing persons is their openness to experience, they are eager to undergo new experiences, learn new ideas and skills, try out new things" (p. 42). Therefore, Mickey Mouse's creation was more or less a branching out of something new for Disney. "As legend would have it, Walt had been inspired by the choice of a mouse for character [as a result of his] experiences in Kansas City. [Additionally] Disney admired Aesop's Fables and [they] frequently featured mice" (Gabler, 2006, p. 113). Walt sought to create the mouse as fast as possible with the hope of not letting down any of his distributors nor the people who would be in pursuit of seeing a sound film associated with him. What was born was Steamboat Willie. 

Steamboat Willie at the time "seemed a slight film for such enthusiasm [for Disney], much less for a cinematic milestone, which is what it would become. [Another mouse] Minnie Mouse joins Mickey on the steamboat as music plays for scarcely six minutes [and] with [minimal] narrative" (Gabler, 2006, p. 127). With the creation of Steamboat Willie and the ultimate success, conclusive evidence would suggest that Maslow's hierarchy of needs specifically the esteem needs were not only met, but the belonging aspects of the prior level of needs were strengthened as a result of Disney's accomplishment of the sound cartoon. "Disney conceived a whole new thing that would be more than simply movement plus sound" (Gabler, 2006, p. 127).

Other Disney Characters

Following the success of Mickey Mouse, other characters began to emerge from the Disney studio. One of the key elements that continued to ensure that Disney captured the essence of Maslow's esteem needs was the precise acuity that his studio's drawing created. Gabler (2006) added that "Disney animation moved smoothly. They created overlapping action, it was narratively different and all of the cartoons were predicated on a gag. Disney was always very careful to plan things so that everything was understandable and one thing happened after another logically (Gabler, 2006, p. 170). Perhaps, it was his determination that created the fire in Disney to continue trying to earn even more esteem. Much of this, however, could be traced to his infancy and early childhood when he had sought approval from his father. Disney needed respect from others in order to counteract the lingering vestiges of his childhood.

Baumeister and Leary (1995) hypothesized that human motivation for approval is a result of several substantial interpersonal components that are of concern. Belongingness is a challenge posed to individuals who have severe or fragmented emotional or psychological challenges. While one may receive approval, it only rectifies the pattern for the moment, but does not necessarily address the long term aspects associated with said belongingness need. So although Disney received accolades and acclaim for characters such as Goofy and Donald Duck, the pathway toward self-actualization for Walt was an issue. 

Gabler (2006) noted that Donald Duck was a specific patterning of "Walt's caricatured reality and the first Disney star to be born full blown from that aesthetic" (p. 203). Thus, in Walt's desire to soothe his fragmented challenges, Donald Duck was born. Moreover, the argument could be constructed that Donald Duck represented the need for approval in Walt as an infant because he (Donald) does not talk much and if conversation is present it is not precise or straightforward as other Disney character dialogue is. Disney understood what he was executing with the invention of Donald Duck as “he relied entirely on instinct – problem compounded by the fact that he had a difficult time conveying what his instinct told him, especially since he was [barely] draw[ing]” (Gabler, 2006, p. 207). Yet, that did not stop Disney from creating, being ingenious and desiring to have his esteem needs fulfilled. It would lead to the invention of Snow White. 

At the onset of Snow White, Mickey and Donald were mere distant memories. Snow White would be a pivotal on-screen feature and development for the Disney company. "Walt was seeing something new and more things that he could do with animation" (Gabler, 2006, p. 221) and Snow White gave him that opportunity. Several different psychological applications went into the Snow White script including the Queen who hoped to kill Snow White prior to her shaming him; that the forest needed to be both foreboding and alive to the audience (Gabler, 2006, p. 247-248); and the seamless execution of the dwarfs and their respective interactions with Snow White.

These psychological applications played a key role in analyzing the esteem needs of Disney in that he wanted a "higher form of self-esteem [which] requires less maintenance because through accomplishment, it becomes a permanent part of the individual" (Poston, 2009, p. 351). Disney’s success with Snow White would set the stage for future Disney movies including Bambi, Cinderella, Peter Pan, Pinocchio, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and Alice in Wonderland, in that it allowed him the freedom to express much of the psychological constructs that he had been introspectively holding inward since infancy regarding his father, Chicago, and Kansas City.

Late Adulthood

When examining the later aspects of Disney's life, the theme parks resonate the highest as they encompassed the self-actualization of Maslow's hierarchy of needs as they were realized accomplishments from a man who had satisfied his prior needs to a certain extent. Gabler (2006) stated that Disney always imagined theme parks especially since had observed the one in Marceline (p. 483). During the late 1940's, he received inspiration to create a theme park centered on children. It would be an imaginarium of ideas and an extensive project that would eventually become Disneyland. Disney promulgated that Disneyland would be for those who wanted to explore and enjoy a happy place dedicated to the standards, fantasies and hard facts about life and ourselves ("The Grand Opening of Disneyland," 2013).  In addition to the creation of Disneyland, the Disney production studio would produce several more films over the years that would encompass many psychological incarnations from the mind of the man. There was an expanded operation that became more diversified by extending itself into other forms of media. Disney would partner with ABC to create a show specifically designed for Disneyland known as Walt Disney Presents. Hence, the 1960's were an even larger success for Disney than what had been experienced thus far. 

Disneyland was such a remarkable success that plans were created by Disney to expand to the state of Florida. Disney prepared a more elaborate version of what was known as the happiest place on Earth with the invention of the Magic Kingdom and the Experimental Prototype City of Tomorrow (EPCOT). These creations further delineate Disney's self-actualization process. It can be argued that much of these creations while genius were processes that Maslow denoted as a part of the restless component of the self-actualization process. Disney was restless given he had ceased from drawing except on occasion.

Conclusion

While Disney was able to attain the self-actualization he so desired, he had been in despair over several items but that did not cease him from pursuing what he wanted to accomplish and attaining the approval of others in his completion of objectives. Analysts have purported that Disney was a megalomaniac in that he did not provide any kind of ingenious escape but had galvanized the public with Disneymania. One of the key indicators of Maslow's hierarchy of needs is the psychological construct of impulse control and that an individual seeking to become self-actualized can indeed cause others pain, discomfort and sickness in addition to themselves. So it was not necessarily an intentional dynamic of the financial giant that is the Disney Empire, but expressly a difficult truth pertaining to the optimistic and serene niche associated with the enterprise. 

Koltko-Rivera (2006) stressed that Maslow identified that within individual's lives there are peak experiences that effectively highlight the self-actualization process (pg.304). Therefore, Disney became enlightened by the depth of his own psychological exhibition. Disney was the classic example of the paradox. While he wanted to express his creative skills and talents to the world, arguments lend themselves to the man only being self-serving and looking out for himself. But is that not what Maslow's hierarchy of needs are essentially centered upon? Furthermore, Disney encapsulated the multifaceted nature of the cognitive mind and its ability to satisfy both the literal and figurative hunger and thirst for accomplishment and achievement that individuals’ have.  

That is not to say that Disney was a selfish individual. He created an empire on the deficit of happiness that we all sometimes face. Disney's achievements as an individual were indeed bettering as they allowed him to expressly attain his goals to where satisfaction was achieved. Maslow's theory then can essentially be applied to any historical figure. Moreover, the qualities of an individual do not expressly ingratiate them with the selfish adjective but the transcendent aspect also.

References

Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117(3), 497-529.

Gabler, N. (2006). Walt Disney: The triumph of the American imagination (Reprint ed.). New York, NY: Vintage.

The Grand Opening of Disneyland. (2013). This Day In Disney History. Retrieved from http://www.thisdayindisneyhistory.com/disneylandgrandopening.html

Heylighen, F. (1992). A cognitive-systemic reconstruction of Maslow's theory of self-actualization. Behavioral Science, 37, 39-57.

Jerome, N. (2013, March). Application of the Maslow's hierarchy of need theory; impacts and implications on organizational culture, human resource and employee's performance. International Journal of Business and Management Invention, 2(3), 39-45.

Koltko-Rivera, M. E. (2006). Rediscovering the later version of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: Self-transcendence and opportunities for theory, research, and unification. Review of General Psychology, 10(4), 302-317.

Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50, 370-396.

Poston, B. (2009, August). An exercise in personal exploration: Maslow's hierarchy of needs. The Surgical Technologist, 347-353.