http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b8/DisneylandCastle.JPG/800px-DisneylandCastle.JPG

Sleeping Beauty Castle, via Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DisneylandCastle.JPG

1955年7月17日：
迪士尼乐园开放
Jul 17, 1955:
Disneyland opens

华特∙迪士尼的怀旧、幻想、和未来主义大都会，迪士尼乐园在1955年7月17日开放。这个耗费1700万美元的主题公园建筑在加利福尼亚阿纳海姆160英亩的前柑橘园上，很快迪士尼乐园就带来了惊人的利润。如今，迪士尼乐园每年款待超过1400万游客，这些游客花费近30亿美元。

Disneyland, Walt Disney's metropolis of nostalgia, fantasy, and futurism, opens on July 17, 1955. The $17 million theme park was built on 160 acres of former orange groves in Anaheim, California, and soon brought in staggering profits. Today, Disneyland hosts more than 14 million visitors a year, who spend close to $3 billion.

华特∙迪士尼在1901年生于芝加哥，他在洛杉矶成立了一家制作动画卡通片的小型工作室，此前他是一名商业艺术家。1928年，他的短片“汽船威利”引起全国轰动，主演是“米老鼠”。它是第一部有声动画电影，迪士尼为米奇配音。自此，对迪士尼卡通片有大量需求，但因为迪士尼坚持不断改进艺术和技术质量，公司陷入财务困境。他的第一部长篇卡通，“白雪公主和七个小矮人（1938）”，耗时3年完成，是一个巨大的商业成功。

Walt Disney, born in Chicago in 1901, worked as a commercial artist before setting up a small studio in Los Angeles to produce animated cartoons. In 1928, his short film Steamboat Willy, starring the character "Mickey Mouse," was a national sensation. It was the first animated film to use sound, and Disney provided the voice for Mickey. From there on, Disney cartoons were in heavy demand, but the company struggled financially because of Disney's insistence on ever-improving artistic and technical quality. His first feature-length cartoon, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1938), took three years to complete and was a great commercial success.

“白雪公主”之后，还有几部其他的儿童长篇经典卡通，例如“皮诺曹（1940）”、“小飞象（1941）”、和“小鹿斑比”（1942）。“幻想曲（1940）”是艺术和技术的成就，它把动画部分与著名的古典音乐片段协调在一起。在“南方之歌（1946）”中，迪士尼把真人演员和动画人物组合在一起，从1950年的“金银岛”开始，公司把实景真人电影加入其全部节目。迪士尼也是第一个直接为电视制作电影的电影工作室之一，“佐罗”和“大卫∙克罗”系列深受儿童欢迎。

Snow White was followed by other feature-length classics for children, such as Pinocchio (1940), Dumbo (1941), and Bambi (1942). Fantasia (1940), which coordinated animated segments with famous classical music pieces, was an artistic and technical achievement. In Song of the South (1946), Disney combined live actors with animated figures, and beginning with Treasure Island in 1950 the company added live-action movies to its repertoire. Disney was also one of the first movie studios to produce film directly for television, and its Zorro and Davy Crockett series were very popular with children.

在20世纪50年代初，华特∙迪士尼开始设计在洛杉矶附近建造一个巨大的游乐园。他打算让迪士尼乐园既有教育又有娱乐的功能，供成年人和他们的孩子休闲娱乐。地点设在阿纳海姆农业社区，洛杉矶东南约25英里的地方，于1954年开始建设。在1955年的夏天，7月17日发出特别邀请函邀请人们参加迪士尼乐园的开放仪式。不幸的是，开放当天，邀请函被伪造了，几千名不请自来的人来到迪士尼乐园。游乐园还没有准备好面对公众：食品和饮料都卖光了，一个女士的高鞋跟卡在了主道美国大街的湿沥青上，马克吐温汽船几乎因乘客太多而翻船。

In the early 1950s, Walt Disney began designing a huge amusement park to be built near Los Angeles. He intended Disneyland to have educational as well as amusement value and to entertain adults and their children. Land was bought in the farming community of Anaheim, about 25 miles southeast of Los Angeles, and construction began in 1954. In the summer of 1955, special invitations were sent out for the opening of Disneyland on July 17. Unfortunately, the pass was counterfeited and thousands of uninvited people were admitted into Disneyland on opening day. The park was not ready for the public: food and drink ran out, a women's high-heel shoe got stuck in the wet asphalt of Main Street USA, and the Mark Twain Steamboat nearly capsized from too many passengers.

不过，迪士尼乐园很快恢复过来，城堡，疯狂驾驶蟾蜍先生，白雪公主的冒险，空间站X-1，丛林巡航和马车等景点都吸引了无数的孩子和他们的父母。特别活动、不断建设的新的最先进水平的景点吸引人们下次再次。

Disneyland soon recovered, however, and attractions such as the Castle, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Snow White's Adventures, Space Station X-1, Jungle Cruise, and Stage Coach drew countless children and their parents. Special events and the continual building of new state-of-the-art attractions encouraged them to visit again.

1965年，一个更大的迪士尼主题公园和度假胜地在佛罗里达州奥兰多市附近开工了。华特∙迪士尼于1966年去世，迪士尼世界为纪念他于1971年10月1日开放。艾波卡特中心、迪士尼-米高梅影城和动物王国后来也加入了迪士尼世界，它一直是佛罗里达州首屈一指的旅游胜地。1983年，东京迪士尼乐园在日本开放，1992年巴黎迪士尼乐园 ——或叫作“欧洲迪士尼乐园”——在马恩拉河谷（Marne-la-Vallee）开放，反应不一。最新的香港迪士尼乐园于2005年9月开放。

In 1965, work began on an even bigger Disney theme park and resort near Orlando, Florida. Walt Disney died in 1966, and Walt Disney World was opened in his honor on October 1, 1971. Epcot Center, Disney-MGM Studios, and Animal Kingdom were later added to Walt Disney World, and it remains Florida's premier tourist attraction. In 1983, Disneyland Tokyo opened in Japan, and in 1992 Disneyland Paris--or "EuroDisney"--opened to a mixed reaction in Marne-la-Vallee. The newest Disneyland, in Hong Kong, opened its doors in September 2005.