Essex
Essex is a county in the south-east of England, north-east of London. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, London to the south-west; the county town is the only city in the county. For government statistical purposes Essex is placed in the East of England region. Essex occupies the eastern part of the ancient Kingdom of Essex, which united with the other Anglian and Saxon kingdoms to make England a single nation state; as well as rural areas, the county includes London Stansted Airport, the new towns of Basildon and Harlow, Lakeside Shopping Centre, the port of Tilbury and the borough of Southend-on-Sea. The name Essex originates in the Anglo-Saxon period of the Early Middle Ages and has its root in the Anglo-Saxon name Ēastseaxe, the eastern kingdom of the Saxons who had come from the continent and settled in Britain during the Heptarchy. Recorded in AD 527, Essex occupied territory to the north of the River Thames, incorporating all of what became Middlesex and most of what became Hertfordshire.
Its territory was restricted to lands east of the River Lea. Colchester in the north-east of the county is Britain's oldest recorded town, dating from before the Roman conquest, when it was known as Camulodunum and was sufficiently well-developed to have its own mint. In AD 824, following the Battle of Ellandun, the kingdoms of the East Saxons, the South Saxons and the Jutes of Kent were absorbed into the kingdom of the West Saxons, uniting Saxland under King Alfred's grandfather Ecgberht. Before the Norman conquest the East Saxons were subsumed into the Kingdom of England. After the Norman conquest, Essex became a county. During the medieval period, much of the area was designated a Royal forest, including the entire county in a period to 1204, when the area "north of the Stanestreet" was disafforested; the areas subject to forest law diminished, but at various times they included the forests of Becontree, Epping, Hatfield and Waltham. Essex County Council was formed in 1889. However, County Boroughs of West Ham, Southend-on-Sea and East Ham formed part of the county but were unitary authorities.
12 boroughs and districts provide more localised services such as rubbish and recycling collections and planning, as shown in the map on the right. A few Essex parishes have been transferred to other counties. Before 1889, small areas were transferred to Hertfordshire near Bishops Stortford and Sawbridgeworth. At the time of the main changes around 1900, parts of Helions Bumpstead, Sturmer and Ballingdon-with-Brundon were transferred to Suffolk. Part of Hadstock, part of Ashton and part of Chrishall were transferred to Cambridgeshire and part of Great Horkesley went to Suffolk; the boundary with Greater London was established in 1965, when East Ham and West Ham county boroughs and the Barking, Dagenham, Ilford, Romford and Wanstead and Woodford districts were transferred to form the London boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Newham and Waltham Forest. Essex became part of the East of England Government Office Region in 1994 and was statistically counted as part of that region from 1999, having been part of the South East England region.
In 1998, the boroughs of Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock were granted autonomy from the administrative county of Essex after successful requests to become unitary authorities. Essex Police covers the two unitary authorities; the county council chamber and main headquarters is at the County Hall in Chelmsford. Before 1938, the council met in London near Moorgate, which with significant parts of the county close to that point and the dominance of railway travel had been more convenient than any place in the county, it has 75 elected councillors. Before 1965, the number of councillors reached over 100; the County Hall, made a listed building in 2007, dates from the mid-1930s and is decorated with fine artworks of that period the gift of the family who owned the textile firm Courtaulds. The highest point of the county of Essex is Chrishall Common near the village of Langley, close to the Hertfordshire border, which reaches 482 feet; the ceremonial county of Essex is bounded to the south by its estuary.
The pattern of settlement in the county is diverse. The Metropolitan Green Belt has prevented the further sprawl of London into the county, although it contains the new towns of Basildon and Harlow developed to resettle Londoners after the destruction of London housing in the Second World War, since which they have been developed and expanded. Epping Forest prevents the further spread of the Greater London Urban Area; as it is not far from London with its economic magnetism, many of Essex's settlements those near or within short driving distance of railway stations, function as dormitory towns or villages where London workers raise their families. Part of the s
Lancashire
Lancashire is a ceremonial county in North West England. The administrative centre is Preston; the county has an area of 1,189 square miles. People from Lancashire are known as Lancastrians; the history of Lancashire begins with its founding in the 12th century. In the Domesday Book of 1086, some of its lands were treated as part of Yorkshire; the land that lay between the Ribble and Mersey, Inter Ripam et Mersam, was included in the returns for Cheshire. When its boundaries were established, it bordered Cumberland, Westmorland and Cheshire. Lancashire emerged as a major industrial region during the Industrial Revolution. Liverpool and Manchester grew into its largest cities, with economies built around the docks and the cotton mills respectively; these cities dominated the birth of modern industrial capitalism. The county contained the collieries of the Lancashire Coalfield. By the 1830s 85% of all cotton manufactured worldwide was processed in Lancashire. Accrington, Bolton, Bury, Colne, Manchester, Oldham, Preston and Wigan were major cotton mill towns during this time.
Blackpool was a centre for tourism for the inhabitants of Lancashire's mill towns during wakes week. The historic county was subject to a significant boundary reform in 1974 which created the current ceremonial county and removed Liverpool and Manchester, most of their surrounding conurbations to form the metropolitan and ceremonial counties of Merseyside and Greater Manchester; the detached northern part of Lancashire in the Lake District, including the Furness Peninsula and Cartmel, was merged with Cumberland and Westmorland to form Cumbria. Lancashire lost 709 square miles of land to other counties, about two fifths of its original area, although it did gain some land from the West Riding of Yorkshire. Today the ceremonial county borders Cumbria to the north, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, North and West Yorkshire to the east; the county palatine boundaries remain the same as those of the pre-1974 county with Lancaster serving as the county town, the Duke of Lancaster exercising sovereignty rights, including the appointment of lords lieutenant in Greater Manchester and Merseyside..
The county was established in 1182 than many other counties. During Roman times the area was part of the Brigantes tribal area in the military zone of Roman Britain; the towns of Manchester, Ribchester, Burrow and Castleshaw grew around Roman forts. In the centuries after the Roman withdrawal in 410AD the northern parts of the county formed part of the Brythonic kingdom of Rheged, a successor entity to the Brigantes tribe. During the mid-8th century, the area was incorporated into the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria, which became a part of England in the 10th century. In the Domesday Book, land between the Ribble and Mersey were known as "Inter Ripam et Mersam" and included in the returns for Cheshire. Although some historians consider this to mean south Lancashire was part of Cheshire, it is by no means certain, it is claimed that the territory to the north formed part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. It bordered on Cumberland, Westmorland and Cheshire; the county was divided into hundreds, Blackburn, Lonsdale and West Derby.
Lonsdale was further partitioned into Lonsdale North, the detached part north of the sands of Morecambe Bay including Furness and Cartmel, Lonsdale South. Lancashire is smaller than its historical extent following a major reform of local government. In 1889, the administrative county of Lancashire was created, covering the historic county except for the county boroughs such as Blackburn, Barrow-in-Furness, Wigan and Manchester; the area served by the Lord-Lieutenant covered the entirety of the administrative county and the county boroughs, was expanded whenever boroughs annexed areas in neighbouring counties such as Wythenshawe in Manchester south of the River Mersey and in Cheshire, southern Warrington. It did not cover the western part of Todmorden, where the ancient border between Lancashire and Yorkshire passes through the middle of the town. During the 20th century, the county became urbanised the southern part. To the existing county boroughs of Barrow-in-Furness, Bolton, Burnley, Liverpool, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, St. Helens and Wigan were added Warrington and Southport.
The county boroughs had many boundary extensions. The borders around the Manchester area were complicated, with narrow protrusions of the administrative county between the county boroughs – Lees urban district formed a detached part of the administrative county, between Oldham county borough and the West Riding of Yorkshire. By the census of 1971, the population of Lancashire and its county boroughs had reached 5,129,416, making it the most populous geographic county in the UK; the administrative county was the most populous of its type outside London, with a population of 2,280,359 in 1961. On 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, the administrative county was abolished, as were the county boroughs; the urbanised southern part became part of two metropolitan counties and Greater Manchester. The new county of Cumbria incorporates the Furness exclave; the boroughs of Liverpool, Knowsley, St. Helens and Sefton were included in Merseyside. In Greater Manchester the successor boroughs were
St Paul's Girls' School
St Paul's Girls' School is an independent day school for girls, located in Brook Green, Hammersmith, in West London, England. St Paul's Girls' School was founded by the Worshipful Company of Mercers in 1904, using part of the endowment of the foundation set up by John Colet, to create a girls' school to complement the boys' school he had founded in the sixteenth century; the governors hold proprietorial responsibility, some are representatives of the Universities of Oxford and London. The buildings for the school were designed by the architect Gerald Horsley, son of the painter John Callcott Horsley and one of the founder members of the Art Workers Guild; the school has had several distinguished directors of music, most notably Gustav Holst and Herbert Howells. Holst composed his St Paul Brook Green suites for the pupils at the school. Holst composed what is arguably his best known work, "The Planets", while teaching at St Paul's. John Linton Gardener held a part-time position as director of music at the school.
St Paul's girls have performed well in the GCSEs and A Levels. Over half of girls at the school get all A*s in their GCSEs and many take extra languages or maths GCSEs. In 2014, 99.3% of GCSEs were graded at A*s or As with 93.6% graded at A* alone. This was the highest A* percentage achieved by the school and in the country. In 2016, the school achieved the highest A Level results in its history with 60.0% of entries achieving an A* grade and 93.8% of entries achieving A* or A grades. GCSE summary: last five years A level summary: last five years Gustav Holst was Director of Music at the school during the period he composed his orchestral suites, including St Paul's Suite and The Planets. Gardner wrote many memorable pieces for the school, including his popular Christmas carols Tomorrow Shall be My Dancing Day and The Holly and the Ivy; the school's main theatre, where most school productions are staged, is named after alumna Celia Johnson. Other productions are staged in the drama studio, a smaller space.
The school awards means-tested bursaries to students who join in Y7 and for students arriving in Y12. Bursaries fund up to 100% of tuition fees on a sliding scale depending on family income and assets, plus exam entry fees and a grant towards textbooks. Holders of 100% bursaries entering in Y12 receive an extra package to cover additional expenses, such as the cost of sports equipment and music tuition. Year 7: The school awards up to four academic scholarships and about three or four music scholarships to 11+ entrants. Year 12: The school may award music scholarships to current students and to new joiners, two art scholarships to internal and external candidates; the Nora Day music scholarship is awarded every other year to a new joiner who shows exceptional musical potential. The school awards scholarships worth £250 a year for academic distinction in the "Senior Scholarship", a dissertation written by students in the summer holiday following Y12; the school logo is a Grecian laurel wreath.
In 2007, this logo was replaced by High Mistress Clarissa Farr with a blossoming rose, chosen to suggest potential. The change provoked much opposition from students within the school, an article in the Daily Mail; the traditional wreath was retained as the symbol of the Old Paulina Alumnae Association. In 2013 it was announced; the headmistress of St Paul's Girls School is known as the High Mistress. Frances Ralph Grey, High Mistress 1903–1927 Ethel Strudwick CBE, High Mistress 1927–1948, daughter of the Pre-Raphaelite painter John Melhuish Strudwick Margaret Osborn, High Mistress 1948–1963 Dame Alison Munro, High Mistress 1964–1974 Lady Brigstocke CBE, High Mistress 1974–1989 Helen Elizabeth Webber Williams, High Mistress 1989–1992 Janet Gough, High Mistress 1993–1998 Elizabeth Mary Diggory, High Mistress 1998–2006 Clarissa Mary Farr, High Mistress 2006–2017 Sarah Fletcher, High Mistress 2017–present Alumnae of the school, known as "Old Paulinas", include: Thomasina Miers – Chef and founder of Wahaca restaurant chain Sheila Forbes – Principal, St Hilda's College, Oxford Jessica Rawson – Warden, Merton College, Oxford Barbara Reynolds – scholar Joan Robinson – economist Myrtle Solomon – pacifist and former Chair War Resisters' International Dame Sonia Proudman QC – High Court Judge Rosalind Wright CB QC – Director Serious Fraud Office Anne-Marie Trevelyan, Conservative MP Jane Bonham Carter – Liberal Democrat peer Harriet Harman – Labour MP, former Acting Leader of the Labour Party, former Leader of the Opposition and former Cabinet minister Susan Kramer – former Liberal Democrat MP Jo Valentine, Baroness Valentine – member of the British House of Lords Mavis Tate – Conservative MP and women's rights campaigner Vicky Ford, Conservative MP and MEP Shirley Williams – former Labour Education Secretary and co-founder of the Social Democratic Party Eirene White, Baroness White – Labour Minister of State life peer Ruth Bowden – anatomist Rosalind Franklin – scientist, research led to discovery of the structure of DNA Jean Ginsburg – physiologist, endocrinologist Christine Hamill – mathematician Kathleen Kenyon – archaeologist Irene Manton, FRS – botanist Sidnie Manton, FRS – entomologist Onora O'Neill – phi
Children's literature
Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books and poems that are enjoyed by children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's literature can be traced to stories and songs, part of a wider oral tradition, that adults shared with children before publishing existed; the development of early children's literature, before printing was invented, is difficult to trace. After printing became widespread, many classic "children's" tales were created for adults and adapted for a younger audience. Since the fifteenth century much literature has been aimed at children with a moral or religious message; the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries is known as the "Golden Age of Children's Literature", because many classic children's books were published then. There is no single or used definition of children's literature, it can be broadly defined as anything that children read or more defined as fiction, non-fiction, poetry, or drama intended for and used by children and young people.
One writer on children's literature defines it as "all books written for children, excluding works such as comic books, joke books, cartoon books, non-fiction works that are not intended to be read from front to back, such as dictionaries and other reference materials". However, others would argue that comics should be included: "Children's Literature studies has traditionally treated comics fitfully and superficially despite the importance of comics as a global phenomenon associated with children"; the International Companion Encyclopedia of Children's Literature notes that "the boundaries of genre... are not fixed but blurred". Sometimes, no agreement can be reached about whether a given work is best categorized as literature for adults or children; some works defy easy categorization. J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series was written and marketed for young adults, but it is popular among adults; the series' extreme popularity led The New York Times to create a separate best-seller list for children's books.
Despite the widespread association of children's literature with picture books, spoken narratives existed before printing, the root of many children's tales go back to ancient storytellers. Seth Lerer, in the opening of Children's Literature: A Reader's History from Aesop to Harry Potter, says, "This book presents a history of what children have heard and read... The history I write of is a history of reception." Early children's literature consisted of spoken stories and poems that were used to educate and entertain children. It was only in the eighteenth century, with the development of the concept of childhood, that a separate genre of children's literature began to emerge, with its own divisions and canon; the earliest of these books were educational books, books on conduct, simple ABCs—often decorated with animals and anthropomorphic letters. In 1962, French historian Philippe Ariès argues in his book Centuries of Childhood that the modern concept of childhood only emerged in recent times.
He explains that children were in the past not considered as different from adults and were not given different treatment. As evidence for this position, he notes that, apart from instructional and didactic texts for children written by clerics like the Venerable Bede and Ælfric of Eynsham, there was a lack of any genuine literature aimed at children before the 18th century. Other scholars have qualified this viewpoint by noting that there was a literature designed to convey the values and information necessary for children within their cultures, such as the Play of Daniel from the 12th century. Pre-modern children's literature, tended to be of a didactic and moralistic nature, with the purpose of conveying conduct-related and religious lessons. During the 17th century, the concept of childhood began to emerge in Europe. Adults saw children as separate beings, innocent and in need of protection and training by the adults around them; the English philosopher John Locke developed his theory of the tabula rasa in his 1690 An Essay Concerning Human Understanding.
In Locke's philosophy, tabula rasa was the theory that the mind is at birth a "blank slate" without rules for processing data, that data is added and rules for processing are formed by one's sensory experiences. A corollary of this doctrine was that the mind of the child was born blank and that it was the duty of the parents to imbue the child with correct notions. Locke himself emphasized the importance of providing children with "easy pleasant books" to develop their minds rather than using force to compel them, he suggested that picture books be created for children. In the nineteenth century, a few children's titles became famous as classroom reading texts. Among these were the fables of Aesop and Jean de la Fontaine and Charles Perraults's 1697 Tales of Mother Goose; the popularity of these texts led to the creation of a number of nineteenth-century fantasy and fairy tales for children which featured magic objects and talking animals. Another influence on this shift in attitudes came from Puritanism, which stressed the importance of individual salvation.
Puritans were concerned with the spiritual welfare of their children, there was a large growth in the publication of "good godly books" aimed squarely at children. Some of the most popular works were by James Janeway, but the most enduring book from this movement, still read toda
Novelist
A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though novelists write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to support themselves in this way or write as an avocation. Most novelists struggle to get their debut novel published, but once published they continue to be published, although few become literary celebrities, thus gaining prestige or a considerable income from their work. Novelists come from a variety of backgrounds and social classes, this shapes the content of their works. Public reception of a novelist's work, the literary criticism commenting on it, the novelists' incorporation of their own experiences into works and characters can lead to the author's personal life and identity being associated with a novel's fictional content. For this reason, the environment within which a novelist works and the reception of their novels by both the public and publishers can be influenced by their demographics or identity.
Some novelists have creative identities derived from their focus on different genres of fiction, such as crime, romance or historical novels. While many novelists compose fiction to satisfy personal desires and commentators ascribe a particular social responsibility or role to novel writers. Many authors use such moral imperatives to justify different approaches to novel writing, including activism or different approaches to representing reality "truthfully". Novelist is a term derivative from the term "novel" describing the "writer of novels"; the Oxford English Dictionary recognizes other definitions of novelist, first appearing in the 16th and 17th centuries to refer to either "An innovator. However, the OED attributes the primary contemporary meaning of "a writer of novels" as first appearing in the 1633 book "East-India Colation" by C. Farewell citing the passage "It beeing a pleasant observation to note the order of their Coaches and Carriages.. As if it had bin the spoyles of a Tryumph leading Captive, or a preparation to some sad Execution" According to the Google Ngrams, the term novelist first appears in the Google Books database in 1521.
The difference between professional and amateur novelists is the author's ability to publish. Many people take up novel writing as a hobby, but the difficulties of completing large scale fictional works of quality prevent the completion of novels. Once authors have completed a novel, they will try to get it published; the publishing industry requires novels to have accessible profitable markets, thus many novelists will self-publish to circumvent the editorial control of publishers. Self-publishing has long been an option for writers, with vanity presses printing bound books for a fee paid by the writer. In these settings, unlike the more traditional publishing industry, activities reserved for a publishing house, like the distribution and promotion of the book, become the author's responsibility; the rise of the Internet and electronic books has made self publishing far less expensive and a realistic way for authors to realize income. Novelists apply a number of different methods to writing their novels, relying on a variety of approaches to inspire creativity.
Some communities encourage amateurs to practice writing novels to develop these unique practices, that vary from author to author. For example, the internet-based group, National Novel Writing Month, encourages people to write 50,000-word novels in the month of November, to give novelists practice completing such works. In the 2010 event, over 200,000 people took part – writing a total of over 2.8 billion words. Novelists don't publish their first novels until in life. However, many novelists begin writing at a young age. For example, Iain Banks began writing at eleven, at sixteen completed his first novel, "The Hungarian Lift-Jet", about international arms dealers, "in pencil in a larger-than-foolscap log book". However, he was thirty before he published his first novel, the controversial The Wasp Factory in 1984; the success of this novel enabled Banks to become a full-time novelist. An important writers' juvenilia if not published, is prized by scholars because it provides insight into an author's biography and approach to writing.
Novelists publish as early as their teens. For example, Patrick O'Brian published his first novel, Caesar: The Life Story of a Panda-Leopard, at the age of 15, which brought him considerable critical attention. Barbara Newhall Follett's The House Without Windows, was accepted and published in 1927 when she was 13 by the Knopf publishing house and earned critical acclaim from the New York Times, the Saturday Review, H. L. Mencken; these works will achieve popular success as well. For example, though Christopher Paolini's Eragon, was not a great critical success, but its popularity among readers placed it on the New York Times Children's Books Best Seller list for 121 weeks. First-time novelists of any age find themselves unable to get works published, because of a number of reasons reflecting the inexperience of the author and the economic realities of publishers. Authors mus
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art is a drama school in London, England that provides training for film and theatre. It is one of the oldest and most prestigious drama schools in the United Kingdom, founded in 1904 by Herbert Beerbohm Tree. RADA is an affiliate school of the Conservatoire for Drama, its higher education awards are validated by King's College London and its students graduate alongside members of the departments which form the King's Faculty of Arts & Humanities. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Senate House complex of the University of London. Undergraduate students are eligible for government student loan through the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama. RADA has a significant scholarships and bursaries scheme, offering financial assistance to many students at the Academy; the current director of the academy is Edward Kemp. The president is Sir Kenneth Branagh, the chairman is Sir Stephen Waley-Cohen and its vice-chairman was Alan Rickman until his death in 2016.
RADA was founded in 1904 by Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree, an actor manager, at His Majesty's Theatre in the Haymarket. In 1905, RADA moved to 52 Gower Street, a managing council was set up to oversee the school, its members included George Bernard Shaw, who donated his royalties from his play Pygmalion to RADA, gave lectures to students at the school. In 1920, RADA was granted a Royal Charter, in 1921, a new theatre was built on Malet Street, behind the Gower Street buildings; the Prince of Wales opened the theatre. The Gower Street buildings were torn down in 1927, replaced with a new building, financed by George Bernard Shaw, who left one third of his royalties to the academy on his death in 1950. In 1923, John Gielgud studied at RADA for a year, he became President of the academy, its first honorary fellow. A number of famous actors took on leading roles at RADA, such as Richard Attenborough, Oliver Neville, Nicholas Barter, Alan Rickman. 1924 saw RADA's first government subsidy, a grant of £500.
The academy received other government funding over the years, including a £22.7m grant from the Arts Council National Lottery Board, used to renovate its premises, rebuild the Varnbrugh Theatre. In 2001, RADA joined forces with the London Contemporary dance School to create the UK's first Conservatoire for Dance and Drama; the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance joined this Conservatoire in 2005. RADA expanded its course offering over the years, adding Short Courses for actors and courses for American and Japanese students in London in 1995-98. In 2000 the Academy founded RADA Enterprises Ltd, which includes RADA in Business, providing training in communications and teambuilding that uses drama training techniques in a business context; the profits are fed back into the Academy to fund students' training. RADA is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London; the main RADA building is with a second premises nearby in Chenies Street. The Goodge Street and Euston Square underground stations are both within walking distance.
The Gower and Malet Street building was re-devoloped in the late 1990s to designs by Bryan Avery, incorporated the new theatres and linking the entrances on both streets. RADA has a cinema. In the Malet Street building, the Jerwood Vanburgh Theatre is the largest performance space with a capacity of 183. There is a 150-seat cinema. In January 2012, RADA acquired the lease to the adjacent Drill Hall venue in Chenies Street and renamed it RADA Studios; the Drill Hall is a Grade II listed building with a long performing arts history, was where Nijinsky rehearsed with Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes in 1911. This venue has a 200-seat space, the Studio Theatre, a 50-seat space, the Club Theatre. In April 2016, planning permission was granted for the redevelopment of the Chenies Street premises, to comprise the new Richard Attenborough Theatre, new library and office spaces, a refectory with public access and the Academy’s first on-site student accommodation; the RADA library contains around 30,000 items.
Works include around 10,000 plays. The collection was started in 1904 with donations from actors and writers of the time such as Sir Squire Bancroft, William Archer, Arthur Wing Pinero and George Bernard Shaw. Other facilities at RADA include acting studios, a scenic art workshop with paint frame, costume workrooms and extensive costume store and fight studios, design studios and metal workshops, sound studios, rehearsal studios, the RADA Foyer Bar, which includes a licensed bar, a café and a box office. RADA accepts up to 28 new students each year into its three-year BA in Acting course, with a 50-50 split of male and female students. Admission is based via the four-stage audition process. Auditions are held in London as well as in New York, Dublin and Leicester. RADA teaches Technical Theatre & Stage Management - a two-year Foundation Degree and with a further'completion' year to BA level which has to be separately applied for and which allows for specialisation in all theatre craft areas.
The TTSM course admits up to 36 s
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company known as Walt Disney or Disney, is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. It is the world's largest media conglomerate in terms of revenue, ahead of NBCUniversal and WarnerMedia. Disney was founded on October 16, 1923 by brothers Walt and Roy O. Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio; the company established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into live-action film production and theme parks. Since the 1980s, Disney has created and acquired corporate divisions in order to market more mature content than is associated with its flagship family-oriented brands; the company is known for its film studio division, Walt Disney Studios, which includes Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Blue Sky Studios. Disney's other main divisions are Disney Parks and Products, Disney Media Networks, Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer and International.
Disney owns and operates the ABC broadcast network. The company has been a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average since 1991. Cartoon character Mickey Mouse, created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks, is one of the world's most recognizable characters, serves as the company's official mascot. In early 1923, Kansas City, animator Walt Disney created a short film entitled Alice's Wonderland, which featured child actress Virginia Davis interacting with animated characters. After the bankruptcy in 1923 of his previous firm, Laugh-O-Gram Studio, Disney moved to Hollywood to join his brother, Roy O. Disney. Film distributor Margaret J. Winkler of M. J. Winkler Productions contacted Disney with plans to distribute a whole series of Alice Comedies purchased for $1,500 per reel with Disney as a production partner. Walt and Roy Disney formed Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio that same year. More animated films followed after Alice. In January 1926, with the completion of the Disney studio on Hyperion Street, the Disney Brothers Studio's name was changed to the Walt Disney Studio.
After the demise of the Alice comedies, Disney developed an all-cartoon series starring his first original character, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, distributed by Winkler Pictures through Universal Pictures. The distributor owned Oswald, so Disney only made a few hundred dollars. Disney completed 26 Oswald shorts before losing the contract in February 1928, due to a legal loophole, when Winkler's husband Charles Mintz took over their distribution company. After failing to take over the Disney Studio, Mintz hired away four of Disney's primary animators to start his own animation studio, Snappy Comedies. In 1928, to recover from the loss of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Disney came up with the idea of a mouse character named Mortimer while on a train headed to California, drawing up a few simple drawings; the mouse was renamed Mickey Mouse and starred in several Disney produced films. Ub Iwerks refined Disney's initial design of Mickey Mouse. Disney's first sound film Steamboat Willie, a cartoon starring Mickey, was released on November 18, 1928 through Pat Powers' distribution company.
It was the first Mickey Mouse sound cartoon released, but the third to be created, behind Plane Crazy and The Gallopin' Gaucho. Steamboat Willie was an immediate smash hit, its initial success was attributed not just to Mickey's appeal as a character, but to the fact that it was the first cartoon to feature synchronized sound. Disney used Pat Powers' Cinephone system, created by Powers using Lee de Forest's Phonofilm system. Steamboat Willie premiered at B. S. Moss's Colony Theater in New York City, now The Broadway Theatre. Disney's Plane Crazy and The Gallopin' Gaucho were retrofitted with synchronized sound tracks and re-released in 1929. Disney continued to produce cartoons with Mickey Mouse and other characters, began the Silly Symphony series with Columbia Pictures signing on as Symphonies distributor in August 1929. In September 1929, theater manager Harry Woodin requested permission to start a Mickey Mouse Club which Walt approved. In November, test comics strips were sent to King Features, who requested additional samples to show to the publisher, William Randolph Hearst.
On December 16, the Walt Disney Studios partnership was reorganized as a corporation with the name of Walt Disney Productions, Limited with a merchandising division, Walt Disney Enterprises, two subsidiaries, Disney Film Recording Company and Liled Realty and Investment Company for real estate holdings. Walt and his wife held Roy owned 40 % of WD Productions. On December 30, King Features signed its first newspaper, New York Mirror, to publish the Mickey Mouse comic strip with Walt's permission. In 1932, Disney signed an exclusive contract with Technicolor to produce cartoons in color, beginning with Flowers and Trees. Disney released cartoons through Powers' Celebrity Pictures, Columbia Pictures, United Artists; the popularity of the Mickey Mouse series allowed Disney to plan for his first feature-length animation. The feature film Walt
