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Animation could not exist at any scale until film cameras and projectors were widely available, so the whole art form was brand new. Becoming the best commercial artist in the world from Kansas City would have been a long shot, since oil painting is thousands of years old. In a field this young, Walt figured he could quickly become as good or better than anyone else in the world.
He found his way into it at the Kansas City Slide Company, the country's largest producer of advertising slides and short commercials for movie theaters, which hired him and Iwerks after he pitched their commercial art services. The company put them to work on animated commercials. On nights and weekends they used the company's equipment and cameras to make their own short cartoons, which Walt sold on the side to a local movie theater chain, and they became a hit in Kansas City.
Why is a young field easier to master?
A new field has less accumulated technique, so a newcomer can reach the frontier quickly. Few people have decades of practice. Animation was young: Emile Cohl made Fantasmagorie in 1908, and Winsor McCay made Gertie the Dinosaur in 1914. Walt began a decade or so later.
What were advertising slides?
Slide companies made still images and short announcements that theaters projected between films. Local businesses paid to have ads shown to the audience. The Kansas City Slide Company was among the largest producers. The work taught Walt and Iwerks to make camera-ready art.
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