Walter Elias Disney was born on December 5, 1901, in Chicago, Illinois, to Elias and Flora Disney. Raised on a farm in Marceline, Missouri, young Walt developed a love for drawing and storytelling early on.
Despite a tough childhood marked by his father’s strictness and financial struggles, Walt found escape in drawing animals and imagining stories.
At age 16, he dropped out of school to join the Red Cross during World War I and served as an ambulance driver in France. Even then, he decorated his vehicle with cartoons, sowing the seeds of his lifelong passion.
“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.”
Laugh-O-Gram and a One-Way Ticket
Disney studied art in Chicago and later moved to Kansas City, where he worked for the Kansas City Film Ad Company. There, he learned the art of cut-out animation and began creating short animated films.
In the early 1920s, Walt started a company called Laugh-O-Gram Studios. It failed within a year. Broke but undeterred, Walt boarded a train to Los Angeles with $40 in his pocket, a suitcase, and a reel of unfinished animation.
It was in Hollywood, a place known more for live-action films, that Walt began to pioneer animation. With his brother Roy Disney, he set up the Disney Brothers Studio—a partnership that would last a lifetime.
The Birth of Mickey Mouse
After losing the rights to his first successful character, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, to a distributor, Walt felt betrayed. On a train ride back to Los Angeles, he began sketching a new character—a cheerful little mouse inspired by a pet mouse he once had in his studio.
He originally named him “Mortimer Mouse,” but his wife, Lillian, suggested a softer name: Mickey. That little sketch on a train became Mickey Mouse. Mickey made his debut in Steamboat Willie (1928), one of the first cartoons with synchronized sound. It was an instant hit.
“I only hope that we never lose sight of one thing—that it was all started by a mouse.”
Snow White and Beyond
When Walt announced he was making the first-ever full-length animated feature film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, many in Hollywood called it “Disney’s Folly.” Critics said nobody would sit through a 90-minute cartoon.
The project took four years and nearly bankrupted the studio. Walt risked everything he owned to make it. But in 1937, Snow White premiered to massive acclaim, earning over $8 million during the Great Depression—an astonishing success.
“It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.”
This triumph opened doors for other classics: Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, and Bambi. He constantly pushed the boundaries of what animation could do, blending art, music, and storytelling.
Walt even ventured into television, producing successful shows like The Mickey Mouse Club.
A Place Where Dreams Come True
In the 1950s, Walt envisioned a place where parents and children could experience the magic of Disney together. Despite resistance, he mortgaged his house and partnered with ABC to fund the project.
Disneyland opened in 1955 in Anaheim, California. On the first day, the park faced plumbing issues, counterfeit tickets, and massive crowds. Yet the dream stood firm.
Today, Disneyland and its successors around the world stand as monuments to his imagination.
“Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world.”
Walt Disney had two drawers in his desk: one labeled “Dreams” and the other “Nightmares.” The “dreams” drawer held sketches, ideas, and scripts he wanted to develop. The “nightmares” drawer held failed concepts and things that went wrong.
He believed both were essential to creativity—that success was built on daring to dream and learning from mistakes.
Legacy and Lasting Inspiration
Walt Disney died on December 15, 1966, at the age of 65. Even in his final days, he envisioned cities of the future, driven by creativity and human connection.
Walt Disney left behind a legacy of imagination, innovation, and storytelling. He won 22 Academy Awards, more than any individual in history, and received 59 nominations. His name is now synonymous with creativity, magic, and dreams coming true.
The Walt Disney Company, started by two brothers with a single cartoon mouse, is today one of the biggest entertainment empires in the world.
“All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.”
“Around here, however, we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we’re curious…and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”
“First, think. Second, believe. Third, dream. And finally, dare.”
“Somehow I can’t believe that there are any heights that can’t be scaled by a man who knows the secrets of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four Cs.
They are curiosity, confidence, courage, and constancy, and the greatest of all is confidence. When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionable.”