Walter Elias Disney was born in Chicago, Illinois, on December 5, 1901, the fourth of five

children born to Elias and Flora Call Disney. His father, a strict and religious man who often
physically abused his children, was working as a building contractor when Walter was born.
When he was four years old his parents, Elias and Flora, moved the family to a farm in
Marceline, Missouri.

Walt enjoyed living on the farm with his three older brothers (Herbert, Raymond, and Roy) and
his younger sister (Ruth). It was in Marceline that Walt first developed a love for drawing and
art. After four years in Marceline, the Disneys moved to Kansas City. Walt continued to draw
and took art classes on the weekends.

He even traded his drawings to the local barber for free haircuts. One summer Walt got a job
working on a train. He walked back and forth on the train selling snacks and newspapers. Walt
enjoyed his job on the train and would be fascinated by trains for the rest of his life.

After the farm failed, the family moved to Kansas City, Missouri, where Walter helped his
father deliver newspapers. He also worked selling candy and newspapers on the train that
traveled between Kansas City and Chicago, Illinois. He began drawing and took some art
lessons during this time.

By 1922 he had set up his own shop as a partner with Ub Iwerks, whose drawing ability and
technical skill were major factors in Disney's eventual success and Walt learned about
animation, the business didn't make enough money and Walt had to declare bankruptcy.

With his suitcase, and twenty dollars, Walt headed to Hollywood to start again.

In 1923, he moved to Hollywood, California and opened a new business with his brother Roy
called Disney Brothers' Studio. He again hired Ubbe Iwerks and number of other animators.
They developed the popular character Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. The business was a success.
However, Universal Studios gained control of the Oswald trademark and took all of Disney's
animators except for Iwerks.

Disney and his brother decided to come up with their own character. Their first success came
in Steamboat Willie, which was the first all-sound cartoon. It also featured Disney as the voice
of a character first called "Mortimer Mouse." Disney's wife, Lillian (whom he had married in
1925) suggested that Mickey sounded better, and Disney agreed.

Disney continued to work, creating new characters such as Donald Duck, Goofy, and Pluto. He
had further success with the releases of the cartoon Silly Symphonies.

In 1932, the production entitled Flowers and Trees (the first color cartoon) won Walt the
first of his studios Academy Awards, Disney decided he wanted to make a full-length
animated film called Snow White. People thought he was crazy for trying to make a cartoon that
long. They called the film "Disney's folly." However, Disney was sure the film would be a
success. It took five years to complete the film which was finally released in 1937. The film was
a huge box office success becoming the top film of 1938.

During the next five years, Walt Disney Studios completed other full-length animated
classics such as Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, and Bambi.
The idea of Disneyland came into Walt Disneys mind when he was attending Griffith Park in
Los Angeles with his daughters Diane and Sharon. To get inspiration, he started to visit other
play parks including Tivoli Gardens in Denmark, Childrens Fairyland in the United States, and
Efteling in the Netherlands.

In the mid-1960's, Walt Disney wanted to build another park in Florida, based on the concept started in
Disneyland. In 1971, the concept became a reality when Walt Disney World opened in Lake Buena Vista,
Florida. Unfortunately, Walt Disney passed away in 1966 (died of lung cncer), and never had
the chance to see his visin.

Fun Facts

The original name for Mickey Mouse was Mortimer, but his wife didn't like the name and
suggested Mickey.

His last written words were "Kurt Russell." No one, not even Kurt Russell, knows why he wrote
this.

The robot from Wall-E was named after Walter Elias Disney.

The sorcerer from Fantasia is named "Yen Sid", or "Disney" spelled backwards