Walter Elias Disney "I only hope that we never lose sight of one thing -- that it was all started by a mouse." Walt Disney

Let me start off by posting a brief story of Walt Disney.

Birth: December 5, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois. He was born to a family of poverty and failure.

Parents: Elias and Flora Disney

Education: He was educated in a public school until he dropped out in ninth grade because of his bad grades which resulted from spending all his time drawing.

Died: December 15, 1966 of acute circulatory collapse, caused by lung cancer.

Walter Elias Disney was raised in Marceline, Missouri. Because his father was a failure, he seemed to spare his five children affection. When caught misbehaving, the four boys and one girl were badly beaten.

After Walter quit school, he joined the Red Cross. He drove an ambulance in France during World War I. After the war was over he moved to Kansas City. He took some classes and became a commercial artist. He then moved to California for cartooning and animation. He made short movies, probably the most successful of these being "Oswald the Rabbit".

Disney started drawing Mortimer Mouse when he realized that people enjoyed animal characters the most. His wife Lillian thought the name Mortimer sounded too stuffy and suggested that he use Mickey instead. "Steamboat Willie" was released in 1928. It was the first animated cartoon with sound. Disney himself starred as the voice of Mickey Mouse. As noted by Alfred Hitchcock--"If he didn't like an actor, he could just tear him up".

He eventually created a cast of Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Minnie Mouse, and Goofy. He cast these characters with a creative use of music, sound, and folk material. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs became the first feature-length cartoon. It even received an Academy Award.

His studio rapidly expanded. Eventually it included a training school where he could prepare young artists so that they could continue to entertain people. In 1941, his animators went on strike. They complained because Disney paid them little, was a very demanding boss, and yelled often. When asked about his yelling, he said that he was "just excited". After that was resolved, he started experimenting with nature and live action films. Some television shows that he created included Davy Crockett, Disneyland (now known as the Wonderful World of Disney), and the Mickey Mouse Club. He also created the California Institute of the Arts, which is known as Cal Arts.

While visiting an amusement park with his daughters Diane and Sharon, he dreamed up the idea for Disneyland. He wanted it to be a vacation destination where people would come to stay for four or five days instead of just coming for the afternoon. Disneyland opened on July 18, 1957 in Anaheim, California. By 1966, 6.7 million people had visited the theme park.

By the time of his death in 1966, Disney had made twenty-one feature-length animated films, 493 short subjects, forty-seven live-action films, seven true-life adventure features, 330 hours of Mickey Mouse Club television programs, seventy-eight half-hour Zorro television adventures, and 280 other shows.

Walt Disney's works brought joy to children (and adults) across the world and through the generations. His works' moral values and optimistic perspectives have helped shape the personalities, hopes, and dreams of all our children and will continue to live in their hearts for years to come.