Mr. Walter Elias Disney

Full Name: Mr. Walter Elias Disney Date of Birth: December 5, 1901 Place of Birth: Chicago, Illinois, USA Died: December 15, 1966 Place of Death: Los Angeles, California , USA Classification: Heroes & Icons

Although he had one failing business venture after another in his lifetime, Walt Disney never gave up hope that his dreams would one day be realized. As a young lad, Walt was a dedicated paper delivery boy and would rise early in the morning to complete his route. Later, he worked at a train station where he became amazed with the technology and science behind it. All of this with an obsessive drawing habit would lead to the creation of some of the world’s most popular characters and stories – many of which are still known today, 80 years later.

As a child, Walt grew up on a farm in Missouri. There, he would play outside with his sister, Ruth. They were both gifted at drawing at a young age; Walt would draw pictures of the neighbors’ farm animals for extra money. After only a few years, the Disney’s were forced to move to Kansas City, Missouri where Walt graduated from grammar school. In 1915, Disney attended the Kansas City Art Institute. And, in 1917, Disney found himself attending the McKinley High School in Chicago, Illinois, where he became a cartoonist for the school’s newspaper. At age 16, he quit school and attempted to join the Army. When he couldn’t enlist due to his age, he forged his paperwork and was taken with the Red Cross to serve a short stint in Germany.

Upon returning to the United States, Disney knew he wanted to be an artist for the rest of his life. But, like his father, he was also always looking for a business opportunity. After starting a couple different art companies that eventually went under, Walt decided to venture off to Hollywood. Once there, he looked for work as a live director, but soon returned to doing his short animations, based on fairy tales, such as Alice in Wonderland. After a deal with a distributor in New York, Disney began making money with his work. But, that was short-lived as Mintz took his cartoonist crew away.

Upon losing his main star, a cartoon character named Oswald; Disney supposedly came up with a new star for his short animation projects – Mickey Mouse. The newly developed mouse quickly gained popularity, as Disney did the voice and some of the design work for the new star. His first film was Plane Crazy, a silent film that showed a strong potential.

When Disney created Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, he almost went under again financially. In fact, Disney had to borrow more money from the Bank of America and show why this film was going to dominate the industry – it was with sound and done in Technicolor, the first feature cartoon film of its time. Upon its release, with many claiming that it would be the end of Disney, the film grossed over 7 million dollars, or in today's figures, well over 95 million dollars profit.

With the later years of ups and downs for the animation industry, due to World War II, Disney began buying the land necessary in Florida to build Disneyland, which would later become Walt Disney World, EPCOT, and the Magic Kingdom. Over his lifetime, Disney would prove that those who have a dream, no matter how far-fetched, should always reach for the stars.