Upon A Star

1901 - 1966

Just think about it for a second. No Disneyland, no Walt Disney World, no Mickey Mouse, no Donald Duck, no Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs or no Lion King to entertain us. It would be pretty boring stuff without all the Disney entertainment we have come to love and enjoy over the years.

Disney was born in Chicago, Illinois, just after the turn of the century, the fourth of five children. Walt grew up on farms in Marceline, Missouri, and in Kansas City, Missouri.

In 1910, young Walt got his first job as an artist doing weekly sketches for a barber, for which he received 25 cents or a free haircut as payment.

Although Disney never graduated from high school he did take evening classes at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. When World War I came along, Walt enlisted as a Red Cross ambulance driver.

After the war, he returned to Kansas City and worked as an artist for an advertising firm. In his spare time he made his own cartoons called “Laugh-O-grams.” He soon saved enough money to start his own company by eating only once a day while sleeping in his office at night. But within a year the company failed and Walt was broke.

In 1923, Disney founded a new studio in Hollywood with his brother Roy and Ub Iwerks. Five years later they developed the soon to be famous Mickey Mouse who was featured in Steamboat Willie, the first cartoon with synchronized sound.

The mid-1930’s ushered in color in the cartoons with such hits as Donald Duck, Pluto and Goofy. In 1937, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs became the world’s first feature-length animated film with Fantasia following in 1940. The 1950’s and 1960’s evolved into live character films such as Treasure Island and Mary Poppins. (1964)

Disney’s grand dream to build a 330-acre theme park in Anaheim, California, called Disneyland was turned down by numerous attempts made to get bank financing. After a passionate determination to obtain financing finally came through, Disneyland became a reality in 1955.

An even more ambitious plan to purchase 47 square miles of Florida swampland and build Walt Disney World was laughed at by the critics. In 1971, the 28,000 acre Walt Disney World entertainment center became a reality. EPCOT Center later opened in 1982 adding to the vacation center paradise.

The Disney empire has continued to grow astronomically with the recent acquisition of Capital Cities/ABC. Worldwide, the Disney organization has sales of over $12 billion with over 100,000 employees.

Walt Disney, endured and built against the odds his wonderful vision - “When you wish upon a star...”