Walt Disney was born in 1901 in Chicago Illinois and was one of five children.When he was young, he would often sell drawings to neighbours to make extra money. He pursued his art career by studying art and photography at McKinley High School in Chicago. Walt was encouraged by his mother and his older brother Roy to pursue his talents. At sixteen, Walt joined the Red Cross and was sent overseas to France, where he spent a year driving an ambulance and chauffeuring Red Cross officials. His ambulance was covered from stem to stern, not with stock camouflage, but with Disney cartoons. Once Walt returned from France, he began to pursue a career in commercial art. He started a small company called Laugh-O-Grams, which eventually fell bankrupt. With his suitcase, and twenty dollars, Walt headed to Hollywood to start anew.

"He popped out of my mind and onto a drawing pad 20 years ago on a train ride from Manhattan to Hollywood at a time when business fortunes of my brother Roy and myself were at lowest ebb and disaster seemed right around the corner."

(Walt Disney)

In Hollywood, Disney started anew. His first case of success came with his creation of the "Alice Commedies". After this, he became a Hollywood icon. On July 13, 1925, Walt married one of his first employees, Lillian Bounds, in Lewiston, Idaho. Later on they would be blessed with two daughters, Diane and Sharon.

Disney's first princess was Snow White. "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves" was the first full-length animated musical feature, premiered at the Carthay Theater in Los Angeles. The film produced at the unheard cost of $1,499,000 during the depths of the Depression, the film is still considered one of the great feats and imperishable monuments of the motion picture industry.

Disney has become a huge part of our lives and will continue to remain so. He was a folk hero of the 20th century. His worldwide popularity was based upon the ideals which his name represents: imagination, optimism, creation, and self-made success in the American tradition. He brought us closer to the future, while telling us of the past. Walt Disney was truely a great man. He still inspires us through his stories today.