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Walt’s early life was one of scarcity

Walt Disney was born in Chicago in 1901. He lived in a small home with his parents, Elias and Flora, and his three siblings. It was a life of frugality and scarcity. Elias’s jobs included earning just a dollar a day as a carpenter. As a result, Walt and his siblings were forbidden from simple indulgences like butter on their bread. “Waste not, want not” was a household maxim. Then, when two local boys got caught in a shoot-out with police, Walt’s dad decided it was time to move his young family to the country to start a new life.

In nature Walt found escape from an oppressive father

Walt’s parents plunged what savings they had into a 40-acre fruit farm in Marcelene, Missouri. And it was in this rural haven that elements of many Disney movies took root. Walt was surrounded by foxes, squirrels and birds, and he used nature as an escape from his father’s regular eruptions of verbal and physical abuse.

Walt saw glimpses of his father’s violence in himself sometimes. One day, he caught sight of an owl and climbed a tree to get closer. When the owl flapped its wings at him in a panic, he instinctively threw the owl to the floor, stomped on it and killed it. The young Walt was devastated and racked by guilt. He claimed to have nightmares about the incident for the rest of his life. From that moment on, he expressed a tenderness towards animals that was echoed in all his movies.

He experienced bankruptcy and personal loss

In 1923, Walt’s first animation studio, Newman Laugh-O-Grams, went under.

As a young man, Walt suffered a debilitating mental health crisis too. In 1931, his wife Lillian suffered a miscarriage

How one man's big dream changed animation forever

It can be hard to comprehend just how much the Walt Disney Company has grown in the almost 100 years since it was founded. A century might seem like a long time, but we’re talking going from a small company of two brothers that produced short cartoons, to one of the largest entertainment companies in the world with a huge film division, a massive presence in television, an incredibly successful theme park business, a recently launched and thriving streaming service, plus fingers in the pies of music, video games, web portals, and more.

It has produced a vast number of the highest-grossing films of all time and its dominance of the list of highest-grossing animated films of all time is gobsmacking. You might think that the company has grown to a size that its founder Walt Disney could never have dreamed of, but the truth is that Walt Disney dreamed big. Like, really, really big. Throughout his life, he made his dreams a reality, and since his passing, the company continued to fulfil his dreams and even imagined and developed new ones.

This is the story of the Walt Disney Company and the journey it made from its modest beginnings to its current state as a global powerhouse.

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Once upon a time, stop, start again

Walter Elias Disney was born in a suburb of Chicago on December 5, 1901. The family moved to Kansas City, Missouri in 1911 and it was here he developed an early interest in art, attending the Kansas City Art Institute and taking a correspondence course in cartooning. By the time Walt Disney was just 18 years old he was working as a commercial illustrator at the Pesmen-Rubin Commercial Art Studio. While working here, he met an artist c

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During a 43-year Hollywood career, which spanned the development of the motion picture medium as a modern American art, Walter Elias Disney, a modern Aesop, established himself and his product as a genuine part of Americana.

David Low, the late British political cartoonist, called Disney “the most significant figure in graphic arts since Leonardo.” A pioneer and innovator, and the possessor of one of the most fertile imaginations the world has ever known, Walt Disney, along with members of his staff, received more than 950 honors and citations from throughout the world, including 48 Academy Awards® and 7 Emmys® in his lifetime.

Walt Disney’s personal awards included honorary degrees from Harvard, Yale, the University of Southern California, and UCLA; the Presidential Medal of Freedom; France’s Legion of Honor and Officer d’Academie decorations; Thailand’s Order of the Crown; Brazil’s Order of the Southern Cross; Mexico’s Order of the Aztec Eagle; and the Showman of the World Award from the National Association of Theatre Owners.

The creator of Mickey Mouse and founder of Disneyland and Walt Disney World was born in Chicago, Illinois, on December 5, 1901. His father, Elias Disney, was an Irish-Canadian. His mother, Flora Call Disney, was of German-American descent. Walt was one of five children, four boys and a girl.

Raised on a farm near Marceline, Missouri, Walt early became interested in drawing, selling his first sketches to neighbors when he was only seven years old. At McKinley High School in Chicago, Disney divided his attention between drawing and photography, contributing both to the school paper. At night he attended the Academy of Fine Arts.

During the fall of 1918, Disney attempted to enlist for military service. Rejected because he was only 16 years of age, Walt joined the Red Cross and was sent overseas, where he spent a year driving an ambulance

(1901-1966)

Who Was Walt Disney?

Walter Elias "Walt" Disney co-founded Walt Disney Productions with his brother Roy, which became one of the best-known motion-picture production companies in the world. Disney was an innovative animator and created the cartoon character Mickey Mouse. He won 22 Academy Awards during his lifetime, and was the founder of theme parks Disneyland and Walt Disney World.

Walt Disney’s Parents and Siblings

Disney’s father was Elias Disney, an Irish-Canadian. His mother, Flora Call Disney, was German-American. Disney was one of five children, four boys and a girl.

Walt Disney’s Childhood

Disney was born on December 5, 1901, in the Hermosa section of Chicago, Illinois. He lived most of his childhood in Marceline, Missouri, where he began drawing, painting and selling pictures to neighbors and family friends.

In 1911, his family moved to Kansas City, where Disney developed a love for trains. His uncle, Mike Martin, was a train engineer who worked the route between Fort Madison, Iowa and Marceline. Later, Disney would work a summer job with the railroad, selling snacks and newspapers to travelers.

Disney attended McKinley High School in Chicago, where he took drawing and photography classes and was a contributing cartoonist for the school paper. At night, he took courses at the Art Institute of Chicago.

When Disney was 16, he dropped out of school to join the Army but was rejected for being underage. Instead, he joined the Red Cross and was sent to France for a year to drive an ambulance. He moved back to the U.S. in 1919.

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Walt Disney’s First Cartoons

In 1919, Disney moved to Kansas City to pursue a career as a newspaper artist. His brother Roy got him a job at the Pesmen-Rubin Art Studio, where he met cartoonist Ubbe Eert Iwwerks, better known as Ub Iwerks. From there, Disney worked at the Kansas City Film Ad Company, where he made commercials based on c