Walt Disney was an American entrepreneur and film innovator who was born in 1901 in Chicago. He created many famous cartoon characters like Mickey Mouse and founded The Walt Disney Company. Disney opened the first Disneyland theme park in California in 1955 and later built Disney World in Florida. The Disney Company owns theme parks, cruise ships, film studios, television networks and merchandising rights that generate billions in revenue annually and support tens of thousands of jobs.

1. Walt Disney
By Ben Garbo

3. Background
 He was born in Chicago, Illinois on
December 5, 1901
 He was a cartoonist and a film
innovator
 He won 26 Academy Awards
 He was among the most successful
American entrepreneurs

4. Childhood
 Although he was born into poverty,
he was able to contribute greatly
to the American economy
 He loved to draw so much that he
decided to make a career out of it
 Instead of doing schoolwork, he
would doodle pictures of animals
and nature

5. Characters
 His first cartoon character, Oswald
the Rabbit, was stolen from him
 He created many famous cartoon
characters including Mickey Mouse,
Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Pluto, and
the Disney princesses

7. Films
 His first full-length animated film
was Snow White and the Seven
Dwarfs, which was released in
1938
 Since then, the Disney name has
made many movies such as
Beauty and the Beast, Hercules,
Fantasia, Alice in Wonderland,
Tarzan, Pirates of the Caribbean,
Peter Pan, and so much more

8. Merchandise
 The Disney Company produces a
very large variety of trinkets each
year
 These trinkets include toys, home
décor, games, foods and
beverages, stationary, electronics,
art, and clothes

9. Disneyland
 Disneyland was the first theme
park built by Disney
 It is located in Central California
 It supports more than 23,800 jobs
in the US
 Disneyland generates $3.6 billion a
year
 In order to build Disneyland, Walt
Disney had to mortgage
everything he owned including his

11. Disneyworld
 Disneyworld is located in Central
Florida
 Before The Disney Company could
build Disneyworld, they had to buy
up lots of the swampland south of
Orlando in order to have enough
room
 Since it was built, Orlando has
become much more heavily
populated and is now a prime

12. Disneyworld cont.
 Disneyworld generates over $5
billion a year directly and even
more to the Central Florida
economy

14. Properties
What people think
Disney owns What Disney actually owns
 The theme parks in  11 theme parks
California and Florida across 3 continents
 The Disney movies  The Disney movies
 5 cruise ships
 The ABC network
 The ESPN network
 Several online virtual
worlds for kids
 Marvel comics

16. Quotes
 “You can design and create, and
build the most wonderful place in
the world, but it takes people to
make the dream a reality”

17. Works Cited
 “America’s Sorcerer.” Rev. of:
title_of _work_reviewed_in_italics,
clarifying_information. The
Economist 10 Jan. 1998: Platinum
Periodicals, ProQuest. Web. 23
Sep. 2009.
 “Disney, Walt.” Grolier Multimedia
Encyclopedia. 2009. Grolier Online.
23 Sep. 2009
http://gme.grolier.com/cgi-
bin/article?assetid=0086550-0

18. Works Cited cont.
 Richard Schickel. “Ruler of the
Magic Kingdom: Walt Disney.”
Time 7 Dec. 1998: KidQuest
Magazine. ProQuest. Web.23 Sep.
2009.
 “Walt Disney: Long Biography.”
Walt Disney- JustDisney,com- Your
Source For Disney. Web. 27 Sept.
2009.
http://www.justdisney.com/walt_d
isney/biography/long_bio.html

19. Works Cited cont.
 “The Walt Disney Company- News
from the Disney Board- March 04,
2005.” The Walt Disney Company
and Affiliated Companies-
Corporate Information. Web. 23
Sept. 2009.
http://corporate.disney.go.com/co
rporate/board_news/2004/2005_0
305_dlrstudy.html