Walter Elias Disney was born in Chicago in 1901 and spent most of his childhood in Missouri. He had an interest in art from a young age and took drawing classes. Disney started his career creating commercial works before founding his company with Ub Iwerks. They created popular characters like Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and Mickey Mouse. Disney moved to Hollywood and founded the Walt Disney Company with his brother. There, he met his wife Lillian and created Mickey Mouse in 1928, which became the company's mascot and a global icon. Disney grew his company successfully but faced challenges like a workers' strike, before his death from cancer in 1966 while planning the Disney theme parks.

1. Walt Disney Biography

2. Walter Elias Disney Born December 5,1901 In Chicago ,IL Walter is 1 of 5 siblings Walter spent Most of his life in Marceline ,MO When Walter started High school he moved back to Chicago

3. Walter had always had an interest in art and drawing ,so while in High school he attended night class at the Chicago Art Institute eventually he dropped out to join the army, because Walter was young (16) He was “knocked back”, Instead he joined the Red Cross.He later moved back to Missouri where he started working in a studio where he created commercial works for magazines, newspapers, and movie theaters.

4. Disney started a company with the cartoonist Ub Iwerks, called "Iwerks-Disney Commercial Artists". Disney and Iwwerks would later work together in creating some of the earliest popular Disney cartoon characters, including "Oswald the Lucky Rabbit" and "Mickey Mouse".

5. Unfortunately Walter and Iwwerks went their separate ways. Walt moved to Hollywood in Los Angeles. Him and his brother ended up working together and started what would eventually become the Walt Disney Company. His friend and previous business partner Ub Iwerks also came to Los Angeles and played an important role in the success of the company. It was here that Walt also met the young Lillian Bounds, who would later become his wife. Just 3 years after his marriage Walt Created Mickey Mouse

6. "Mickey Mouse" was born on November 18, 1928 Mi.ckey first appeared in a silent short called "Plane Crazy", but it would be the "Steamboat Willie" cartoon with sound that made Mickey Mouse famous. Even though Walt Disney gets much of the credit and acknowledgment for creating the famous mouse, it is believed that his friend Ub Iwerks actually created Mickey Mouse. Walt Disney was the voice of Mickey Mouse up until 1946.

7. Mickey Mouse became the symbol for the Walt Disney Company. Mickey Mouse appeared in many cartoons, full feature films, comic strips, books, video games, toys, and was made into every piece of merchandise imaginable. Mickey Mouse became bigger than just the Walt Disney Company, and even came to symbolize the country of America.. TheWalt Disney Company created many other popilar characters such as,Donald Duck, Minnie Mouse, Butch the Bulldog, Scrooge McDuck, Clarabelle Cow, and many more. The company also animated other characters like Bambi, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Dumbo, Hercules, and more.

8. The Walt Disney company received many Academy award nominations and was nominated for seven Emmys while Walt was alive. Disney's company had to overcome challenges like the workers strike in 1940. The company went public in 1957 and continues to be a listed company on the New York Stock Exchange to this day. Disney was working on plans for a theme park when he died from lung cancer complications in 1966 . His brother Roy would follow his plans through and the Walt Disney World theme park was opened to the public in 1971. The company continued to grow after the death of Walt Disney.

9. Resources http://disney.go.com/vault/read/walt/index.html http://www.justdisney.com/WaltDisney100/biography01.html http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/2-1-2005-65214.asp http://www.starpulse.com/Notables/Disney,_Walt /