Walt Disney was born on December 5, 1901. He was raised on a Midwestern farm in a town called Marceline, Missouri. When he was 17, Walt dropped out of high school to serve in World War I. He came back to America in 1919, and worked as a commercial illustrator. Shortly down the line, he began to work as a creator of animated advertising cartoons. By 1922, he had set up his own shop with a company called Ub Iwerks, whose drawing abilities were the reason for Walt's success.
In 1923 Disney teamed up with his brother Roy and continued to produce cartoons. His first successful cartoon was called Steamboat Willie, starring Mortimer Mouse, which we now know better as Mickey Mouse. The name change was Walt's wife's idea. She thought Mickey sounded better.
Walt continued to reinvest his profits into his animations to make them better. He then invented other characters, like Donald Duck, Minnie Mouse, and Goofy. His expansion in his ideas when he created his cartoons made them successful all over the world. .
A few years later, Walt created his own animation school. In 1937, the first graduated class from his school helped to create Walt Disney's first full-length film, Snow White. Shortly after that came Pinnochio, Bambi, and Fantasia. In 1939, Disney an Academy Award, and in 1954 he received four academy awards. .
On July 18, 1955, Disneyland was opened in Anaheim, California. It was a gigantic view of this animated land Disney created over the years. It was the most successful amusement park in history, having 6.7 million people visit by 1966. .
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In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson presented Disney with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and in the same year Disney received the Freedom Foundation Award. In 1971, Disney opened Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Since then, Disney parks have popped up all over the world, like Tokyo and Paris. The next major creation by Walt Disney Corp. was called the Center for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow.
