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Childhood
Walter Elias Disney was born December 5, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois to Flora Call Disney and Elias Charles Disney. His father worked various job so the family moved around to several different cities. When Walt was 4 years old, his family moved to Missouri. His neighbor “Doc” Sherwood encouraged Walt to draw and payed him to draw pictures of his horse, Rupert. At age 10, Walt moved to Kansas City and became friends with a family who made vaudeville shows and motion pictures. Though Walt did not have much free time, he would wake up at 4:30am to deliver newspapers until the school bell rang. Then he would deliver more papers after school until dinnertime. He did this routine for six years.

Teen Years
At 15 years old, Disney’s family moves back to Chicago where he attends high school during the day and Chicago Academy of Fine Arts at night. Walt dropped out of school at 16 to join the army but they rejected him for being under age. So, he joined the Red Cross and drove an ambulance in France to help the soldiers. When he returned home, Walt worked as an artist creating advertisements for newspapers, magazines and movie theaters.

Laugh-O-Rama
Disney opened his own animation business, Laugh-O-Grams in 1921 with friend, Fred Harman. The cartoons were shown in a local Kansas theater and were wildly popular. The company went bankrupt but Disney did not give up. He moved to Hollywood, California and started up Disney Brothers’ Studio in 1923. Some of Disney’s first animations include:


 * Alice’s Comedies (1923)
 * Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (1926)
 * Mickey Mouse (1928)

Career Success
On November 18, 1932, Walt won his first Academy Award for creating “Mickey Mouse.” In 1938, Disney’s first fully animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs earned $8 million dollars.

After Snow White’s great success, Disney made many other successful films including:


 * 1) Pinocchio (1940)
 * 2) Fantasia  (1940)
 * 3) Dumbo (1941)
 * 4) Bambi  (1942)
 * 5) Cinderella (1950)
 * 6) Alice in Wonderland (1951)
 * 7) Peter Pan  (1953)
 * 8) Sleeping Beauty (1959)

Disney opened Disneyland in 1955 and the company begins to grow as the leader in family entertainment. Disney won 48 Academy Awards, made 81 feature films and hundreds of shorts. He founded California Institute of the Arts. In 1963, he started purchasing land in Orlando Florida to build Walt Disney World. Disney proved that if you are going to dream, dream big!!

Personal Life
Disney marries Lillian Bounds, an artist on July 25, 1925. Walt Disney’s first daughter, Diane Marie Disney is born December 18, 1933. Later, they adopt Sharon Mae Disney born December 31, 1936. Sadly, Disney died on December 15, 1966 from lung cancer. He was 65 years old. His brother, Roy Disney, ran the company after Walt’s death.