Walt Disney

Hello there. My name is Walt Disney, and I'm known for creating a world of imagination, full of talking mice, magical castles, and stories that have been shared for generations. But before all of that, I was just a boy with a sketchbook and a big dream. My story began on December 5th, 1901, in Chicago, Illinois, but the place I truly consider my childhood home was a farm in Marceline, Missouri. Life on the farm was simple, but it was filled with wonder. I spent hours sketching the farm animals, giving them personalities and imagining the conversations they might have. My pig, Skinny, was a favorite subject, and I’d draw him over and over again. My family didn’t have much money, but we had each other. My older brother, Roy, was my best friend and my biggest supporter. He always believed in my wild ideas, even when others didn’t. As I grew older, I took on many jobs to help my family. I delivered newspapers before the sun came up and sold snacks on trains. Each job, no matter how small, taught me the value of hard work. I learned that if you wanted something, you had to be willing to work for it. Even then, my imagination was always running. During World War I, I was too young to join the army, so I joined the Red Cross Ambulance Corps in France. I covered my ambulance in cartoons from top to bottom. It was my way of bringing a little bit of light into a dark time, and it was a clue to the path my life would take.

After the war, I decided to chase my dream of becoming an artist. In 1922, I started my first animation studio in Kansas City, called Laugh-O-Gram Films. We made short animated fairy tales, and I poured all my time and money into it. I even slept in the office because I couldn't afford an apartment. But despite all our hard work, the business failed. It was a heartbreaking lesson, but it taught me about resilience. With only a few dollars in my pocket, I packed my suitcase and headed to Hollywood, where the movie business was booming. My brother Roy, ever the believer, joined me, and together we started the Disney Brothers Studio in 1923. Things started to look up when we created a popular character named Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. I was so proud of him. But I learned another hard lesson when I discovered that the company distributing our cartoons actually owned the rights to Oswald. They took my character away from me. I was devastated. On the long train ride home from that terrible meeting, I felt like a complete failure. But as I sat there, an idea began to form. I thought about a little mouse—a cheerful, optimistic fellow. I named him Mortimer at first, but my wife, Lillian, suggested a friendlier name: Mickey. Back in Hollywood, my friend and brilliant animator, Ub Iwerks, helped me bring Mickey Mouse to life. We knew he needed something special to stand out. At the time, movies were silent, but a new technology called sound was just emerging. I decided to take a huge risk and make a cartoon where the sound and action were perfectly timed together. On November 18th, 1928, our cartoon 'Steamboat Willie' premiered in New York City. The audience was amazed. They had never seen anything like it. Mickey Mouse became an overnight sensation, and he changed my life forever.

Mickey's success gave us the freedom to dream even bigger. The short cartoons were fun, but I had an idea that everyone in Hollywood thought was crazy. I wanted to create the world's first full-length animated feature film. My plan was to adapt the fairy tale 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.' People in the industry started calling it 'Disney's Folly,' convinced that no one would sit through a cartoon for that long and that the bright colors would hurt people's eyes. Even Roy worried we were risking everything. We worked on that film for three years, pushing animation to its limits and inventing new techniques to make the characters feel real and emotional. On December 21st, 1937, the movie premiered. When the film ended, the audience, filled with movie stars and critics, stood up and cheered. 'Snow White' was a massive success, and it proved that animation could tell stories with just as much heart and drama as any live-action film. But my dreams didn't stop there. I loved taking my own daughters to amusement parks, but I always felt there was something missing. The parks were often dirty, and there was nothing for the parents to do. I started dreaming of a new kind of park, a 'magic kingdom' where children and adults could have fun together. I imagined a place that was clean, safe, and filled with adventure and storytelling. This idea grew into Disneyland. It took years of planning and a lot of courage to build. On July 17th, 1955, we opened the gates of Disneyland to the world. It was a place where my animated dreams became a tangible reality you could walk through and experience firsthand.

Looking back, my life was a journey of constant curiosity and creation. I was never satisfied with what was; I was always thinking about what could be. After Disneyland, I began working on an even bigger idea for our property in Florida. It wasn't just another theme park. I envisioned an 'Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow,' or EPCOT, a real city where people could live and work, using new technology to create a better way of life. It was a project that looked far into the future, a testament to the power of human ingenuity and imagination. Sadly, I never got to see that dream fully realized. My time on this earth came to an end on December 15th, 1966, after a battle with illness. But the story didn't end there. My brother Roy made sure that Walt Disney World was built, and the company I started continued to grow, guided by the principles we established. My legacy is not just in the films or the theme parks, but in the idea that if you can dream it, you can do it. The world is full of possibilities, and the most powerful tool you have is your imagination. So, never be afraid to chase your own 'folly,' because you never know when it might just change the world.