It All Started With A Mouse

Walt Disney is a name that is recognized all over the world. Disney was born in 1901 and raised in an abusive home. It was so bad that two of Disneys older brothers ran away from home before finishing high school. Walt tried to escape by enlisting in the military to fight in World War I, but was rejected, being only 15 years old at the time.

When he was in his 20’s, Walt Disney and his brother Roy founded Disney Brothers Studio in 1923. His first animated character was Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Through a series of underhanded moves by a competitor, Oswald was stolen from Disney. Oswald never made it big but Walt’s next character did. You know him as Mickey Mouse.

Mickey Mouse first appeared in “Steamboat Willie” in 1928. The cartoon was the first to synchronize sound with animation. In 1937, Walt Disney mortgaged his home to produce “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.” It was the first full-length animated film and to the surprise of his many critics, it was a blockbuster hit! So much for the self-proclaimed experts.

Walt Disney died shortly after his 65th birthday. By the time of his death he had won 22 Academy Awards, still a record for an individual. It’s fair to say that Walt Disney changed the world of entertainment for children and adults.

One of Disney’s favorite sayings was, “It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.” Walt Disney had an impossible dream, starting with a drawing of a mouse. What’s your dream?