Walter Elias Disney was born on December 5, 1901, in Chicago, Illinois, to Elias Disney and Flora Call Disney. He was one of five children, with three brothers and one sister. Walt's father was a strict and often abusive man who struggled to provide for his family, moving them around frequently in search of work.


In 1906, the family moved to a farm in Marceline, Missouri, where Walt spent some of the happiest years of his childhood. It was here that he developed a love for drawing and storytelling, often entertaining his sister Ruth with his creations. The family's time in Marceline was short-lived, however, as Elias fell ill and could no longer work the farm. They moved to Kansas City in 1911, where Walt and his brother Roy helped their father deliver newspapers.


Walt's education was sporadic due to the family's frequent moves and financial struggles. He attended McKinley High School in Chicago, where he took night courses at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. It was during this time that he met Walter Pfeiffer, who introduced him to the world of vaudeville and motion pictures.


In 1918, at the age of 16, Walt dropped out of high school to join the Red Cross Ambulance Corps during World War I. He was sent to France, where he spent a year driving ambulances and chauffeuring officers. Upon his return to the United States in 1919, he moved back to Kansas City and began working as a commercial illustrator.


Walt's fascination with animation began when he saw a screening of "Alice's Wonderland," a short film that combined live-action with animation. Inspired, he decided to open his own animation studio with his friend Ub Iwerks. They created a series of short films called "Laugh-O-Grams," which were moderately successful but ultimately failed to keep the studio afloat. In 1923, Walt filed for bankruptcy and moved to Hollywood with just $40 in his pocket.


Once in Hollywood, Walt and his brother Roy opened the Disney Brothers Studio, which would later become the Walt Disney Company. They began producing a series of live-action/animated shorts called "Alice Comedies," which featured a young girl interacting with animated characters. The series was a success and ran for four years.


In 1927, Walt created a new character named Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. The series was distributed by Universal Studios and became very popular. However, when Walt asked for a raise, he discovered that Universal had secretly patented the Oswald character and hired away most of his animators. This experience taught Walt the importance of owning the rights to his creations.


Undeterred, Walt and Ub Iwerks created a new character: Mickey Mouse. The first two Mickey Mouse films, "Plane Crazy" and "The Gallopin' Gaucho," were silent and failed to find distributors. The third film, "Steamboat Willie," was the first fully synchronized sound cartoon and was an instant success when it debuted in November 1928.


The success of Mickey Mouse allowed Walt to expand his studio and create new characters, such as Donald Duck, Goofy, and Pluto. He also began experimenting with color animation and released the first Technicolor cartoon, "Flowers and Trees," in 1932. The film won an Academy Award for Best Cartoon.


In 1937, Walt released "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," the first full-length animated feature film. Many in the film industry dubbed it "Disney's Folly," believing that audiences would not sit through a feature-length cartoon. Walt mortgaged his house to finance the film, which took three years and $1.5 million to complete. "Snow White" was a massive success, grossing over $8 million (equivalent to $142 million today) and winning critical acclaim.


Following the success of "Snow White," Walt produced a string of iconic animated films, including "Pinocchio" (1940), "Fantasia" (1940), "Dumbo" (1941),...