1. Disney

2. Walter Elias Disney (December 5, 1901–December 15, 1966) was a motion picture and television producer and entrepreneur. Walt Disney entered the field of animated cartoon films in the 1920s and achieved world fame with the creation of Mickey Mouse. He went on to a successful career producing cartoons, feature-length films, and wildlife documentaries, then branched out into television. He also pioneered the concept of theme parks with Disneyland in California, and Walt Disney World in Florida.

3. Although Disney achieved recognition in a variety of fields during his life, his lasting reputation as an artist rests on his work in animated cartoons. The Disney studio introduced technological innovations and a new level of artistic brilliance into animation, transforming a relatively crude medium into a dazzling and sophisticated form.

4. Around 1927, Disney came up with a mouse character called Mortimer, but his wife Lilly thought the name was too stiff and convinced Disney to go with Mickey instead. Mickey Mouse came to life in 1928. After seeing the first sound movie, The Jazz Singer, Disney decided to make the first all-sound, talking-and-music cartoon, with Mickey Mouse starring as "Steamboat Willie."

5. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), the first full-length animated film, was a commercial success that captivated audiences and demonstrated the viability of the genre. By the early 1940s, in films like The Old Mill, Snow White, and Fantasia, the studio had established a standard of artistic excellence in animation that has never since been equaled.

6. Disney’s expanded production of live-action pictures, led to many other family films. His elaborate production of Mary Poppins, which won five Academy Awards. In 1954, Disney also began to do something revolutionary for the time: he began to produce for television, which had been the traditional "enemy" of the movie business.

7. In 1955 Disney also began to develop his famous Disneyland theme parks, the first opening in 1957 in California. Disney World, Florida, was not completed until after his death (1966), in 1971. Disney's vision was to interconnect all his many business ventures so that one would help the other; in other words, seeing his work on TV would cause people to want to go to Disneyland, and going to Disneyland would cause people to want to see family-oriented Disney movies.

8. The impact of Walt Disney's career has been felt throughout much of the twentieth century. His creation of wholesome cartoon characters and first-rate animation made Disney "the most significant figure in graphic arts since Leonardo." After Disney's death, his classic films continue to be shown, the TV Disney Channel broadcasts his work, and his theme parks in America and elsewhere sell his wholesome vision of America as a mecca. Disney's impact on childhood entertainment is almost immeasurably great. In addition, Disney created a new university, the California Institute of the Arts. Disney once said, "If I can help provide a place to develop the talent of the future, I think I will have accomplished something." Walt Disney continues to be a household name in American homes.