Walt Disney was born in Chicago in 1901. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Chicago and began his career as a cartoonist in 1920. On October 16, 1923, Walt and his brother Roy Disney founded the Disney Brothers Studio.

Before long, his career took off, and he owed it all to a mouse. On March 16, 1928, the cartoonist was on a train from New York to Hollywood when he began sketching a cartoon version of a real pet mouse. The mouse's name was Mortimer, and Disney had trapped him in a wastebasket and kept him as a pet in his early days as an artist.

When Disney told his wife about the character, she suggested the mouse be named Mickey instead. Mickey Mouse made his first appearance in the film Steam Boat Willie in 1928. It was Disney's first attempt to use sound film, and he provided the voice for Mickey himself.

Mickey Mouse Was an immediate hit. At the height of his fame, Film Daily estimated that more than 100,000 people a day saw the mouse on screen.

He was known as Michael Souris in France, Miki Kuchi in Japan, Miguel Ratoncito in Spain, Mikki Maus in Russia, and Muse Pigg in Sweden. Of course, a character of his renown had his detractors. In the 1930s, he was banned in East Germany.

As for Walt Disney, he went on to produce some of the most beloved animated films of all time, including Lady and the Tramp, Cinderella, and Fantasia.

He opened Disneyland in Anaheim, California, in 1955. Walt Disney died in 1966, but the Walt Disney Company continued to grow. An even bigger amusement park, Walt Disney World, opened near Orlando, Florida, in 1971. In the 1980s, Disney Studios began making films for adults. Today there are Disneylands in Japan and France.