Here are some facts about Walt Disney.
- Walt Disney is one of the best known names in entertainment and is famous for founding the Disney company. He was also a screenwriter, producer, entrepreneur and voice over actor.
- Walt Disney was born in Chicago in 1901 and enjoyed drawing cartoons while at college. He produced his own cartoons and opened his own studio, Laugh-O-Gram, which did not make any money.
- He never graduated from high school, leaving at the age of 16. He later received honorary degrees from several respected universities, including Harvard and Yale.
- During World War 1, Walt Disney was not allowed to fight as he was too young. He joined the Red Cross instead, driving an ambulance in France.
- Mickey Mouse was created in the 1920s, inspired by a pet mouse Disney had owned. Disney provided the voice for the character, who was originally going to be called Mortimer Mouse, until 1947.
- In 1932, Disney won a special Oscar for creating Mickey Mouse. During his long career, Walt Disney won 32 Oscars as well as the Legion of Honour award from France.
- Walt Disney admitted to being terrified when having to face the cameras. He often ate his lunch at his desk, his favourite meal being chili, beans, crackers and tomato juice.
- Disney often used aliases. When looking for land for his theme park, he called himself MT Lott, and he often called himself Retlaw Yensid, which is his name backwards.
- Disneyland opened in California in 1955. Within a month of it opening, over a million people had visited the park, which still keeps a light on in the room where Disney worked.
- Walt Disney died in 1966 from lung cancer; he was a heavy smoker most of his life. He was buried in a California cemetery, although rumours still persist that his frozen body was stored under a ride in Disneyland.
- Walt Disney also created the characters Minnie Mouse and Donlad Duck.
- Walt Disney autographs are often sold for thousands of dollars.
- In the 2013 movie Saving Mr. Banks, about how the Disney film Mary Poppins came to be, Tom Hanks plays the role of Walt Disney.
