About Mickey Mouse

In 1928, Walt created a little cartoon mouse. He almost named the character Mortimer Mouse but Lilly Disney convinced her husband to name him Mickey Mouse instead. Mickey's first movie was a black-and-white cartoon called Steamboat Willie. It was an instant success. But one hit wasn't enough for its creator. Walt was always looking for new challenges. In 1937, his animation company made the first full-length cartoon movie: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Walt was very proud that he had made a movie for everyone in the family to enjoy. Family was very important to Walt. Every Saturday, he would do something special with his two daughters. They often went to amusement parks. The kids loved it, but Walt was sad that there weren't rides for parents. I wish there were a place where children and grown-ups could have fun together, he thought.

Since a place like that didn't exist, Walt decided to build it. At first he was going to call it Mickey Mouse Park, but then he named it Disneyland. Disneyland opened in Anaheim, California, in 1955. Families traveled from all over the world to visit it. Disneyland was so popular that Walt's new dream was to build an even bigger park: Disney World.

Meet Walt Disney

Walt Disney was born in Illinois on December 5, 1901. During his life and for all the years after, Walt Disney's company created famous cartoons, movies, theme parks, books, and toys (plus much, much more) for everyone to enjoy.

When Walt was a little boy, he would look up at the sky and imagine the clouds were animals. As the wind pushed a cloud, a pig would turn into a cow. Soon, the cow would become a chicken! It was then that Walt realized that anything was possible with a little imagination.