I would like to tell you about a brilliant artist, creator and entrepreneur – called by all kids “an uncle” – Walt Disney. Walter Elias Disney was born on December the 5th, in 1901, as the fourth of five children to Elias and Flora Disney.

He spent his childhood on a farm in Marceline. After spending several years there, Elias Disney decided to move his family to Kansas City.

There, his youngest son, Walter, began his adventure with illustration.

Walt was selling his cartoons to newspapers and to his friend the barber shop owner. He was also illustrating McKinley’s school magazine.

Walter used to get up at three in the morning to help the family working as a newspaper boy. Constant lack of sleep was causing his impaired concentration, leading to problems at school.
Nevertheless, he was a great cartoonist and comedian. He was devoting all his free time to draw and perform at the community theatre. In 1918 he went to Europe which was embraced by the on-going war. Because he was underage at the time, he had to give a false date of birth in order to get a permission to go there. During his stay in Europe he lived mainly in France, where he worked as a driver. After returning to Kansas City, he founded a company producing cinema commercials, called Laugh-O-gram. The business didn't survive and in 1923, Walt Disney decided to try to conquer Hollywood.

None of the well-known film studios would hire him. They didn’t need an inexperienced animator or director. However, Walter didn't give up. He has sat up his first laboratory in his uncle’s garage. After Ub Iwerks has joined him, the production of short cartoons has started.

In 1925, Walt married one of his assistants, Lily Bounds. Around the same time, together with his older brother Roy, he founded the Disney Brothers Studio Productions.

They started with “Alice Comedies”, which Walt had started making in Kansas City, but which never got distributed there. In Hollywood a series about Alice’s adventures has won Walt a public recognition, but "Oswald the Lucky Rabbit" was the one to bring him the true popularity.

The success of "Oswald the Lucky Rabbit" has allowed expansion of business. In 1928 the screens hit the "Steamboat Willie" – an animated short film directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks.

The cartoon is considered to be the debut of Mickey Mouse and his girlfriend Minnie. The characters had both appeared several months earlier. The "Steamboat Willie" was the third of Mickey's films to be produced, however it was the first to be distributed.

That began a very productive period for Disney. In 1929 he has started producing the series called "Silly symphonies."

One of the parts: “Flowers and Trees” was a phenomenal success and in 1932 has won the first Academy Award for Best Short Subject: Cartoons.

The emergence of the next Disney characters: Donald Duck, Pluto, and many others, has gained a lot of public appreciation for Walt and his movies.

Following the creation of two cartoon series, in 1934 Disney began planning a full-length feature.

When the film industry learned of Disney's plans to produce