Walt Disney Biography
The Man Who Wouldn't stop Dreaming

The Walt Disney biography starts with his birth on December 5, 1901. His parents were Elias Disney, of Irish and Canadian Disney, and Flora Disney, who was of German and American descent. Disney was born in the Hermosa area of Chicago. Disney's ancestors (including his great-grandfather Arundel Elias Disney) had left Gowran, County Kilkenny in Ireland. Arundel Elias Disney was born in Kilkenny in 1801, a descendent of Robert d'Isigny - a man who had travelled with William the Conqueror in 1066.

The name d'Isgny was anglicised, and hence become Disney. The biography of Walt Disney also points out the emigration of his father, who moved from Ontario in 1878, on the hunt for gold in California - where he later ended up farming with his parents in Kansas until 1884. There he worked for Union Pacific Railroad and married Walt Disney's mother, Flora Call.

The Walt Disney truly begins when he was born, having moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1890, with his family, to live with Elias' brother, Robert. For most of Walt Disney's early life, Robert helped his father Elias financially. When Walt was four, in 1906, Walt Disney and his family moved to a farm in Missouri, where his brother Roy had not long purchased an expanse of farmland. At this point in the Walt Disney biography, Walt developed his love for drawing. One of Walt's retired neighbours, a retired doctor, paid Walt to draw pictures of his horse. Walt also developed a love for trains, due to the existence of Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway - a railway which ran through his town. It was here in the Walt Disney biography that Walt would spend his days putting his ear to the tracks, anticipating a coming train - and after the train had gone, he'd look for his Uncle, Michael Martin, an engineer who ran the train.

The Walt Disney biography shows that the family remained in this town, Marceline, for four years - before they moved to Kansas City in 1911. It was here that Walt, and his younger sister Ruth, attended the Benton Grammar School, where he met Walter Pfeiffer. Walter Pfeiffer and his family were theatre aficionados, and it was this family that introduced to Walt to motion pictures and theatre. Soon enough, Walt was spending more time at the Pfeiffers' house than he did at home.

Walt Disney in his later years soon became an American film producer, a screenwriter, a voice actor, director, animator, entertainer and importantly, an entrepreneur. He was an international icon and philanthropist. Walt is famous for his influence in the world of entertainment during the twentieth century, as the co founder (along with his brother Roy Disney) of Walt Disney Productions. Disney became one of the most well-known motion picture producers in the world. The company that invented the famous Mickey the mouse (with Walt Disney using his own voice for the character) today has annual revenues reaching approximately $35 billion.

Sadly, Walt Disney died of lung cancer in 1966, December 15.

Resources

• Walt Disney biography at Wikipedia