Walter Elias "Walt" Disney - December 5, 1901 – December 15, 1966 was an American entrepreneur, animator, voice actor and film producer. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film producer he received 22 Academy Awards from 59 nominations and has won more individual Oscars than anyone else. He was presented with two Golden Globe Special Achievement Awards and one Emmy Award, among other honors. Several of his films are included in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. Born in Chicago in 1901, Disney developed an early interest in drawing. He took art classes as a boy and got a job as a commercial illustrator at the age of 18. He moved to Hollywood in the early 1920s and set up the Disney Brothers Studio (later The Walt Disney Company) with his brother Roy. With Ub Iwerks, Walt developed the character Mickey Mouse in 1928, his first highly popular success; he also provided the voice for his creation in the early years. As the studio grew, Disney became more adventurous, introducing synchronized sound, full-color three-strip Technicolor, feature-length cartoons and technical developments in cameras. The results, seen in features such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - 1937, Fantasia, Pinocchio both 1940, Dumbo 1941 and Bambi 1942, furthered the development of animated film. New animated and live-action films followed after World War II, including the critically successful Cinderella 1950 and Mary Poppins 1964, the second of which received five Academy Awards....
- Walter Elias Disney