Walt Disney

Every entry, with its source

At 0

1. Dec 5, 1901

   Born in Chicago

   The fourth of five children. The family moved to a farm in Marceline, Missouri, when he was four, where a neighbor first paid him to draw.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 16

1. Sep 1918

   Joined the Red Cross as an ambulance driver at 16

   He altered the date on his birth certificate to get in, and drew cartoons on the side of his ambulance.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 18

1. Jan 1920

   Laid off at 18; started a studio with Ub Iwerks

   Iwerks-Disney Commercial Artists did not last. He went to the Kansas City Film Ad Company to earn money instead.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 19

1. May 1921

   Founded Laugh-O-Gram Studio in Kansas City

   Short cartoons of modernized fairy tales. The studio went bankrupt in 1923.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 21

1. Jul 1923

   Moved to Hollywood at 21 after his studio failed

   That October he and his brother Roy signed a distribution deal for six Alice comedies.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 23

1. Jul 1925

   Married Lillian Bounds

   An ink artist he had hired earlier that year. The wedding was at her brother's house in Lewiston, Idaho.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 26

1. Feb 1928

   Lost Oswald the Lucky Rabbit to his distributor

   Universal owned the character, and most of his animators were hired away. To replace Oswald, he and Iwerks came up with a mouse.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org
2. Nov 18, 1928

   Steamboat Willie premieres in New York

   Mickey Mouse in the first cartoon with properly synchronized sound. Lillian had talked him out of the name Mortimer.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 30

1. c. 1932

   First Academy Award, for Flowers and Trees

   The inaugural Oscar for a cartoon short. He also received an honorary award that year for creating Mickey Mouse.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 36

1. Dec 21, 1937

   Snow White premieres: Disney's Folly pays off

   He had mortgaged his house to finish it. The budget was nearly $1.5 million; the Los Angeles premiere got a standing ovation.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 52

1. c. 1954

   Walt Disney's Disneyland debuts on ABC

   A weekly anthology show. The television deal helped fund the park, and he became a household face.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 53

1. Jul 17, 1955

   Disneyland opens in Anaheim

   Built in a year for $17 million. Rides broke down and food ran out on opening day, remembered as Black Sunday.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 62

1. Aug 27, 1964

   Mary Poppins premieres

   Five Oscars, and the only Disney film nominated for Best Picture in his lifetime.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 63

1. c. 1965

   Announced Disney World in Florida

   At its heart was EPCOT, a planned city of tomorrow. He did not live to see either built.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 65

1. Dec 15, 1966

   Died of lung cancer at 65

   Diagnosed only weeks earlier. He had been a heavy smoker all his life.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org