Executive Summary Movie animator, producer, showman; born in Chicago. He spent most of his boyhood on a farm in Missouri, and at age 16 went to Chicago to study art. His first series--Alice in Cartoonland (1924--26) and Oswald the Rabbit (1926--28)--were not especially successful but in 1928 he introduced Mickey Mouse in the first sound cartoon, Steamboat Willie. Always quick to adopt the latest technology, his Flowers and Trees (1932) was the first film of any kind …showed first 75 words of 3502 total…

…showed last 75 words of 3502 total…future. Walt loved history. As a result of this, he didn't give technology to us piece by piece, he connected it to his ongoing mission of making life more enjoyable, and fun. Walt was our bridge from the past to the future. During his 43-year Hollywood career, which spanned the development of the motion picture industry as a modern American art, Walter Elias Disney established himself and his innovations as a genuine part of Americana.