One hundred years ago, the story of one of the world's most successful film companies began. From Mickey Mouse to Buzz Lightyear to Elsa, Disney has created lots of fantastic characters, but how did it happen?
Walter Disney, later known as "Walt" Disney, was born on 5 December 1901 in the US. He was very good at drawing and painting and studied cartooning at school. He worked as an ambulance driver during the First World War (1914–18) but his passion was for drawing.
When the war ended, he started to work on some short films. Los Angeles, in California, was already the centre of the US film industry, so Walt moved there with his brother Roy. The two of them decided to start their own company to produce Walt’s animations, and on 16 October 1923, the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio was founded.
