Walt Disney

Introduction & Top Questions
Early life
First animated cartoons
Feature-length cartoons
Major films and television productions
Disneyland
Legacy

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images, Videos & Interactives

Walt Disney stands between two animators in a studio, discussing animation artwork and painted backgrounds displayed on desks and walls.

Walt Disney sits in a chair reading the book Alice in Wonderland to a stuffed Donald Duck toy, holding the book open and looking at the toy.

Dumbo the elephant smiles while holding the tail of Timothy Q. Mouse, who stands facing him, in a nighttime scene from the animated film Dumbo.

Animated scene from Bambi (1942) showing Thumper the rabbit, Flower the skunk, and Bambi the fawn in a forest clearing, with a butterfly perched on Bambi's tail.

At a Glance

Walt Disney summary

Quizzes

Cinderella Castle at Magic Kingdom, Disney World, Orlando, Florida, Florida tourism

Disney Quiz

Empty movie theater and blank screen (theatre, motion pictures, cinema).

Oscar-Worthy Movie Trivia

USA 2006 - 78th Annual Academy Awards. Closeup of giant Oscar statue at the entrance of the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, California. Hompepage blog 2009, arts and entertainment, film movie hollywood

Pop Culture Quiz

Related Questions

How did Disneyland reflect Walt Disney’s interest in nostalgia and fantasy?
How did Disney’s animated films use Technicolor?
How did Marceline, Missouri, inspire Main Street, U.S.A., at Disneyland?
How did Mary Blair influence the visual design of Disney’s animated films?
How did Walt Disney Productions use Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck in merchandise?
How did Walt Disney first develop an interest in drawing and painting?
How did Walt Disney’s approach to animation differ from the more exaggerated style used by rival studios?
How did delivering newspapers in Kansas City affect Walt Disney’s early life?
How did the loss of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit lead to the creation of Mickey Mouse?
How did the multiplane camera create an illusion of depth in Disney animation?
How was Disneyland’s Main Street, U.S.A., connected to Marceline, Missouri?
What kinds of films were included in Disney’s True-Life Adventures series?
What message did the song “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?” express during the Great Depression?
What role did Roy Disney play in Walt Disney’s business career?
When and where did Disneyland open?
When and where did Walt Disney die?
When and where was Walt Disney born?
When did Mickey Mouse first speak in a cartoon?
When did Walt Disney World open near Orlando, Florida?
Where did Walt Disney begin working in animation in 1920?
Where did Walt Disney spend part of his childhood on a farm?
Where did Walt Disney study cartooning as a young student?
Which Academy Awards did Mary Poppins win?
Which Disney characters joined Mickey Mouse in cartoons during the 1930s?
Which Disney films combined live action and animation during the 1940s?
Which animated films marked Disney’s return to feature-length fairy-tale stories after World War II?
Which award did Flowers and Trees win?
Which character starred in Walt Disney’s first fully animated film series?
Which kinds of stories inspired the Laugh-O-gram cartoons?
Which project did Walt Disney envision that later became Epcot?
Which silent Mickey Mouse cartoons were made before Steamboat Willie?
Which themed lands were part of Disneyland when it opened in 1955?
Who supervised the Walt Disney World project after Walt Disney died?
Why did The Three Little Pigs become especially popular during the Great Depression?
Why did Walt Disney lose the rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit?
Why did some critics object to Walt Disney’s influence on American animation?
Why was Flowers and Trees a milestone in animated film?
Why was Mary Poppins an important success for Walt Disney’s studio?
Why was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs a major risk for Walt Disney’s studio?
Why was Steamboat Willie important in the history of animation?
Why was The Skeleton Dance important to the Silly Symphonies series?
What were Walt Disney’s final words?
What is Chuck Jones famous for?
Why did Warner Bros. fire Chuck Jones?
What made Chuck Jones so influential?
Who is Sandra Bullock?
When did Sandra Bullock start acting?
Who did Sandra Bullock marry?
What happened to Harvey Weinstein?
What was the outcome of Harvey Weinstein’s 2025 trial?
What happened to Harvey Weinstein’s wife?

Entertainment & Pop Culture Film, TV & Theater Production

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External Websites

Historic Missourians - Biography of Walter Elias Disney
History Facts - Walt Disney Was an Informant for the FBI
Museum of Broadcast Communications - Walt Disney
Lambiek Comiclopedia - Walt Disney
The Walt Disney Family Museum - Walt Disney

Britannica Websites

Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

Walt Disney - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
Walt Disney - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

Walt Disney

American film producer

Also known as: Walter Elias Disney

Written by

Bosley Crowther

Creative consultant, Columbia Pictures, New York City, 1968–73. Screen critic and editor, The New York Times, 1940–68. Author of The Great Films: Fifty Golden Years of Motion Pictures.

Bosley Crowther

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Sep. 21, 2026 •History

Walt Disney (born December 5, 1901, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.—died December 15, 1966, Burbank, California) was an American motion-picture and television producer and showman, famous as a pioneer of animated cartoon films and as the creator of such cartoon characters as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. He also planned and built Disneyland, a huge amusement park that opened near Los Angeles in 1955, and before his death he had begun building a second such park, Walt...

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