“Having Oswald around again is going to be a lot of fun.”
- #wikipedia
- #quote
- #trusted-source
- #www.espn.com
Figure timeline
Walt Disney
Walter Elias Disney was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film producer, he holds the record for most Academy Awards won (22) and nominations (59) by an individual. He was presented with two Golden Globe Special Achievement Awards and an Emmy Award, among other honors. Several of his films are included in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress and have also been named as some of the best by the American Film Institute.
entertainment · American animator, producer and entrepreneur (1901–1966) · film director · film producer · animator · television presenter · voice actor · writer · manufacturer · painter · inventor · film actor · also Walt Disney, Walter Disney, Disney
Born 5 December 1901 · Died 15 December 1966 · Q8704
132 published statements · 0 followers
Updated 1 day agoSee & hear
Photos & media
14 photos · 1 audio · 1 video
Video
Steamboat Willie (1928) by Walt Disney
Walt Disney / Ub Iwerks / Johnny Cannon / Les Clark / Wilfred Jackson / Bert Lewis · Public domain
Listen
Walt Disney Snow White Trailer
Media from Wikimedia Commons, hotlinked at the source under its own licence — see each file for author and terms.
Live now
In the news
Unverified headlines, straight from trusted outlets’ feeds
Checking the wires…
These are live links, not archived citations — they only join the timeline once a collect run verifies and archives them.
Connections
Related figures
Live pulse
Recent highlights
Most recent outstanding titles, awards, and quotes
- Quote
- Quote
- Quote
- Quote
- Award
- Award
20269 items
“s announcement. NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol said ABC Sports and ESPN president George Bodenheimer called last month to initiate talks, which culminated in an agreement Tuesday.”
- #wikipedia
- #quote
- #trusted-source
- #www.espn.com
“Hereafter we will aim to [make] Oswald a younger character, peppy, alert, saucy and venturesome, keeping him also neat and trim.”
- #wikipedia
- #quote
- #trusted-source
- #www.bbc.co.uk
“Miss Riefenstahl got into the studio, but she crashed the gate. A Los Angeles man who is known to Disney obtained permission to take a party through the plant. Leni was in the party. If we had known it in advance she wouldn”
- #wikipedia
- #quote
Disney Parks Blog: Build, Customize, and Collect: Droid Depot at Disneyland and Disney World
- #news
- #headline
The Walt Disney Company: ‘Kingdom Hearts’ Greenlit for First-Ever Original TV Series on Disney Channel and Disney+
- #news
- #headline
Variety: Disney Is Launching a Romantasy Webcomics Series on Webtoon Inspired by Movies Including ‘Beauty and the Beast’
- #news
- #headline
Variety: ‘Disney Dreamlight Valley’ Reveals Details on Next Expansion, Including Oogie Boogie, Lilo, Hannah Montana and More
- #news
- #headline
People.com: 7 Secrets Disney Just Revealed About the New Rides and Lands Coming to Its Theme Parks at D23
- #news
- #headline
20252 items
Snopes rated the claim “Actor Gary Sinise has brought over 1,000 children of fallen service members to Disney theme parks free of charge.” Mostly True.
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
- #fact-check
- #rated
- #claim-about-figure
Snopes.com rated the claim “The Evil Queen says "Magic mirror on the wall" in Disney’s 1937 film "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" — not "Mirror, mirror on the wall."” True.
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
- #fact-check
- #rated
- #claim-about-figure
202410 items
PolitiFact rated the claim ““Disney selling ABC for $20 Billion: New owner plans to cancel 'The View’.”” False.
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
- #fact-check
- #rated
- #claim-about-figure
Snopes.com rated the claim “Walt Disney World Resort released a $10 million park-entry ticket called the "Ultimate Disney Pass."” Labeled Satire.
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
- #fact-check
- #rated
- #claim-about-figure
Snopes rated the claim “The Walt Disney Co. is permanently closing the Hall of Presidents exhibit” Labeled Satire.
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
- #fact-check
- #rated
- #claim-about-figure
Snopes rated the claim “Elon Musk is buying Florida's Walt Disney World Resort.” Labeled Satire.
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
- #fact-check
- #rated
- #claim-about-figure
Snopes.com rated the claim “The Walt Disney Company has altered photographs of Walt Disney displayed in Disney theme parks to remove the cigarettes between his fingers.” Research In Progress.
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
- #fact-check
- #rated
- #claim-about-figure
PolitiFact rated the claim ““Disney World officially moving to Nashville.”” False.
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
- #fact-check
- #rated
- #claim-about-figure
Snopes.com rated the claim “The Walt Disney Co. is replacing Mickey Mouse as its mascot.” Labeled Satire.
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
- #fact-check
- #rated
- #claim-about-figure
Snopes rated the claim “Actor Kurt Russell ended his relationship with "woke Disney," saying: "I've wasted enough of my career on them."” Labeled Satire.
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
- #fact-check
- #rated
- #claim-about-figure
Lead Stories rated the claim “Walt Disney a founder of NASA” Not Originator.
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
- #fact-check
- #rated
- #claim-about-figure
Snopes.com rated the claim “As of April 2024, funerals can be held at Walt Disney World for $15,000.” Labeled Satire.
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
- #fact-check
- #rated
- #claim-about-figure
20191 item
Released album “Dumbo”.
- #musicbrainz
- #release
- #work
20181 item
Released album “Dumbo - Das Original-Hörspiel zum Film”.
- #musicbrainz
- #release
- #work
20141 item
The Disney theme parks around the world hosted approximately 134 million visitors
- #wikipedia
- #event
20091 item
The Walt Disney Family Museum, designed by Disney's daughter Diane and her son Walter E
- #wikipedia
- #event
20061 item
Awarded California Hall of Fame (2006).
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
20011 item
American German-language author Peter Stephan Jungk published Der König von Amerika (trans: The King of America), a fictional work of Disney's later years that re-imagines him as a power-hungry racist
- #wikipedia
- #event
20001 item
Awarded National Inventors Hall of Fame (2000).
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
19981 item
The American Film Institute published a list of the 100 greatest American films, according to industry experts; the list included Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (at number 49), and Fantasia (at 58)
- #wikipedia
- #event
19931 item
That Disney had been an FBI informant passing secret information to J
- #wikipedia
- #event
19921 item
Released album “Jungle Boek”.
- #musicbrainz
- #release
- #work
19891 item
Awarded Grammy Trustees Award (1989).
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
19861 item
The California Hall of Fame in December 2006, was the inaugural recipient of a star on the Anaheim walk of stars in 2014, and was a member of the first Orange County Hall of Fame class in 2023
- #wikipedia
- #event
19801 item
By astronomer Lyudmila Karachkina, was named 4017 Disneya, and he was also awarded honorary degrees from Harvard, Yale, the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles
- #wikipedia
- #event
19781 item
And Disneyland received one in 2005
- #wikipedia
- #event
19751 item
Awarded Winsor McCay Award (1975).
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
19711 item
Roy dedicated Walt Disney World to his brother
- #wikipedia
- #event
19701 item
Released album “Vingt milles lieues sous les mers”.
- #musicbrainz
- #release
- #work
19694 items
Awarded Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1969).
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Released album “Peter Pan”.
- #musicbrainz
- #release
- #work
Released album “Pinocchio”.
- #musicbrainz
- #release
- #work
Released album “The Story And The Songs From The Cowardly Lion Of Oz”.
- #musicbrainz
- #release
- #work
19681 item
It earned Disney an Academy Award in the Short Subject (Cartoon) category, awarded posthumously
- #wikipedia
- #event
19671 item
Raised the total number of feature films that Disney had been involved in to 81
- #wikipedia
- #event
196621 items
Died 1966-12-15.
- #wikidata
- #death
“We are not influenced by the techniques or fashions of any other company.”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:en
“I believe in being an innovator.”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:en
“There is more treasure in books than in all the pirates' loot on Treasure Island and at the bottom of the Spanish Main... and best of all, you can enjoy these riches every day of your life.”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:en
“For every laugh, there should be a tear.”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:en
“All right. I'm corny. But I think there's just about a-hundred-and-forty-million people in this country that are just as corny as I am.”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:en
“We're not trying to entertain the critics … I'll take my chances with the public.”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:en
“Our most important aim is to develop definite personalities in our cartoon characters. We don't want them to be just shadows, for merely as moving figures they provoke no emotional response from the public. We invest them with life a caricature of life.”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:en
“We have created characters and animated them in the dimension of depth, revealing through them to our perturbed world that the things we have in common far outnumber and outweigh those that divide us...They say I'm a conservative, but I consider myself a true liberal.”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:en
“When we do fantasy, we must not lose sight of reality.”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:en
“We allow no geniuses around our Studio...It's kind of fun to do the impossible.”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:en
“A person should set his goals as early as he can and devote all his energy and talent to getting there. With enough effort, he may achieve it. Or he may find something that is even more rewarding. But in the end, no matter what the outcome, he will know he has been alive.”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:en
“I could never convince the financiers that Disneyland was feasible, because dreams offer too little collateral.”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:en
“To all who come to this happy place: Welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past, and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams, and the hard facts that have created America; with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world.”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:en
“Girls bored me — they still do. I love Mickey Mouse more than any woman I've ever known.”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:en
“I only hope that we don't lose sight of one thing — that it all started with a mouse.”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:en
“Courage is the main quality of leadership, in my opinion, no matter where it is exercised. Usually it implies some risk — especially in new undertakings. Courage to initiate something and to keep it going, pioneering an adventurous spirit to blaze new ways, often, in our land of opportunity.”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:en
“I do not like to repeat successes, I like to go on to other things.”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:en
“All the adversity I've had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me... You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:en
“Until a character becomes a personality it cannot be believed. Without personality, the character may do funny or interesting things, but unless people are able to identify themselves with the character, its actions will seem unreal. And without personality, a story cannot ring true to the audience.”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:en
Before either the park or the EPCOT project were completed
- #wikipedia
- #event
19651 item
Began development of another theme park, Disney World, the heart of which was to be a new type of city, the "Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow" (EPCOT)
- #wikipedia
- #event
19643 items
And on May 24, 1968, he was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal
- #wikipedia
- #event
Won Presidential Medal of Freedom presented by Lyndon B. Johnson (1964).
- #wikidata
- #trophy
- #achievement
Disney produced Mary Poppins, based on the book series by P
- #wikipedia
- #event
19631 item
Presented a project to create a theme park in downtown St
- #wikipedia
- #event
19621 item
Awarded Grand Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (1962).
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
19601 item
In Glendale, Colorado; he and Roy bought out the others in 1962, making the Disney company the sole owner
- #wikipedia
- #event
19591 item
Awarded Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film for Grand Canyon (1959).
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
19563 items
Awarded Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (1956).
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Awarded Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject) for Men Against the Arctic (1956).
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Awarded Primetime Emmy Award for Best Producer for a Film Series for Disneyland (1956).
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
19555 items
Won Audubon Medal (1955).
- #wikidata
- #trophy
- #achievement
Awarded Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film for The Vanishing Prairie (1955).
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Was involved in "Man in Space", an episode of the Disneyland series, which was made in collaboration with NASA rocket designer Wernher von Braun
- #wikipedia
- #event
Sleeping Beauty (the first animated film in Technirama 70 mm film) in 1959, One Hundred and One Dalmatians (the first animated feature film to use Xerox cels) in 1961, and The Sword in the Stone in 1963
- #wikipedia
- #event
The National Audubon Society awarded Disney its highest honor, the Audubon Medal, for promoting the "appreciation and understanding of nature" through his True-Life Adventures nature films
- #wikipedia
- #event
19546 items
Awarded Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject) for The Alaskan Eskimo (1954).
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Awarded Academy Award for Best Short Subject, Two-reel for Bear Country (1954).
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Awarded Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom (1954).
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Awarded Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film for The Living Desert (1954).
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
After the Disneyland funding had been agreed, ABC broadcast Walt Disney's Disneyland, an anthology consisting of animated cartoons, live-action features and other material from the studio's library
- #wikipedia
- #event
FBI officials claim this was largely an honorary title regularly awarded to members of a community who might be of use to the bureau
- #wikipedia
- #event
19531 item
Awarded Academy Award for Best Short Subject, Two-reel for Water Birds (1953).
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
19521 item
Awarded Academy Award for Best Short Subject, Two-reel for Nature's Half Acre (1952).
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
19511 item
Awarded Academy Award for Best Short Subject, Two-reel for In Beaver Valley (1951).
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
19492 items
Awarded Academy Award for Best Short Subject, Two-reel for Seal Island (1949).
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Disney and his family moved to a new home in the Holmby Hills district of Los Angeles
- #wikipedia
- #event
19481 item
Disney initiated a series of popular live-action nature films, titled True-Life Adventures, with Seal Island the first; the film won the Academy Award in the Best Short Subject (Two-Reel) category
- #wikipedia
- #event
19471 item
During the Second Red Scare, Disney testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), where he branded Herbert Sorrell, David Hilberman and William Pomerance, former animators and labor union organizers
- #wikipedia
- #event
19461 item
Was a founding member of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, an organization who stated they "believ[ed] in, and like, the American Way of Life
- #wikipedia
- #event
19441 item
That was rumored to have antisemitic undertones
- #wikipedia
- #event
19431 item
Awarded Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for Der Fuehrer's Face (1943).
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
19421 item
Awarded Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for Lend a Paw (1942).
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
19411 item
Paid for a full-page ad in Variety claiming that "Communistic agitation" was responsible for a cartoonist strike against him
- #wikipedia
- #event
19402 items
Awarded Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for The Ugly Duckling (1940).
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
And neither performed well at the box office—partly because revenues from Europe had dropped following the start of World War II in 1939
- #wikipedia
- #event
19391 item
Awarded Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for Ferdinand the Bull (1939).
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
19381 item
Awarded Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for The Old Mill (1938).
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
19371 item
Awarded Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for The Country Cousin (1937).
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
19361 item
Awarded Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for Three Orphan Kittens (1936).
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
19353 items
Awarded Knight of the Legion of Honour (1935).
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Awarded Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for The Tortoise and the Hare (1935).
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
And in 1952 he was awarded the country's highest artistic decoration, the Officer d'Academie
- #wikipedia
- #event
19341 item
Awarded Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for Three Little Pigs (1934).
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
19331 item
Disney produced The Three Little Pigs, a film described by the media historian Adrian Danks as "the most successful short animation of all time"
- #wikipedia
- #event
19322 items
Awarded Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for Flowers and Trees (1932).
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Awarded Academy Honorary Award for Mickey Mouse (1932).
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
19301 item
Disney tried to trim costs from the process by urging Iwerks to abandon the practice of drawing every frame individually in favor of the more efficient technique of drawing key poses and letting assistants sketch the inb
- #wikipedia
- #event
19281 item
His first highly popular success; he also provided the voice for his creation in the early years
- #wikipedia
- #event
19261 item
The first official Walt Disney Studio was established at 2725 Hyperion Avenue; the building was demolished in 1940
- #wikipedia
- #event
19251 item
Disney hired an ink artist, Lillian Bounds
- #wikipedia
- #event
19171 item
Elias bought stock in a Chicago jelly producer, the O-Zell Company, and moved back to Chicago with his family
- #wikipedia
- #event
19111 item
The Disneys moved to Kansas City, Missouri
- #wikipedia
- #event
19101 item
Studied at Kansas City Art Institute (1910–1910).
- #wikidata
- #education
19061 item
When Disney was four, the family moved to a farm in Marceline, Missouri, where his uncle Robert had just purchased land
- #wikipedia
- #event
19013 items
At 1249 Tripp Avenue in the Hermosa neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, United States
- #wikipedia
- #event
Born 1901-12-05.
- #wikidata
- #birth
And raised largely in Missouri, Disney developed an early interest in drawing
- #wikipedia
- #event
19009 items
Awarded Order of the Aztec Eagle.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Awarded star on Hollywood Walk of Fame.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Awarded Honorary César.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Won Progress Medal (SMPTE).
- #wikidata
- #trophy
- #achievement
Awarded Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Won Congressional Gold Medal.
- #wikidata
- #trophy
- #achievement
Awarded American Choreography Awards.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Studied at McKinley High School.
- #wikidata
- #education
Studied at Central High School.
- #wikidata
- #education