Walter Elias Disney, born on December 5, 1901, is the basis of the American imagination. His start as a small animator turned into a huge franchise. And that franchise is the foundation of most of our greatest childhood memories. Disney World is a part of American life and everyday culture. Disney started as a small company of animators and grew into a hundred billion dollar company (Forbes). …Chicago native Walter Disney and his brother Roy Disney founded the Disney Brothers Studios in Los Angeles, California. The company created a live action series and cartoons. The most popular cartoon released in the early stages of Disney Brothers Studios was Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, a silent animation. This "...introduced the director to the benefits of product licensing through the merchandising of 'Oswald the Lucky Rabbit' (Langer). With his popularity, one of Disney's animators began working in isolation and created Disney's new character, Mickey Mouse. Somehow to differentiate its new Mickey Mouse cartoons from the silent Oswald series, Disney made a deal with former Universal executive Pat Powers to animate the cartoons using Power's Cinephone sound process. The result was Steamboat Willie” (American National Biography Online) Steamboat Willie then became a huge hit in the United States and Disney Brother Studio began to take off. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s Disney faced many ups and downs, including the decline of Mickey Mouse with the latest technologies and innovations, Disney created new characters such as: Donald Duck, Goofy, and Pluto. With this Mickey Mouse became popular again. His face appeared almost... halfway down the card. .. Pocohantas because it did not deal with the historical character's conversion to Christianity• General argument that Disney “denigrates Christian values ​​and promotes the homosexual lifestyle.(The Walt Disney Company)Disney brings out the child in all of us and the imagination in all children's worlds. Disney is part of our pop culture. Without Disney, this country would not be the America we know today. His ideas, innovations and contributions to our society are what helped create our America and our best childhood memories. Despite all the ups and downs that Disney has faced during its 90 years of existence, they always seem to have bigger, better ideas. This world may not be a small world, but it is definitely a Disney world. Works Cited Forbe Magazine American National Biography Online The Walt Disney Company NYtimes.comehis.ebscohost.com