115 Walt Disney Facts for Walt’s 115th Birthday

Today, December 5, 2016, is the 115th Birthday of Walter Elias Disney!

In celebration of Uncle Walt’s 115th Birthday, Here are 115 facts about one of America’s Most Beloved figures in History.

1. Walt Disney was born on December 5, 1901 and Died December 15, 1966.
2. 4th son to Elias and Flora Disney
3. Disney lived in Marceline, Missouri for a short period of time during his life but it made a major impact on him. Marceline was the inspiration for “Main Street U.S.A” at Disneyland.
4. Contrary to popular belief, Disney did not say the quote “If you can dream it, then you can do it.”
5. Disney’s 1st iconic character was actually Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, who was created while disney was under contract at Universal Pictures. When Disney left, Oswald had to stay, thus Mickey Mouse came to be.
6. At age 16, Ddisney dropped out of high school at age 16 to join the army. He was rejected due to his age but was able to become a ambulance driver with the French Red Cross.
7. Mickey Mouse was almost named Mortimer Mouse. Lillian Disney, his wife, said it sounded to pompous. Thus he was renamed Mickey and Mortimer was given to his rival later on.
8. Between 1928 to 1947, Disney voiced Mickey Mouse himself.
9. Disney’s French family name was actually D’Isigny before it was anglicized to Disney.
10. Disney’s very 1st animation studio was “Laugh O Gram” where he modernized Aesop’s fables, a trend which Disney continues to this very day.
11. Disney produced animated war propaganda and training videos for the united states military.
12. The 1st movie Disney ever saw was in Marceline and it was about the crucifixion and Resurrection of jesus.
13. Disney spent almost $1.5 million producing “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”
14. The studio almost went bankrupt due to the amount spent on the film and critics called it “Disney’s Folly” , anticipating its failure.
15. The film ending up making $418.2 million at the box office.
16. Disney actually had to mortgage his house to help with the costs for “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”
17. Disney IS NOT in fact cryogenically frozen. He was cremated per his wishes.
18.  The final design for Mickey Mouse or even the famed “Walt Disney Signature” was not done by walt himself.
19. Disney Animator Ub Iwerks did the final design for Mickey Mouse.
20. One of the last words written by Disney was “Kurt Russel” and no one to this day knows why.
21. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs debuted at Carthay Circle Theatre. The Restaurant/Lounge namesake can be found at Disney California Adventure Park.
22. Disney created custom cartoon insignia for troops that were used to boost morale.
23. Watching his children play on a bench in LA’s Griffith Park, he came up with Disneyland Park.
24. That very park bench is on Display at Disneyland today.
25. Disney Debuted audio animatronics at the 1964 World’s Fair
26. The exhibits were “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln”, which can be seen at Disneyland, and “It’s a Small World” which is a staple attraction for many Disney parks worldwide today.
27. Disney was the founder of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, which helped fan the flames of the 1940s Red Scare.
28. Oswald returned to Disney 79 years later after being sold to NBC when Disney left.
29. NBC wanted to hire Al Michaels for their new Sunday Night Football lineup but he was owned by ESPN, which was owned by Disney. They traded Oswald for Michaels.
30. Disney Paved the way for Childrens’ programming creating such shows like “Mickey Mouse Club” and “Zorro.”
31. Walt had an apartment in the Disneyland firehouse for himself and his family to use. It still exists today and can only be seen in person through tours.
32. His codename by animators was “Man is in the forest” so they knew when to get back to work.
33. Disney holds the record for most academy awards and nominations in history.
34. Between 1932 and 1969, he won 22 academy awards and had 59 nominations.
35. His award for “Snow White and the Seven dwarfs” was presented to him by Shirley Temple.
36. Women were not allowed to be animators at his studio, but mostly they worked in the ink and paint department.
37. His oscar award for “Snow White” was special. It was 1 normal statue with seven mini ones!
38. Disney was notorious for his attention to detail.
39. Mickey Mouse spoke his first words in 1929’s “The Karnival Kid.”
40. Mickey Mouse was the 1st animated character to ever speak and his words were “Hot Dog!”
41. Disney held the patent for Technicolor for 2 years, making him the only person allowed to make animated features in technicolor for that time.
42. Walt was strict on his facial hair policy. It was even extended to guests. Until 2012, men could not grow facial hair.
43. In the 1970s beards, mustaches and long hair on men along with halter tops on women, could get you kicked out of Disneyland.
44. In fact, Jim Mcguinn, future founder of the band “The Byrds” was not allowed entry into Disneyland for having a beatles style mop top.
45. Disney attended meetings of the German American Bund in the 1930s, thus sprouting rumors of him being anti-semitic.
46. Disney’s favorite character was actually Goofy and not Mickey Mouse!
47. He was the inspiration for the title character’s name of Disney Pixar’s “Wall-E.” Wall-E? Walter Elias?
48. Disney films are rumored to have absentee mothers in most films due to the death of Disney’s mother.
49. She died as a result from carbon monoxide poisoning in the new home bought by Disney for his parents after snow white’s success.
50. Some people may not realize Disney California Adventure park is a homage to Disney himself. Buena Vista Street is in the year 1923, the year Walt arrived into Los Angeles.
51. Disney told a colleague once that he wanted Disneyland to look like nothing else in the entire world.  A dream that was realized in Disneyland and even after his death with Disney World.
52. A 2016 poll states that Disney Parks were the most photographed on Instagram for this year, above historical landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower and the Taj Mahal.
53. His live in housekeeper, Thelma Howard, served the family for 30 years and she would receive Disney shares as holiday bonuses. When she passed in 1994, her estate was found to be worth $9 million.
54. Half the money went to her son and the rest went towards helping the homeless and disadvantaged children, inspired by herself having experienced living in poverty.
55. He almost built a ski resort after the success of Disneyland in 1955. He planned to build it in Mineral King Valley and it would have had six ski areas centered around a swiss ski village that could house up to 20,000 daily.
56. The company scrapped the ski resort in favor of Disney World, thank goodness.
57. Disney loved trains. So obsessed was he that he had a miniature one in his own backyard and made sure they were incorporated in Disneyland in the form of an old steam train and the monorail.
58. Main Street USA was Based by 1910 America and Tomorrowland was designed to represent 1986 due to them both being Halley’s Comet years.
59. Disneyland was almost called “Mickey Mouse Village.”
60. Disney was head of pageantry in the 1960 Winter Olympics.
61. Disney Attended Mckinley High School in Chicago, where to took drawing and photography classes.
62. Walt Disney World is still the company’s biggest resort, occupying 25,000 acres.
63. The Matterhorn at Disneyland has a basketball court inside of it for employees to use.
64. Disney theme parks actually have a machine that pumps certain smells throughout the parks.
65. In 1980, a minor planet was discovered by soviet astronomer Lyudmila Karachkina. It was not named pluto but in fact it was named 4017 Disneya!
66. Mickey Mouse was the 1st animated character to receive a star on the hollywood walk of fame.
67. Disney once played Peter pan in a school play.
68. Jungle Book was the last movie he oversaw personally before his death.
69. When Disney Passed, 25% of his estate went to CalArts which helped build its campus.
70. Disney helped his father with their paper route deliveries before and after school and on weekends.
71. Despite Disney’s no facial hair policy in the parks, Disney himself sported a mustache for quite a while.
72. The sorcerer in Fantasia is named Yen Sid. Now say it backwards.
73. More than half a million poeople visited Disneyland just 1 month after it opened to the public.
74. When Disney stayed at his apartment in Disneyland, he would have a lamp lit in the window. Today the lamp is eternally lit as a symbol of his life and memory.
75. Disney came up with the Utilidoor system for Disney World, a system of underground tunnels, when he became unsettled by different characters wandering through their wrong perspective lands at Disneyland.
76. In 1915, an animation techique called rotoscoping was created. This involves drawing over film footage of live actors. It allowed animators to create realistic movements and reuse certain animations. This can be seen in Robin Hood and Aristocats for example.
77. It is rumored that Disney had a phobia of mice.
78. Disney’s model train in his backyard was called the “Carolwood Pacific.”
79. DisneySea was a amusement park project that Disney Proposed would be built near Long Beach, CA.
80. Over 84 million ear hats have been sold since Disneyland opened.
81. The Disneys celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary with a party on the Mark Twain Riverboat before the park opened.
82. A time capsule was buried in front of Sleeping Beauty castle on July 17, 1995 for the park’s 40th anniversary and will not be opened again until 2035.
83. The Disney Family crest is above the drawbridge on Sleeping Beauty castle.
84. Between 1963 and 1965 there were plans for a park in St. louis called “Walt Disney’s Riverfront Square.”
85. Disneyland’s castle is the only one with a functioning drawbridge compared to the other parks. It has only been used twice. Once on opening day and once when fantasyland was remodeled.
86. Pirates of the Caribbean was the last ride at Disneyland that Disney oversaw construction for.
87. Disney originally envisioned Pirates and Haunted Mansion as walkthrough attractions.
88. Disney originally wanted live animals for Jungle Ccruise but a zoologist advised against it saying the animals would be sleeping most of the time.
89. Disneyland occupies 85 acres.
90. Roy Disney was a big part of making the financial aspects of all the Disney ventures a reality.
91. Disney had big plans for an Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (EPCOT) which became real in 1982.
92. The Disneys were happily married for 41 years.
93. Disney was a heavy smoker since the first world war.
94. Roy’s brother deferred retirement in order to make walt disney world a reality for his brother.
95. Disney was inducted into the Television Hall of fame in 1986.
96. He was awarded honorary degrees from Harvard, Yale, the University of Southern California and the University of California.
97. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964.
98. Disney was apparently very shy and self depracting which differed from his stage persona greatly.
99. Disney was accused of racism due to some productions he released, most notably “Song of the South.”
100. The Disneys had 2 daughters, 1 which was adopted.
101. Disneyland was originally going to be by the Burbank studios but was deemed to small a space.
102. ABC broadcasted the opening day of Disneyland and have been partners ever since with Disney.
103. Disneyland Records was formed because the Ballad of Davy Crockett from the show was immensely popular worldwide.
104. Disney was consultant to the 1959 American National Exhibition in Moscow.
105. Unsurprisingly enough, Disney passed away from circulatory collapse from lung cancer due to his long smoking habit.
106. Animators famously striked against Disney in 1941 which lasted 5 weeks.
107. The Three Little Pigs short is considered the most successful animation short of all time.
108. After the success of 1927’s “The Jazz Singer”, Disney worked to create the 1st sound cartoon with Mickey. It was Steamboat Willie.
109. Disney’s Silly Symphony Cartoons were in all color.
110. By the time he had passed, he had 21 full length animated films, 493 short subjects, 47 live action films, 7 True Life Adventures features, over 330 overs of Mickey Mouse club programs, over 78 hours of Zorro adventures, and 280 other television shows.
111. Roy and Walt formed Disney Brothers Studios in their Uncle’s garage.
112. The duo shot Alice Comedies but during the filming they ran out of money and had to sell the film camera.
113. Disney Hated Sequels.
114. Today, the Walt Disney Company is worth $92.03 Billion US dollars.
115. Walt Disney World opened on Ooctober 1, 1971 with Roy dedicating the park. He passed away on December 20th the same year