Quick Facts
- In full:
- Walter Elias Disney
- Died:
- December 15, 1966, Burbank, California (aged 65)
- Founder:
- Disneyland
- Walt Disney World Resort
- Awards And Honors:
- Academy Award (1942)
- Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award (1942)
- On the Web:
- University of Idaho Library - Walt Disney (Feb. 14, 2025)
News •
'After Disney' tells company's journey after Walt Disney's death
• Mar. 10, 2025, 6:24 AM ET (NBC)
Walt DisneyWalt Disney with dolls of (clockwise from upper right) Goofy, Mickey Mouse, Pluto, and Donald Duck, mid-1950s.
Disney’s imagination and energy, his whimsical humor, and his gift for being attuned to the vagaries of popular taste inspired him to develop well-loved amusements for “children of all ages” throughout the world. Although some criticized his frequently saccharine subject matter and accused him of creating a virtual stylistic monopoly in American animation that discouraged experimentation, there is no denying his ground-breaking accomplishments. His achievement as a creator of entertainment for an almost unlimited public and as a highly ingenious merchandiser of his wares can rightly be compared to the most successful industrialists in history.
Bosley Crowther The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica