For almost 100 years, Mickey Mouse has been a global symbol of joy and imagination, but the cartoon character was just the beginning of Walt Disney’s legacy. Born in 1901 in Chicago, Disney spent his younger years on a farm in Missouri, where his happy childhood inspired Disneyland’s Main Street, USA. A gifted artist, Disney pursued his dream of cartooning and, after teaming up with animator Ub Iwerks, started his animation career with a popular silent film series called the Alice Comedies. After losing the rights to a cartoon character named Oswald the Rabbit, Disney and Iwerks instead created Mickey Mouse. In 1928, the now-ubiquitous character debuted in the animated short Steamboat Willie and launched Disney’s rise to fame.

In 1937, Disney revolutionized animation with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first feature-length animated film, which won an honorary Academy Award: a full-size Oscar statue and seven “dwarf” statuettes. Despite challenges during World War II, Disney’s studio thrived after the war, producing nature documentaries and timeless classics. And in 1955, he opened his grand vision, the Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, California. Disney was hard at work making plans for Walt Disney World near Orlando, Florida, when he died in 1966 at age 65. His brother Roy Disney oversaw the park’s completion, opening it in 1971.