DISNEY, WALT

born Dec. 5, 1901, Chicago died Dec. 15, 1966, Los Angeles byname of Walter Elias Disney U.S. motion-picture and television producer and showman, famous as a pioneer of animated cartoon films and as the creator of such cartoon characters as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. He also planned and built Disneyland, a huge amusement park that opened near Los Angeles in 1955, and before his death he had begun building a second such park, Walt Disney World, near Orlando, Fla. (opened 1971). Additional reading Richard Schickel, The Disney Version, rev. and updated ed. (1985), is a definitive biography. Christopher Finch, The Art of Walt Disney: From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdoms (1973), recounts Disney's life and the corporate growth of Walt Disney Productions. Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life (1981), by two former Disney animators, surveys the techniques used in making an animated feature film.