http://www.latimes.com/topic/entertainment/walt-disney-PEHST002298.topic
Born in 1901 in Chicago, the son of an itinerant contractor, Disney grew up in several Midwestern cities and towns. After serving as an ambulance driver in World War I, he became an illustrator in Kansas City, then moved to California in 1923 to produce animated shorts. In 1928 he and a partner developed the Mickey Mouse character that helped establish his business and his reputation as a leading-edge animator. Under his leadership (together with his brother Roy Disney), the company (now the publicly-traded corporation known as The Walt Disney Co.) remained an industry leader for decades as it moved into movies with the world's first full-length animated feature film (Snow White, 1937), television production and other entertainment.

By the early 1950s Walt Disney focused on building a themed amusement park and opened Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., in the 1960s he planned an eastern theme park, and a utopian community called Epcot, which were to be built together in Florida. Disney died in 1966 before either was started. His vision, however, led to the modern, four-theme park Walt Disney World resort.]]> en-us http://www.latimes.com/topic/la-tr-goldengate-20120515,0,7154700.story?track=rss-topicgallery 2012-05-15 15:53:52 http://www.latimes.com/topic/la-et-influences-20120516,0,4729874.story?track=rss-topicgallery 2012-05-15 15:46:00 http://www.latimes.com/topic/la-et-influences-20120516,0,4729874.story?track=rss-topicgallery 2012-05-14 16:33:04 http://www.latimes.com/topic/la-et-influences-20120516,0,4729874.story?track=rss-topicgallery 2012-05-14 16:33:05 http://www.latimes.com/topic/la-et-influences-20120516,0,4729874.story?track=rss-topicgallery 2012-05-13 16:34:22 http://www.latimes.com/topic/la-et-influences-20120516,0,4729874.story?track=rss-topicgallery 2012-05-14 16:37:58 http://www.latimes.com/topic/la-et-boxoffice-20120514,0,2583225.story?track=rss-topicgallery 2012-05-14 00:00:00 http://www.latimes.com/topic/la-et-cm-review-gustavo-dudamel-and-los-angeles-philharmonic-20120511,0,312261.story?track=rss-topicgallery 2012-05-11 12:31:00 http://www.latimes.com/topic/la-et-cm-review-gustavo-dudamel-and-los-angeles-philharmonic-20120511,0,312261.story?track=rss-topicgallery 2012-05-12 16:34:01 http://www.latimes.com/topic/la-ca-don-giovanni-20120513,0,2651146.story?track=rss-topicgallery 2012-05-11 16:00:00 http://www.latimes.com/topic/la-ca-don-giovanni-box-20120513,0,466723.story?track=rss-topicgallery 2012-05-13 00:00:00 http://www.latimes.com/topic/la-me-maurice-sendak-20120509,0,7113415.story?track=rss-topicgallery 2012-05-09 00:00:00 http://www.latimes.com/topic/lanews-6a00d8341c630a53e-19ocpp0vxrsdh8iqvg55u1iet,0,4786579.photo?track=rss-topicgallery 2012-05-12 08:00:00 <img src="http://www.trbimg.com/img-4fae7a9d/turbine/lanews-6a00d8341c630a53e-19ocpp0vxrsdh8iqvg55u1iet/187/16x9" alt="Disney CEO Robert A. Iger" width="75" height="42" > http://www.latimes.com/topic/la-et-new-york-philharmonic-review-20120511-001,0,6999678.photo?track=rss-topicgallery 2012-05-10 15:58:00 <img src="http://www.trbimg.com/img-4fac479b/turbine/la-et-new-york-philharmonic-review-20120511-001/187/16x9" alt="Alan Gilbert" width="75" height="42" > http://www.latimes.com/topic/lat-disney-33_m3oa9wpd20120507170358,0,6695979.photo?track=rss-topicgallery 2012-05-07 00:00:00 <img src="http://www.trbimg.com/img-4fa86dd9/turbine/lat-disney-33_m3oa9wpd20120507170358/187/16x9" alt="1901" width="75" height="42" >