Walt Disney founded the animation and entertainment empire which still bears his name. He began as a cartoonist in the 1920s, creating Mickey Mouse and eventually moving from short films into much-acclaimed animated features like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Bambi (1942). Later Disney expanded into live-action features like Treasure Island (1951) and then into television -- the family-friendly variety program The Wonderful World of Disney was a prime-time staple from 1954-83. During Disney's life his studios won 48 Academy Awards. In 1955 Disney opened a theme park, Disneyland, in Anaheim, California; it was an immediate hit and became the public flagship of the Disney empire. Other Disney theme parks have since opened in Florida, Tokyo and France, with another scheduled for Hong Kong in 2005 or 2006.

*posted November 13-November 18, 2005