ZAP’S FACTS!
ARTISTS

A cartoonist was once fired from a newspaper for "not being creative enough."

A few years later he was drawing a smiling cartoon mouse - and on his way to building the world's biggest entertainment company.

2 min read
A cartoonist was once fired from a newspaper for "not being creative enough."
THE FULL STORY

When Walt Disney was a teenager working at a Kansas City newspaper, his editor fired him with a now-famous line - he “lacked imagination and had no good ideas.” Walt kept drawing anyway. He started a small animation company, went broke, packed his suitcase, and rode a train to Hollywood with $40 in his pocket.

In 1928 he released a short cartoon called Steamboat Willie. It starred a cheerful mouse with big round ears, white gloves, and red shorts: Mickey Mouse. It was one of the first cartoons with synchronized sound, and audiences loved it. The mouse made the company.

Over the next 40 years Disney’s studios released Snow White, Cinderella, Bambi, Pinocchio, and many more. Walt himself dreamed up Disneyland, the first big theme park where movies could come to life. He won 22 Academy Awards - still a record for one person.

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