Walt Disney
His first studio went bankrupt and he lost the rights to his first successful character in a contract — so he invented a mouse instead and called it Mickey. “Steamboat Willie” (1928) was among the first cartoons with sound and made the studio. After that he bet again and again on what nobody believed in: colour, then a full-length feature — “Snow White” of 1937 returned eight times its cost — then “Fantasia” with its classical music. In 1955 Disneyland opened, thought up during Sundays spent on a park bench while his daughters rode the carousel. Twenty-two Oscars, a record still unbeaten. He died in 1966, before the Florida park opened.
He was born in Chicago on 5 December 1901 at 00:30 Central time; the hour is taken from his birth certificate.