Walt Disney

Walt DisneyBoy Scouts of America [Public domain]

Walt Elias Disney was born 1901 in Chicago, California. He was born into an abusive family where his father beat him and his brother (for unknown reasons). Walt used the power of art and creativity to distract himself from the struggles of life and his family by creating drawings and pieces of art that had characters and stories that could be told.

Walt was interested in creating works of art and characters that could be told through the art of animation. Few artists used animation as a way to express their work. But Walt wanted to use film and animation as a way to tell many stories that couldn't be told in the traditional world. Disney got enough money from small jobs and work over the years in order to create his own animation studio with his brother. This was a major step in Walt becoming a hero for many people, because he was finally able to have a place to express his work and for people to enjoy it. After failing many times with his brother, he finally got success by making a character that many have to come to love and know today: Mickey Mouse. In order to create the art he wanted to create, he had to keep going. Surpass all challenges in his way and keep moving forward without the distractions and negative impulses from other people telling him it wouldn't work. This is the true core of a hero. Always able to keep going, and to never stop, and reach the top. Some of the many struggles he had were that other co-workers at his studio successfully took and stole the rights to some of his semi-successful characters before Mickey Mouse. And he lost a lot of money in order to create and publish his animated works to the public, making him almost bankrupt.

Walt Disney and his cartoon creation "Mickey Mouse"National Board of Review Magazine [Public domain]

Walt Disney is known for his courage, his commitment, and his bravery. He knew when he needed to take a break, but he also knew that he couldn't stop doing what he was doing, in order to make his dreams a reality. And his dreams were made to make people around the world happy and cheerful, and were successful at doing so. He used his courage in order to ignore the hardships of his life and his family and continue forward. He used commitment to stay on task when it comes to creating his work, and not stopping the creations he was creating. And he used his bravery in order to not let others bring him down, not even his brother who told him he shouldn't continue. The dreams he had, he made those dreams a reality on his own will and wouldn't stop before doing so.

Walt was a hero to many people. He created characters that impacted families and children around the globe with the stories he told. Even though he wasn't able to see the full expansion of his creations and the lasting effects it had on the world, he knew what he was doing was impactful, and that your dreams can become a reality, if you have the will and the courage to do so.