Chapter 1Walt’s Way

My only hope is that we never lose sight of one thing … that it all started with a mouse.

Walt Disney, 1954

When a young Midwestern artist was struggling to get his first film-making business off the ground in 1923, he borrowed $500 from an uncle. The uncle insisted on repayment in cash rather than taking an ownership interest in the venture. That young artist, Walter Elias Disney, went on to advance the demanding art of animation to new heights and founded a company based on such sound business principles that it has survived for over three-quarters of a century and has influenced virtually every aspect of American culture.

Hindsight, of course, has a well-deserved reputation for startling clarity, and we don’t know if the ...

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