A Look Back at 100 Years of Creativity

We all have memories of the moments when Disney touched our lives with wonder. And we wait with anticipation for the moments yet to come because we know that everything we love about the Disney legacy is built on its history of envisioning the possibilities of the future. It’s been that way since The Walt Disney Company was founded in 1923, and as we celebrate the past, we know there is more wonder yet to come.

As Walt Disney once said, “We keep moving forward—opening up new doors and doing new things—because we’re curious. And curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”

Creating Steamboat Willie

What are some of those early paths that Disney explored? There are so many! When sound first came to motion pictures, Walt Disney saw its possibilities and created the first fully-synchronized sound cartoon, Steamboat Willie (1928). And Mickey Mouse came into being. As Technicolor became available, once again Walt Disney and his artists saw the possibilities and created Flowers and Trees (1932), bringing color cartoons to theatrical audiences for the first time.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Only a few years later, there came a great leap forward in Disney storytelling: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). When Walt and his team began creating the animated feature film, not only were there risks and challenges, but there were also nay-sayers. However, when the film premiered at the Carthay Circle Theatre in Los Angeles, there wasn’t a dry eye left in the house.

“What If?”

At the heart of the ability to envision future possibilities is the question “What if…?” What if there were a place where families could laugh, imagine and wonder together? The spark of inspiration for Disneyland® Park was lit, eventually leading to Walt Disney World® Resort in 1971 and multiple Disney Parks worldwide. What if the (then-new) technology of television could be used to create shows for families and children to share? Such classics as the long-running Disney anthology series and Mickey Mouse Club (1955-1959) were born. What if there were a way to make dimensional figures speak and move to bring presidents and pirates to life by embracing and developing Audio-Animatronics® technology? The list of “what ifs” goes on and on. And it will continue for as long as people like Walt Disney himself can keep looking at both the present and the future in pursuit of ways to immerse us all in the wonder, creativity and imagination of Disney storytelling. After all, as Guests and co-wonderers, we’re part of the journey of imagination, too.

Join in the celebration this year and bring home a keepsake to honor your memories when you redeem your Disney Reward Dollars toward Disney100 merchandise or other treasures from shopDisney.com.¹