5 NOTES

1. Mickey Wasn’t the First! Walt Disney’s first big character was actually Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, but he lost the rights—so he created Mickey Mouse in 1928.
2. First Full-Length Animated Film! Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) was the first-ever full-length animated feature film—and many thought it would flop. It didn’t.
3. Hidden Mickeys Everywhere! The studio loves to sneak “Hidden Mickeys” (three-circle Mickey Mouse shapes) into films, rides, and even architecture.
4. Walt Had a Secret Apartment! There’s a hidden apartment above the firehouse on Main Street in Disneyland where Walt used to stay—there’s still a lamp in the window left on in his memory.
5. It All Started in a Garage! Walt and his brother Roy originally worked out of their uncle’s garage in Los Angeles before the company exploded into the empire it is today.