By Mrs. Elias F. Disney, as told to Richard H. Syring
It is always interesting to hear how a man who has become famous achieve his success. It is doubly interesting when the man in question started as a very poor boy, and the story is told us by his own mother.
Walt Disney, whose Mickey Mouse Cartoons and Silly Symphonies are now amusing the world every day of the year, was born in Chicago as recently as December 5, 1901. One of his first escapades was to paint the white walls of his father’s house with funny pictures. At that time — Walter was only 5 — his father saw nothing funny in this performance, nor did Walt! But now Mr. Disney Senior has changed his mind. This interesting article is packed with anecdotes which will make the films more interesting next time you see Mickey Mouse.
My neighbours in Portland, Oregon, call me Mickey Mouse's grand mother, and I am proud of my title, for Mickey is such a grand little felYow. And his cheerful, happy-go-lucky spirit somehow reminds me of his creator, who, not so many years ago, was a little boy always getting into scrapes and devising ways out.
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[note]This article seems to be an adaptation of an article published in 1932 by the Silver Screen magazine.[/note]