Mickey Mouse popped out of my mind onto a drawing pad 20 years ago on a train ride from Manhattan to Hollywood at a time when the business fortunes of my brother Roy and myself were at their lowest ebb and disaster seemed right around the corner.
First, think. Second, believe. Third, dream. And finally, dare.
Of all the things I’ve done, the most vital is coordinating those who work with me and aiming their efforts at a certain goal.
All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me… You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.
What ever you do, do it well. Do it so well that when people see you do it they will want to come back and see you do it again and they will want to bring others and show them how well you do what you do.
If you can visualize it, if you can dream it, there’s some way to do it.
People often ask me if I know the secret of success and if I could tell others how to make their dreams come true. My answer is, you do it by working.
Mickey’s a nice fellow who never does anyone any harm, who gets into scrapes through no fault of his own but always manages to come up grinning.
If anybody gets highbrow around the studio, out he goes.
Or heritage and ideals, our code and standards – the things we live by and teach our children – are preserved or diminished by how freely we exchange ideas and feelings.
The era we are living in today is a dream of coming true.
Believe in your dreams, no matter how impossible they seem.
People spend money when and where they feel good.
The same thing could have happened on Halloween if somebody in the neighborhood had jumped out and scared him.
I just make what I like – warm and human stories, ones about historic characters and events, and about animals. If there is a secret, I guess it’s that I never make the pictures too childish, but always try to get in a little satire of adult foibles.
Don’t tell me about the problems – I make the problems.
Do a good job. You don’t have to worry about the money; it will take care of itself. Just do your best work then try to trump it.
To me, today, at age sixty-one, all prayer, by the humble or highly placed, has one thing in common: supplication for strength and inspiration to carry on the best human impulses which should bind us together for a better world.
I have long felt that the way to keep children out of trouble is to keep them interested in things. Lecturing to children is no answer to delinquency. Preaching won’t keep youngsters out of trouble, but keeping their minds occupied will.
All you’ve got to do is own up to your ignorance honestly, and you’ll find people who are eager to fill your head with information.
Too many people grow up. That’s the real trouble with the world, too many people grow up. They forget. They don’t remember what it’s like to be 12 years old. They patronize, they treat children as inferiors. Well I won’t do that.