THE STORY of Walt Disney, and therefore the story of "Three Little Pigs,' the most-talked-about movie ever made, starts with the birth of Mickey Mouse. Mickey Mouse was born on a train and named by a woman who never got screen credit.
Walt Disney, papa of Mickey, is riding on a train from New York to Hollywood. The year is 1927. He is without a job or money. He had to relinquish his rights to the animated cartoon, "Oswald the Lucky Rabbit."
Walt doesn't know it but he is riding to fame. He is trying to think of another character for a new cartoon. Before the train is a day from the Cinema City he has it. He tells it to the woman in the seat opposite him. The story concerns the adventures of a mouse. The first yarn is about the mouse hopping off on a solo flight, à la Lindy-whose name is in the air at the moment.
Walt, overfond of alliteration, has an inspiration. "I'll call him Mortimer Mouse," he declares. The woman sitting in the seat opposite looks up from the magazine she is reading. "Don't you like Mickey Mouse better?" she asks.
The woman who named the world's most famous performer is Lillian Bounds. She is really Mrs. Walt Disney. They were married on July 13, 1925. She came to work for Disney as a helper when he first opened his studio. His brother's wife introduced them. "I think you'll be able to use this girl," she told Walt. Time has proved that to be correct.
To understand the lovable Mickey Mouse and the famous "Three Little Pigs," one should know a little about Walt Disney. He was born in Chicago in 1901. His father is Irish-Canadian. His mother is of German descent. Walt's full monicker is Walter E. Disney. He signs his checks that way. The E is one of his dark secrets. It is for Elias his father's first name.
His first drawing board was the side of his Missouri home.
