"Mickey Mouse to me is the symbol of independence. He was a means to an end. He popped out of my mind onto a drawing pad twenty 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 lowest ebb and disaster seemed right around the corner. ... "Born of necessity, the little fellow literally freed us of immediate worry. He provided the means for expanding our organization to its present dimensions and for extending the medium of cartoon animation toward new entertainment levels. He spelled production liberation for us." - Walt

I took a picture of that quote when I went to the museum. It totally changed my view of Walt Disney.

Huge +1 for the Disney Family Museum in SF.

I also have this same photo. It means a lot, especially when I find myself living out of a van, trying to keep building things people might one day love.

Rooms ~2:~n-2 of the wdfm are really an inspiring story of entrepreneurship, from garage startup stage through growth marketing to monetization and commoditization, surviving through economic collapses, and betting the farm on hugely risky projects (snow white).

I highly recommend it to basically everyone here on hn.

Also the room with the letter that he should be ashamed of himself and his work, and the idea of going from mortimer mouse to mickey, also the part where he confesses to thinking he felt like he got into the animated movie game too late, but kept going.

Yes. The part where he thought he was too late was fascinating. It's very inspiring to me because I'm working on a startup which has two competitors that are ahead of us, but we have a strategy that could enable much faster scaling.

Personally the bigger message for me is that as time changes, all things change with time. As long as you're working to achieve your vision, you'll adapt with time, fashioning events in favor of your vision, and with a little luck will be able to meet success head on.

Good luck to you, keep working on it. :)