It's 100 years since the birth of Walt Disney the man who invented a mouse called Mickey and created a phenomenon around the globe.

He is responsible for a million little girls donning mummy's high heels in an attempt to become Snow White, Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty, and for that matter, what young man wouldn't want to be Prince Charming and rescue a beautiful maiden from the clutches of evil.

To celebrate the milestone, the Disney corporation has a feast of magical events lined up at its three theme parks and a newly remastered video and DVD of that much-loved first feature film Snow White.

But it hasn't been plain sailing for the corporation, with recent business reports suggesting recent quarterly profits were at an all-time low.

Firstly, recent major releases proved disappointing American audiences stayed away in droves from Atlantis: The Lost Empire while Pearl Harbor got a mauling from critics.

And then 4,000 Disney jobs were lost and visitor figures to the American parks waned following the terror attacks of September 11.

But despite the hard times, Disney is still a legend worldwide, thanks to Walter Elias, who was born in Chicago on December 5, 1901, the son of a building contractor.

Some friends say he began drawing at an early age to escape an unhappy home life, with financial problems taking their toll on the family.

Never finishing high school, his lucky break came when he met Ub werks, a Dutch draftsman, in 1919.

Together, they tried to make animated movies a sequence of gradually advanced drawings to imitate life but went bust before any success.

Then, with Disney's older brother, Roy, they set off for Los Angeles with 40 dollars, around £30.

They came up with Mickey Mouse in 1928 and immediately, Disney and Iwerks realised they had hit the jackpot.

The two concentrated on giving Mickey a unique personality before going on to create characters such as Donald Duck, Pluto and Minnie Mouse.

Roy Disney, Walt's nephew, who is now in charge of animation and vice chairman of the corporation, said when he was growing up, he took it all for granted.

I remember my mum dropping me off at dad's office and as I wandered down the hall, I would see all the animators rows of people all drawing Mickey Mouse, he said.

By 1937, technical advances were so great, Walt dared to make his first feature-length animated movie, Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs, which won a special Oscar for innovation.

Roy Disney loved the film.

I remember seeing Snow White being drawn," he recalled.

It was such an amazing concept to think a cartoon would be 70 minutes in length.

Up until that point, cartoons only lasted five minutes and were full of jokes with characters having no personality.

Walt Disney was so elated by Snow White that he followed it with classics like Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo and Bambi.

The rest is history.

In 1955, Walt opened his first theme park in California, with a vision so detailed it took five years for it to become a reality.

After Disney's death in 1966, the movie side of the business was left in tatters, despite the success of Mary Poppins and The Jungle Book.

Many staff believed the love of animation for its own sake had disappeared and by the 70s, many of the skilled animators had left the studio in protest at Disney's declining standards.

But the 1980s saw a change in fortunes again, when Michael Eisner moved from Paramount to become chairman.

Films such as The Lion King, Beauty And The Beast, Toy Story and A Bug's Life made Disney popular again.

In 1995, nearly 30 years after Disney's death, the corporation paid 19 billion dollars (£13 billion) to buy Capitol Cities/ABC, forming one of the most powerful blocs in the entertainment world.

Disney gained sole responsibility for films including Pretty Woman and The English Patient, as well as a constant stream of animated features.

Although the last decade has seen enormous changes in computerised technology and an increase in animated features, Roy Disney remains confident the Disney name will continue to bring top quality. Hopes are riding high on the release of Monsters Inc. in February.

We still believe in good stories, good music and good animation, and I use the word animation more broadly to include whatever it takes to tell the story best, he said.

I'm really looking forward to the next 12 months we have a lot of new developments occurring in the theme parks and on screen.

Just being in the midst of everything that is happening will be amazing. The Disney name will live on, no matter what.

For more information on the Disney celebrations, holidays and merchandise, visit the website on www.disney.com