This zinc alloy medallion features a fun Disney 100 years design, and is presented in a themed card.

Generations of Australians have grown up with Disney, from the early days of cinema and television to today’s multimedia experiences. Walter Elias Disney was born in Chicago, Illinois, USA, on 5 December 1901 and discovered his talent for drawing at an early age. After World War I Disney worked as an advertising cartoonist founding an art and animation company. The enterprise was not financially successful, and in 1923, Walt headed to Los Angeles. Walt and his brother, Roy O Disney, worked on making animated films and later founded the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, later named the Walt Disney Studio. The first and most famous of Disney’s characters is Mickey Mouse. Walt wanted to name his new character Oswald, until his wife, Lily, suggested the name of Mickey. Mickey Mouse made his first appearance in 1928, in Steamboat Willie, the world’s first cartoon with fully synchronised sound. This short was made just a year after the first feature-length motion picture 'talkie', The Jazz Singer. The public adored the little mouse, and Mickey became a national and global sensation, with animated shorts, a comic strip and merchandise bearing Mickey’s signature grin and sunny outlook. Minnie Mouse accompanied him from the beginning, and he soon gained co-stars, including Pluto the dog, Goofy and Donald Duck. In 1934, the year of Donald Duck’s creation, Walt Disney was honoured with an Academy Award for creating Mickey Mouse – the first of more than 140 such accolades.

The ever-popular Mickey was the impetus for the creation of the Mickey Mouse Club, an American variety television show that first screened in 1955. The program was popular on Australian television, which began broadcasting in 1956, and resulted in two successful Australian tours of the youthful 'Mouseketeers', in 1959 and 1960. Early Australian television also introduced us to 'Disneyland', hosted by Walt Disney himself, featuring four rotating segments: Frontierland, Fantasyland, Adventureland and Tomorrowland. These reflected the divisions within the Disneyland amusement park in Anaheim, California – surely every Australian child’s dream destination. Much has happened in the last 100 years, but Disney continues to delight and entertain us.