Generations of Australians have grown up with Disney. In this exciting collaboration between Australia Post and Disney, four postage stamps have been issued to celebrate a century of our favourite iconic animated characters. Inspired by Disney’s timeless magic, these stamps have been designed to embrace Disney’s history, but with a decidedly Aussie flavour. In these vignettes we see popular Disney characters explore the wonders of our big, beautiful continent, from the tropical north to the southern coast.

Walter Elias Disney, the co-founder of the world’s most enduring and successful entertainment enterprise, was born in Chicago, Illinois, USA, on 5 December 1901. He discovered his talent for drawing at an early age. After World War I, Walt Disney worked as an advertising cartoonist and founded his first art and animation company, known as Laugh-O-Gram Studio. The enterprise was not financially successful, and in the summer of 1923, Walt bought a train ticket to Los Angeles and subsequently worked on a number of projects before founding the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, later named the Walt Disney Studio, together with his brother, Roy O Disney. Their contract with cartoon distributor Margaret Winkler, signed on 16 October 1923, is now considered as the founding document of the Walt Disney Company.

The enduring Disney character Mickey Mouse made his first appearance in 1928, in Steamboat Willie, the world’s first cartoon with fully synchronised sound. The public adored the little mouse, and Mickey became a national and global sensation. Minnie Mouse accompanied him from the beginning, and he soon gained other co-stars.

Early Australian television 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. Much has happened in the last 100 years, but Disney continues to delight and entertain us.