5th December: Walt Disney

Walt Disney was born 115 years ago today, so here are ten things you may not have known about Walt Disney, the man behind Mickey Mouse.

1. The name Disney was derived from the French family name of D'Isigny.
2. Walt Disney has won more Academy Awards than anyone else, and has also been nominated more times than anyone else. He won 22 Academy Awards and was nominated 59 times. At the 1938 Oscars, Disney was presented with one normal-size statuette and seven miniature ones for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
3. He created Mickey Mouse at the age of 27, on the way home from an unsuccessful business meeting. He sketched the character while riding on the train. The mouse was originally going to be called Mortimer, but Disney's wife persuaded him the name sounded to pompous, and to call the mouse Mickey instead.
4. Between 1928 and 1947, Disney himself was the voice of Mickey Mouse.
5. At 16, Disney dropped out of school to join the army, but was rejected because he was too young. He wasn't deterred and became an ambulance driver instead and served in France during the first world war.
6. Rumours persist to this day that Disney was anti-Semitic and racist. In the 1930s, Disney attended meetings of a pro-Nazi organization, and hosted a known Nazi propagandist and filmmaker, Leni Riefenstahl, and gave her a tour of Disney Studios. However, he also had many supporters who denied the rumours. We'll probably never know.
7. Disney's attention to detail was legendary. He placed the bins at Disney World exactly 25 steps away from the hot dog stall, because this was how long it took him to eat a hot dog.
8. He was a train fanatic from an early age, as he could watch trains passing by his house. His uncle, a train conductor, would blow the whistle as a greeting. As an adult, Disney built a miniature railway in his back garden.
9. He died of lung cancer in 1966. His last words were written rather than spoken. He wrote "Kurt Russell" on a piece of paper and nobody to this day knows why. Kurt Russell was a child actor who had just been signed to the Disney company at the time. Not even Kurt Russell himself knows why Disney wrote his name down on his deathbead.
10. A minor planet is named after Disney - 4017 Disneya, discovered by Lyudmila Karachkina in 1980.

What happens when superheroes get together for Christmas! My latest novel. Perfect if you want to lose yourself in a book after Christmas lunch!

A Very Variant Christmas

Last year, Jade and Gloria were embroiled in a bitter conflict to win back their throne and their ancestral home. This year, Queen Jade and Princess Gloria want to host the biggest and best Christmas party ever in their palace. They invite all their friends to come and bring guests. Not even the birth of Jade's heir just before Christmas will stop them.

The guest list includes most of Britain's complement of super-powered crime-fighters, their families and friends. What could possibly go wrong?

Gatecrashers, unexpected arrivals, exploding Christmas crackers and a kidnapping, for starters.

Far away in space, the Constellations, a cosmic peacekeeping force, have suffered a tragic loss. They need to recruit a new member to replace their dead colleague. The two top candidates are both at Jade and Gloria's party. The arrival of the recruitment delegation on Christmas Eve is a surprise for everyone; but their visit means one guest now faces a life-changing decision.

Meanwhile, an alliance of the enemies of various guests at the party has infiltrated the palace; they hide in the dungeon, plotting how best to get rid of the crime-fighters and the royal family once and for all. Problem is, they all have their own agendas and differences of opinion on how to achieve their aims.

Not to mention that this year, the ghosts who walk the corridors of the palace on Christmas Eve will be as surprised by the living as the living are by them.

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