If it weren’t for the fact that Lillian Bounds began working at the Disney Brothers Studio on this day in 1924, the main mouse for The Walt Disney Company might have been named Mortimer. After all, when Walt asked her opinion of that name, she quickly disapproved, and thus “Mickey” was born. Lillian began work at the Disney Brothers Studio as a secretary and an “inker” of animated cels, earning a whopping $15 a week. Walt became enthralled with his new employee, and although he vowed he would not marry before he was at least 25 years old with $10,000 saved, he couldn’t resist. On July 13, 1925, just a year and a half after she started work, Walt and Lillian Disney were wed in Lewiston, Idaho.
