In his book How to Be Like Walt, Pat Williams cites what are considered the six qualities that made the work Walt Disney did so creative and innovative. Here's how he explains it in his book...

The Six Factors of Walt's Genius

Paul Anderson, a Disney historian and a professor at Brigham Young University teaches a course called "Walt Disney and American Culture." Anderson spent years studying, interviewing, and reading about Walt to determine the source of Walt's genius. The six factors they concluded are...

• Knowledge - Walt had a thirst for knowledge. He tried to impart this love of knowledge to everyone around him... He knew that it would pay dividends for the studio.
• Experimentation - Walt was always pushing the envelope and testing new ideas. He was on a continual quest for discovery, and he encouraged that same spirit in his staff.
• Quality at All Costs - Walt's philosophy was "Whatever you do, do it right." He was always reaching for perfection, and his eye never missed a detail.
• Control - Walt hired the best people and gave them a lot of creative freedom. but he always had control of the final results.
• Vision - Walt's special gift. He had a unique sense of what would sell and what the public wanted to see.

And the greatest of Walt's qualities...

• Curiosity - Walt was intensely curious about everything life had to offer... He had a childlike curiosity about anything and everything.