Mr Iger said: “We are just starting to create the strategy with the hospital to actually figure out how best to raise the £9 million as quickly as possible.

“Disney, fortunately, is a role model in many ways and we hope this will serve as a signal to other companies to step up and help.

“In all likelihood there are opportunities to bring in stars from the Disney stable - whether they are Disney characters or stars from current Disney activity.”

The executive told those at the launch that the company intended the scheme to be the “beginning and not the end of a relationship that will blossom even more over the years”.

Afterwards, he said: “To the Walt Disney Company, there is nothing more important than children...

“It is a blessing to have the ability to both give money but also to provide children who are experiencing severe medical problems with a means to at least tolerate those problems a little bit better.”

Before receiving a cheque for £1 million from Disney, the hospital’s chief executive, Dr Jane Collins, described it as a “fantastic day”.

She said: “It is very rare to get an offer like this and it is the start of a relationship which makes it even more exciting.”

As part of the project, a dedicated appeal website - www.gosh.org/disney - has been set up and the first 50 people to donate will be given a limited edition Peter Pan lithograph from the Walt Disney Studios in California.

Money raised will go on the new centre, which will include a meeting space for patients, their families, visitors and staff as well as a restaurant and cafe.

It will also house a unique Disney branded interactive zone which will be created by the hospital’s design team alongside the company’s “imagineers”.

The hospital is known for specialising in rare, complex and severe conditions but many of its wards are cramped, outdated and unsuitable, making conditions difficult for children, their families and staff.

The Government has previously come under fire after it emerged that the hospital had been forced to cancel operations and close beds due to a funding shortfall.

It is hoped that the first new building in the £170 million project, which will contain the facilities supported by Disney, will be open in 2011.

The total cost of the children’s centre is £321 million, of which the Government has contributed £75 million with a further £76 million raised over several years by the hospital’s own charity.