One-of-a-kind archive of hundreds of documents and letters related to the finances of Walt Disney Productions and Disneyland, dated from 1946 to 1965, including one signed by both Walt Disney and his brother Roy O. Disney, and over thirty-five signed by Roy alone. The collection primarily consists of financial documents, including mortgages, lease agreements, and other loan paperwork.
The most important autographic document is signed “Walter E. Disney” and “Roy O. Disney,” one page, May 20, 1965, in which Walt Disney exercises an option for a ten-percent interest in the motion picture Follow Me, Boys. The majority of the documents signed by Roy O. Disney are chattel mortgage agreements secured with Disney short subjects and television cartoons, most of which are listed in attached exhibits. In one instance the list of “short subject motion pictures mortgaged, pledged and assigned” lists films dating back to 1928, including a number of Mickey Mouse cartoons. A multitude of similar chattel mortgage documents not signed by either Disney brother are present.
The earliest document directly referencing Disneyland is signed by a Bank of America vice president, April 1, 1954, and reads, in part: “Please consider this letter our consent to the commitments obtained by you for the financing of Disneyland.” Disney had just made a deal with ABC to produce an hour-long weekly television show in exchange for guarantees against loans for the park’s construction. With this major commitment in place, Disney could secure the necessary loans and proceed with his plan. The very next day, April 2nd, Disney and ABC publicly announced their new partnership.
The materials concerning the early days of Disneyland are extremely interesting and are mostly found within folders labeled “Walt Disney Productions: Disneyland collateral supporting advances of WDP of $500,000, due July 31, 1956,” “Disneyland, Inc., $1,500,000 Loan due September 30, 1957,” and “Disneyland, Inc., 1958–1959.” The first contains documents related to a lease between Disneyland, Inc., and Walt Disney Productions for “Moonride,” presumably referring to the ‘Rocket to the Moon’ show in the Tomorrowland area of Disneyland. The second folder contains additional loan agreements, as well as summaries of leases between Disneyland, Inc., and various vendors for space within the amusement park, with some of the more notable companies being American Motors Corporation, Coca-Cola, and Eastman Kodak. The third folder includes numerous documents related to loans and amendments to those loans.
Additional letters and documents, mostly on Walt Disney Productions or Buena Vista Distribution Co. letterhead, concern the foreign distribution of Disney films, and refer to a wide array of animated and live-action films including such classics as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Fantasia, Sleeping Beauty, Bambi, and Old Yeller. In very good to fine condition. Disneyland construction began in July 1954 and the park opened its gates a year later on July 17, 1955, in a special event televised on ABC. Featuring documentation related to both of Disney’s tremendously successful enterprises—motion pictures and amusement parks—this archive chronicles the history of Disney during an important transitional era.
