This is the second post in the series House of Mouse*. In each installment, the author will examine portions of Walt Disney’s life as well as members of his immediate or extended family
*Not related to the early 2000s TV show of the same name :)
After Walt Disney, the next most recognized member of his family hands down has to be his brother. Roy O. Disney (yes I’m getting very formal here…iykyk) will forever be known as Walt’s right hand man and the practical to Walt’s creative madness (genius). However, besides the name and statue of him in Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, not much is known about him. So who exactly was Roy? Did he always imagine going into Hollywood one day?
It all starts in 1893.
Roy Oliver Disney was born on June 24th, 1893 in Chicago, Illinois to Elias and Flora Disney. He was the third out of fifth child and had two older brothers named Herbert and Raymond. When he was eight years old, his younger brother Walt was born and two years later his sister Ruth. Unlike Walt who viewed his childhood with bliss, Roy felt a little different. Roughly around the time he was 12 years old the family moved to Marceline, Missouri to escape the not-so-family-friendly city life he spent so many of his formative years in. Not much is known about this period of his life though.
Roy, on the right, with Walt during the early years of the Walt Disney Company
Source: eartotheretravel.com
Fiery Independence Meets Creativity
Six years later in 1911, roughly around the time Roy turns 18, his family moves from Marceline to Kansas City because his father Elias is forced to sell the farm as his health continues to decline. Instead, his father purchased a newspaper route and put Roy and Walt right to work delivering an average of 1,300 newspapers everyday on top of their school work in a brand new city. While this was going on, Roy dealt with a lot behind the scenes, as his father was known to hand out physical punishments whenever Roy or his siblings disobeyed. Roy did not like this one bit (I mean who wouldn’t?) and he decided one night in 1912 to leave and never look back. He told Walt that same night and when he woke up, Roy was gone.
He didn’t go too far though as he remained in Kansas City and worked as a bank teller before enlisting in the US Navy during WWI. He served for two years, from 1917 to 1919, before getting discharged from the Navy after contracting tuberculosis. It was roughly around this time that Walt decided he wanted to embark on a career in animation and he convinced Roy to join him.
The two brothers truly were a dynamic duo, producing hit after hit in the ultimate partnership
Source: mickeynews.com
But this begs the ultimate (yet unanswerable) question. Did Roy join Walt because he always wanted to go into entertainment one day or was he simply looking out for his brother? Although the answer will never be known–quite frankly it doesn’t matter at this point–it feels like it was a little bit of both since it was such a sudden decision for Roy. Most likely contracting tuberculosis really put life into perspective for him and maybe he didn’t want to have a boring everyday job as a bank teller. Maybe he wanted to aspire for something more in his life and was inspired by Walt’s gut and ambition. However, because of Walt’s rather spontaneous nature, maybe he wanted to make sure his younger brother’s creative wit didn’t get too out of hand. Maybe he didn’t want to see his younger brother get hurt and wanted to prevent that from happening to the best of his abilities.
The speculation as to why Roy took the risk of a lifetime could go on forever, but what matters is that he dared to defy the odds and truly make something for his life. He might not be as well known as his younger brother, but if it wasn’t for Roy, who knows what the history of the Walt Disney Company might have been.
Author Bio
Felicity Girty is an English major with a double minor in Cognitive Science and Film, Television, and Digital Media and is the club’s Head Blog Writer. She is addicted to all things Disney and has an enormous passion for literature and entertainment. If not reading or immersed in pop culture, you can find her listening to literally any kind of music. Felicity hopes to work her way into the entertainment industry as a producer/showrunner, starting out in development. She is also involved in UCLA Project SPELL.