Roy O.

So my post is going to be more off the cuff than most. As I was skimming pages looking for what I wanted to write about, I noticed a surprising lack of information regarding Roy O. Disney, Walt's brother. (On a side note, Walt also had two other brothers, Herbert and Raymond, that I have never heard about before today.)

Roy O. Disney had an effect on Walt from a very early age. All accounts that I've heard say that they were the closest of the brothers. The most prominent featuring of Roy that I've come across is the movie from the end of the One Man's Dream attraction in Disney's Hollywood Studios. This short film gives mention of Roy's impact on Walt in early life by mentioning in relative detail the situation regarding Roy's enlistment in the army. The story goes that Roy left almost without warning, and Walt was so distraught by losing his brother that he wanted to join the army, even though he was only 16 (2 years earlier than legally acceptable). The only thing he could do to follow in his brother's footsteps was to join the Red Cross.

Roy also had an effect on the Company later during the development of Disneyland. There's a paragraph on the Wikipedia page for Disneyland which states that "Difficulties in obtaining funding prompted Disney to investigate new methods of fundraising. He decided to use television..." What the article doesn't mention is that this plan was concocted by Roy. Roy had banking experience and was able to secure funding for Disneyland due to his business prowess. Again, I remember this from a video in the park, but it's as reliable a source as any and I have seen it a bunch of times. And if I remember correctly, Roy also helped in the early financing of the studio to produce the first shorts and movies. I'm interested to read a fleshed out version of these stories in the book next week.