In the year marking a century since Walt Disney’s cherished animation studio was established, more insight into the legendary entrepreneur’s connection with a remote English hamlet has emerged. The name Disney is now synonymous with beloved cinematic adventures and awe-inspiring theme parks worldwide, but the tale of its English roots is less celebrated.
Each Disney film since 2006 commences with an enchanting tapestry of multi-hued explosions blooming in the darkness of a starlit sky above Sleeping Beauty’s castle. With it, a nod to a small Lincolnshire village with a humble population of 242 is artistically woven into the frame.
This connection was unpicked when I made meeting arrangements with Disney historian and aficionado, Sebastien Durand, within the ancient walls of a medieval parish. Nestled in the heart of Norton Disney, Lincolnshire, St Peter’s Church stands as an imposing figure. Its age-worn stones whispering a thousand years’ worth of stories, including the ancestral roots of its famous namesake.
“The antiquity within these walls houses testimonies of Walt Disney’s lineage and his family emblem,” says Durand, his eyes tracing the larger-than-life Norman archways. It was here that Disney himself paid a visit on a summer day in July 1949.
Amid a burgeoning career that already boasted 12 Oscar wins for films like Fantasia and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Disney seized the opportunity to trace his family roots while in the UK for the filming of Treasure Island.
“Upon learning that a village bearing his famed surname existed, curiosity ensued,” Durand quotes Disney, “the only ancestral knowledge he possessed stemmed from his Irish great-grandfather, anything beyond remained cloaked in mystery.”
Armed with his family, a photographer, and a film camera, Walt Disney embarked on a personal journey to this quaint English village. There, he connected with the local farmers, finding common ground in their agrarian lifestyle, similar to his upbringing in Marceline, Missouri.
At St Peter’s Church, Walt discovered tales of the De Isignys who traveled from Normandy during the Norman Conquest, settled in Lincolnshire and over gradual centuries, had their name morph into Disney. Intrigue deepened upon seeing the grand tomb of Sir William d’Isney, complete with a three-lioned family crest.
Making a lasting impression, the familial emblem was adopted at Disneyland, California in 1965, during its 10th anniversary. The emblematic three lions were replicated from the photos of the Norton Disney crest and since then, have graced every Disney castle in all Disney parks and even the title sequence of every Disney film.
Though physical evidence of a direct lineage is challenging to establish over a millennium, Durand posits, “the Disney name traveled from France to England, to Ireland, then to America. Anyone bearing that name, including Walt Disney, shares that history. So, the possibility of Walt Disney’s relation to Norton Disney stands at an estimated 99%.”
However, the Disney connection does not end at the family crest. Another fascinating discovery linked to the Disney family emerged from a charter signed in 1386, stating the family estate was ‘Disnayland’. Thus, the first recorded use of the name ‘Disneyland’ predates its American use by more than 600 years – a fact that brings joy to historians like Durand.
The connection between the Disney family and Norton Disney flourishes to this day. A special hand-drawn picture of the beloved Disney characters Mickey and Minnie Mouse frolicking through the village was presented by Disney’s historian Durand to the village to commemorate the Disney company’s centenary. A fairy-tale connection of a tiny English village and the most Oscar-awarded person on Earth, indeed a narrative only Disney could imagine.
