Somehow I can't believe there are any heights that can't be scaled by men who know the secret of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four C's: Curiosity, Confidence, Courage, and Constancy and the greatest of these is Confidence. When you believe a thing, believe it all the way, implicitly and unquestionably.

-- Walt Disney

While in a reflective mood one day in 1963, Walt Disney sat down and wrote a few paragraphs on his approach to life and the business of making films. He passed them along to his brother Roy, who was so moved by what he read that he had the studio print shop make copies to give to visitors on the occasional basis. What motivated Walt to write those paragraphs is unknown, but perhaps it had something to do that around this time Walt and Roy had patched up their differences in a financial dispute involving WED Enterprises.

Seeking to place fewer burdens on the studio's finances, Walt established a separate organization called WED (for "Walter Elias Disney") in 1953 to create and build attractions for Disneyland and then sell to Walt Disney Productions at cost plus overhead. WED would also operate the railroad (and later the monorail) and receive a 10 percent cut of all merchandising. Roy reluctantly agreed to the WED concept. To avoid any potential controversy with shareholders, he sought approval for Walt's WED contract only from the Board of Directors. But as Walt Disney Productions expanded throughout the 1950s, so too did Roy's fears that a shareholder or group of shareholders might sue the studio over the separate contract.

In the early 1960s Roy attempted to speak with Walt on the matter, resulting in a heated feud that lasted for months. Eventually, the deep trust and love between the brothers won out and an agreement was reached where the studio would buy WED and give Walt a 10-year extension on ownership of the trains and monorails, as well as continued royalties. Walt's company became Retlaw. WED Enterprises would change its name to Walt Disney Imagineering in the 1980s. An in-depth chronicle of Walt and Roy's feud can be found in Chapter 24 of Bob Thomas' excellent book, Building a Company: Roy O. Disney and the Creation of an Entertainment Empire (Hyperion, 1998).

A coworker of mine brought in a handout that featured the paragraphs that Walt wrote in 1963. The source was from a 1978 record anthology of Disney music called The Magical Music of Walt Disney, consisting of four albums and an accompanying 48-page booklet. Although written almost 40 years ago, these words are especially relevant in our challenging times.

Every person has his own ideas of the act of praying for God's guidance, tolerance and mercy to fulfill his duties and responsibilities. My own concept of prayer is not a plea for special favors, nor as a quick palliation for wrongs knowingly committed. A prayer, it seems to me, implies a promise as well as a request; at the highest level, prayer not only is supplication for strength and guidance, but also becomes an affirmation of life and thus a reverent praise of God.

Deeds rather than words express my concept of the part religion should play in everyday life. I have watched constantly that in our movie work the highest moral and spiritual standards are upheld, whether it deals with fable or with stories of living action. This religious concern for the form and content of our films goes back 40 years to the rugged financial period in Kansas City when I was struggling to establish a film company and produce animated fairy tales. Thus, whatever success I have had in bringing clean, informative entertainment to people of all ages, I attribute in great part to my Congregational upbringing and lifelong habit of prayer.

To me, today at age 61, all prayer by the humble or highly placed has one thing in common: supplication for strength and inspiration to carry on the best impulses which should bind us together for a better world. Without such inspiration we would rapidly deteriorate and finally perish. But in our troubled times, the right of men to think and worship as their conscience dictates is being sorely pressed. We can retain these privileges only by being constantly on guard in fighting off any encroachment on these precepts. To retreat from any of the principles handed down by our forefathers, who shed their blood for the ideals we all embrace, would be a complete victory for those who would destroy liberty and justice for the individual.

- Essay by Bill Griffiths
Posted

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