The village of Norton Disney are being recognised by The Walt Disney Company today as they celebrate their 100th birthday
Reflecting on Walt's ancestry, the company has gifted a bespoke artwork that features, Mickey and Minnie Mouse walking past a sign to the village
Last updated 16th Oct 2023
The Walt Disney Company is celebrating its 100th birthday today, which includes honouring their connections to a Lincolnshire village.
Being recognised as a part of Walt's ancestry, Norton Disney, have been gifted a bespoke artwork that features, Mickey and Minnie Mouse walking past a sign to the village.
In 1949, Walt Disney visited the village whilst in the UK to film Treasure Island, to discover more about his ancestry. Whilst there, he played darts in the local pub, chatted to the parish vicar, and even made friends with a pig - but most importantly, he discovered that the Disneys were descended from the Norman d’Isigny family, which dates right back to William the Conqueror.
Because of this connection, Walt Disney used the Norton Disney crest on the flag of the Sleeping Beauty castle at Disneyland, which is featured in the opening sequence of all modern-day Disney films. Walt also continued his love affair with the UK, setting classics such as Mary Poppins, 101 Dalmatians and Robin Hood here.
Disney historian SĂ©bastien Durand, tells us more about the links:
"Walt was always interested in finding out where his name came from, what the story of his family was. But he only knew that his family had come from Ireland, in the middle of the 19th century, when his great grandfather left Ireland to move to Canada.
"But he didn't know the story before, and when he was in England in 1949, filming one of his treasured movies, Treasure Island, he learned about that small place in Lincolnshire, called Norton Disney
"So, on his way to Scotland, where he wanted to spend a few days off, he decided to stop at Norton Disney and enquire about the village, and if there was a connection - there he learned about the history of the Disney family before they immigrated to Ireland, and after they immigrated from France.
"Walt Disney was very interested to learn about this and so, a few years later. He would decide to use the coat of arms that he had seen in Norton Disney, and added it to Disney, for his castle, and now for all his movies. "
As part of their 100th birthday celebrations, The Walt Disney Company wanted to honour this connection, and so sent Disney historian SĂ©bastien Durand to Norton Disney, to gift a bespoke Disney centenary artwork, hand-drawn by Disney artist Kim Raymond, to local resident Stan Underwood, who accepted the gift on behalf of the village.
The village plans to hang the sketch in the village hall, alongside three prints of Pinocchio, Mickey Mouse and the seven dwarves, left by Walt when he visited back in 1949.