Walt Disney's Children: Motivational Facts To Learn From!

There is hardly anyone in the world who hasn't heard of Walt Disney, but we can't say the same about his children.

The Walt Disney World sure is the happiest place on the planet, but it doesn't tell us anything about the family man that he was. Keep reading to know about Walt Disney's children.

The man who started as an apprentice in Kansas City went on to become a multi-millionaire. It is therefore understandable that people would want to know about Walt Disney's family. Father to two beautiful daughters, he preached the fact that people need to keep their families away from fame. He changed the world by creating animated movies that gave moral values that were pertinent to society.

If you enjoy reading this article, why not also check out Disney facts and facts about the youngest Disney princess here at Kidadl!

Facts About Walt Disney's Background

Walt Disney is known as one of the most influential and great persons that the United States of America has ever called a citizen.

Born in Chicago, Illinois, the Disney family had humble backgrounds, and hardly anyone could tell that there would be such a prodigy in the family. Walt Disney was one of the five children that Flora and Elias Disney had. He was born in the year 1901 and grew up to be a business tycoon, as well as one of the most thoughtful people in the world. It was therefore imperative that Walt Disney's children and grandchildren would have a huge legacy to live up to. Let's find out if they were able to live up to those expectations or not!

Walter Elias Disney sure always had the knack for art and animation, but little did anyone know that he would eventually grow up to do such huge deeds and achieve things that the world hardly deemed possible. Until the moment he died, he had gained such recognition from all around the world that everyone knew him not just as the creator of Mickey Mouse, but also as a pioneer who could conceptualize visions that nobody had even conceived. This American entrepreneur, however, had different visions for this own family and did not let his recognition in the world get in the way of the values that he imparted to his family. He got married to Lillian Bounds at a fairly early age, who he had initially hired as an ink artist at the firm that he owned with this brother Roy. Walt and Roy Disney were reportedly very close to each other and it was their joint initiative that later gave rise to what we now know as Disney. However, for Disney, fame was not something that ever came in the way of family life. In spite of the family fortune that Disney made, Walt Disney made sure that his daughters led a normal life. He believed in the fact that Marceline, Missouri, was his home in spite of owning multiple estates all over the country. He even tried to preach this deep-rooted attitude to his daughters. Lillian and Walt Disney had one daughter named Diane Disney. They also later adopted a daughter named Sharon Disney and raised her as their own child. As we talk about Walt Disney's grandchildren, we will be taking both her daughters into account.

Fantastic Facts About Walt Disney's Children

The Walt Disney family is said to have led a very normal life outside of work.

His two teenage daughters said in an interview that even though they knew fairly well that their father was a huge public figure, they only saw him as a father that drove them to school every day. Sharon died in the year 1993, but before this, she remembered how she and her sister only knew their father as a man who went to work every morning and came back home every night. She told how they were never under the impression that he was doing that no one in the world had ever done before, or that he was someone way out of the ordinary. It was this demeanor and these family values that passed on to most of the Disney family, although there were some members of the family that decided to exploit the wealth and good name instead.

The Walt Disney Company is an organization that is worth billions of dollars and there is hardly anyone in the world who hasn't heard of or watched 'Mickey Mouse' or 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.' It is understandable that such fame and world recognition would not have been earned in a day. Walt Disney took classes at the Chicago School of Fine Arts from an early age, which later paid off with the founding of the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio. Throughout his immensely successful career, Walt Disney and his family made many charitable donations and tried to pass that on to future generations as well. Sharon Disney Lund, as she was called after her second marriage, founded a foundation called the Sharon Disney Lund Foundation which makes donations to cancer research and other such charitable causes.

Talking of Sharon Disney, she had a pretty eventful life before she died in the year 1993 of breast cancer. She first got married to Robert Brown and adopted a daughter. The daughter was named Victoria Disney. Sharon later married Bill Lund and gave birth to twins. They were named Brad and Michelle Lund. They later went on to enter a long-term feud over a 400 million dollar trust fund. Bill Lund was also a trustee of the Walt Disney Company for a while but he quit after being accused of fraudulent behavior. Before Michelle suffered a brain aneurysm, Bill said that the trustees were trying to manipulate her. However, once her medical condition set in and denied her of mental abilities, the trustees paid her share out and held onto Brad's share of the money. It can therefore be said that not all Walt Disney's values trickled down to the later generations. Victoria, on the other hand, led a very lavish lifestyle. In one of the particularly upsetting situations, she was on a Disney Cruise Ship and damaged her suite in such a spectacular fashion that the media houses remembered it for a long time to come.

Wonderful Facts About Walt Disney's Children

Disney World and Disneyland may be the happiest place in the world, but the Disney family sure had their own troubles.

Diane, Walt Disney's daughter, married Ronald Miller. Diane Disney Miller is also known to have tried to teach her father's values as she brought up her children. Diane and her seven children, however, did not create any media reports with their share of the family money. Her children were named Chris, Joanna, Tamara, Jennifer, Walt, Ron Jr., and Patrick. In fact, Diane's children, in an interview, even emphasized how they led a very normal family life as their mother took them to soccer practice and skipped on having a nanny. Diane is said to have had taken after her father in terms of maintaining relationships within her family, and she did her job as a parent in such spectacular fashion that there was hardly any familial tension on her side of the family. Diane Disney Miller had further shares of Disney World and the Walt Disney company as Ronald Miller, Walt's son-in-law, later became the CEO.

Interesting Facts About Walt Disney's Legacy

Walt Disney died of lung cancer, but Disney World is a legacy that he left behind. His legacy also included the amusement park and the Mickey Mouse club. The Walt Disney World still remains to be called the happiest place on the planet, and for good reason. Whether or not the Disney children held up that legacy is something that must be left to personal discretion.

Apart from the amusement parks, a large part of the Disney stock depends on the Disney plus initiatives. While the theme park does attract a lot of money, the stock exchange, according to Business Insider, really appreciated the new initiatives promised by Disney's animators.

Diane was reportedly out of the media limelight but she did try to uphold her father's legacy by founding the Walt Disney Family Museum.

Did You Know...

Walt Disney was an apprentice in an art studio in Kansas City. Walt Disney went to the Kansas City Art Institute.

Walt Disney's notable works and characters include Mary Poppins, Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, 'Treasure Island,' 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,' 'Steamboat Willie,' Sleeping Beauty, the Davy Crockett series, and Dumbo. 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' was the first full-length animated film.

Walt Disney was born in the year 1901 and died in the year 1966. He would have been 120 years old this year. Walt Disney passed away before the completion of the park or city of his 'Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow.'

Walt and Roy Disney pooled their own money to create the company. Robert Iger holds more than $90 million of the Disney Company shares. The Disney family currently owns around 3% of the company.

Walt Disney did not have a son. None of Walt Disney's daughters are alive. The Disney children were brought up in Chicago. Michelle Lund is said to spend a lot of time in her house near Newport Beach.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for facts about Walt Disney's children then why not take a look at our articles on cute Disney characters or Disney male characters.