Jim finds and shares a press release from RKO that may be the first 'official' bio of Uncle Walt.
[…]
RKO distributed Disney theatrical cartoons from 1937 to 1956. Back in the late 1980s, at a National Fantasy Fan Club convention, I bought from one of the dealers a pack of eight yellowed pages that were stapled together which was entitled "Biographical Sketch of Walt Disney".
It was produced by RKO in 1937 as a publicity release for newspapers and magazines in connection with their taking over the distribution of Disney cartoons, as well as for use with their upcoming release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs later that same year.
[…]
It was probably written by Joe Reddy who did publicity for the Disney Studio and sometimes even wrote articles and speeches credited to Walt. Decades later, Marty Sklar would do similar work.
[…]
"Walt Disney's valiant and Lilliputian Mickey Mouse is much more real to children, not only in America, but in every country in which his films are distributed, than Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. Unlike those symbolical childhood characters even sophisticated grown-ups believe solemnly in Mickey and his devoted sweetheart, Minnie.
"The Disney Silly Symphonies, those lovely colored bits of fantasy and whimsy, are America's finest contribution to the world's folklore. Legend has been made to walk and talk.
"But of the young man Walt Disney who created them, little has ever been known or written - due mostly to his innate modesty, and to the fact that his work, the accomplishment of a dream, still interests him far more than the fame which has come to him because of it. It is time Walt Disney were made to walk and talk. Perhaps this story may bring you closer to him.
[…]
