Disney Walt
Walt Disney Signed Letter On His Government Commissioned WWII Efforts
Single page typed letter signed on Walt Disney letterhead, 7.25" x 10.5". Dated "January 23, 1942", and boldly signed by Walt Disney with his fantastic flourish "Walt Disney". Fine condition.
As the Disney enterprise was reeling with internal dissent and employee strife, unions and employee walk-outs, Walt was trying to reinvent his company and a comeback for his films. Simultaneously the United States was just bombed (Pearl Harbor), and the government approached Disney to assist with War patriotism and education. This letter notes these efforts as shown in part below:
"… without knowing anything about your story idea, I am not in a position to give it consideration, as we operating under a very full program this year.
 
In addition to our regular output of product, we are working on special films for the Government, and although your idea is based on the timely theme of Victory, I do not see how we could possibly fit it into our production program …"
On December 7, 1941, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, drawing the United States into World War II. The very next day U.S. Army troops requisitioned half of Walt Disney’s Burbank, California, studio for their use. But space was not all that Disney would provide the troops. Artists, animators, and Walt Disney himself pitched in, enlisting Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and other beloved Disney characters in the war effort.



Throughout the early 1940s, Disney churned out military training films, educational shorts (provided to the U.S. government at cost), and military insignia for over 1,000 different units in the U.S. armed forces (provided free of charge). Disney’s entire stable of characters was employed in the name of patriotism, and by 1943 newspapers were reporting that up to 90 percent of the Disney studio’s work was for government agencies.

In 1943 The New York Times singled out Donald Duck, in particular, as an “ambassador-at-large, a salesman of the American Way” for his representation of the United States both at home and abroad. By the end of the war, however, the title “Salesman of the American Way” may well have belonged to Walt Disney himself. The use of Disney’s characters in war-related work helped to strengthen the perception of the Disney brand as a symbol of the United States and its values.



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