Walt Disney's Twin Grandchildren in Bitter Row over Inheritance

Walt Disney with Mickey Mouse

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Grandchildren of great animator take bitter row to court as one is ruled fit to inherit valuable trust fund and the other is not, reports Nick Allen

He famously built The Happiest Place on Earth, but half a century after Walt Disney’s death, two of his own grandchildren are embroiled in a bitter legal row over hundreds of millions of dollars.

This week, while families from around the world make a festive pilgrimage to the home of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, the great animator’s own descendants will meet in a less joyful setting.

In a soulless court room, located just 20 miles from Disneyland itself, acrimony, recriminations and allegations of deceit far removed from the magical world Walt created will play out.

At the centre of proceedings are Brad and Michelle Lund, Disney’s 43-year-old twin grandchildren who have not seen each other in four years.

They are the children of the cartoon maestro’s daughter Sharon, who died on Feb 16, 1993. She left trust funds for the twins which together are estimated to be worth more than $300 million, and are looked after by trustees. » | Nick Allen, Los Angeles | Saturday, November 30, 2013

Disney Joins Fight Against Obesity
Obesity is a big concern among US children, with nearly one-third of them either overweight or obese. Junk food marketing is a contributory factor to such problems, according to the Washington-based Institute of Medicine. Now, Walt Disney, one of the world's largest mass media companies, has decided to join the fight against obesity. The company, known for its popular theme parks, plans to ban commercials for junk food on its widely watched children network Disney TV, radio, web channels - and inside the theme parks themselves. Al Jazeera's John Terrett reports from Washington.

Disney Lifts Beard Ban for Park Workers
THE GUARDIAN: Employees in Florida and California will be allowed beards or goatees, providing they are kept short

After banishing them from its magical realms for six decades, Disneyland has finally taken pity on hirsute men seeking employment in the field of mouse collaboration.

A mere 12 years since it made the landmark decision to allow employees to emulate the late Walt by sporting moustaches, the famously image-conscious outfit has opened the doors of the kingdom to men with the right kind of facial hair.

From 3 February, employees in Florida and California will be allowed to report for duty with beards or goatees – providing they are less than a quarter of an inch long. » | Sam Jones | Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Disney Characters and Adolf
Images courtesy of The Telegraph
THE TELEGRAPH: The director of a Norwegian museum claimed yesterday to have discovered cartoons drawn by Adolf Hitler during the Second World War.

William Hakvaag, the director of a war museum in northern Norway, said he found the drawings hidden in a painting signed "A. Hitler" that he bought at an auction in Germany.

He found coloured cartoons of the characters Bashful and Doc from the 1937 Disney film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which were signed A.H., and an unsigned sketch of Pinocchio as he appeared in the 1940 Disney film.

Hitler tried to make a living as an artist before his rise to power. While there was no independent confirmation yesterday that the drawings were the work of the Nazi leader, Hitler is known to have owned a copy of Snow White, the classic animated adaptation of a German fairy tale, and to have viewed it in his private cinema.

Mr Hakvaag, who said he had performed tests on the paintings which suggested that they dated from 1940, said: "I am 100 per cent sure that these are drawings by Hitler. If one wanted to make a forgery, one would never hide it in the back of a picture, where it might never be discovered."

The initials on the sketches, and the signature on the painting, matched other copies of Hitler's handwriting, he claimed.
"Hitler had a copy of Snow White," he said. "He thought this was one of the best movies ever made." Did Adolf Hitler draw Disney characters? >>>

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