Nearly 100 years ago, Walt and Roy Disney founded the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio out of their aunt and uncle’s house in Los Angeles.
The house, located at 4406 West Kingswell Avenue in the Los Feliz area, belonged to Charlotte and Robert Disney and stayed in the family for 30 years. Now, after changing many hands and nearly being torn down, Deadline reports that the house will be renovated. You can see it for yourself in the Tweet below.
In 2016, the current owners of the house wanted to tear it down and make room for a new two-story house. But enough people protested the event that the city decided to take matters into their own hands. The Charlotte and Robert Disney House will now be designated as a Los Angeles Historical Cultural Monument.
According to a sign outside the house, pictured by Deadline, “The rehabilitation of the bungalow will restore the exterior to a 1920s period-appropriate color palette. New landscape and site features will strengthen the visual appeal of the bungalow from the street and create new living spaces outdoors. An exact replica of the garage, where Walt made short animations, will be rebuilt in its original location visible from the street down the driveway.”
In 1923, Walt and his brother, Roy, traveled from Kansas City to Los Angeles to live with Robert and Charlotte Disney. Deadline reports that Walt paid $5 a week to live in the two-bedroom, 1458 square-foot space.
Walt worked on his “Alice Comedies” back in KC, but once he got to L.A., he managed to sell them to a distributor. According to the Walt Disney Archives, he signed the contract with the distributor on October 16, 1923. This eventually became the date associated with the start of the Dinsey company.
Walt Disney Starts An Entertainment Revolution
The Archives also say that “The original Disney Studio had been in the back half of a real estate office on Kingswell Avenue in Hollywood, but soon Walt had enough money to move next door and rent a whole store for his studio.”
It’s unclear how close the real estate office and the Disney home were to each other on Kingswell Avenue. But after a few years, Walt moved out anyway as his company grew too large.
Walt and Roy found a place on Hyperion Avenue in Hollywood. Here, Walt created the mouse that started it all in 1926. By 1928, the company put together a sound cartoon featuring Mickey Mouse called “Steamboat Willie.”
In addition to the Mickey Mouse cartoons, Walt also worked on the Silly Symphonies series. One of these cartoons, “Flowers and Trees,” ended up winning an Academy Award in 1932.
Fast forward five years. Walt Disney released the first full-length feature animated film, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.”
World War II slowed down production after that. While “Pinnochio” and “Fantasia” came out in 1940, they didn’t earn enough money to be worth the costs. “Dumbo” and “Bambi” followed, with only moderate success.
But in 1950, Walt Disney hit gold with “Treasure Island,” the first live-action movie. That’s also the year “Cinderella” came out. Five years later, Disneyland would open in California. And the rest, as they say, is history.
