Walt Disney - Deeds Rather Than Words (1963)

In 1962 Walt Disney was asked to contribute an essay for the book "Faith is a Star" edited by Roland Gammon. Gammon hosted the popular radio show "Master Control" which often invited pop culture figures to appear and discuss their faith and values. The purpose of the book was to demonstrate to the Judeo-Christian Church that their values were reflected by leading and influential figures in American culture. Walt was one of sixty figures included in the book which was published in 1963.

Walt had already written at least two published essays on his faith and had often cited his faith as the bedrock of the values demonstrated in his films in several interviews. Each of Walt's faith essays cite how important prayer was to his life and how he valued deeds rather than words as meaningful. They also build upon each other until culminating in this final faith essay.

When Walt completed this essay, he gave a copy to his brother and business partner, Roy. Roy always looked after his younger brother and was deeply moved by what Walt had written. He had had one of Walt's earlier faith essays printed on cards that were given out to guests of the Disneyland Hotel much like Conrad Hilton had also done with his own faith essay in his own chain of hotels.

Walt expressed his faith and values in every facet of his life. He originally planned a church to be built on Main Street USA at Disneyland until his nephew, Rev Glenn D Puder advised it would be disrespectful. Rev Puder still gave a Christian blessing during the opening ceremonies of Disneyland and led the crowd in prayer. There are numerous examples of Walt providing personal charity for individuals as well as organizations. In this essay, Walt covers content from his films he was often criticized for. He also cites the projects he produced during World War II as an expression of his faith. Unlike other film producers of his day, everything Walt Disney made filtered through him and because he put his name on it it had to reflect his values.

It's often cited that "Feed the Birds" from Mary Poppins was Walt Disney's favorite song. He often invited the Sherman Bros, who wrote the song, to his office after work where they'd often play it for him during these visits. A song about personal charity, it's never address why it was Walt's favorite song. When the theme of his faith essays is deeds rather than words, you understand why Walt saw expressive action as a demonstration of personal faith rather than just talking about it. He lived by this moral compass his entire life.

This essay was considered one of the most important writings Walt had ever written and was excerpted in an official book celebrating the 50th birthday of Mickey Mouse published in 1978. Walt's essay was retitled "Prayer in My Life." The book covered 50 years of Walt Disney Studio history and came with a 4 LP set of music spanning the entire run of the studio. This was the first time such an expansive music collection had ever been offered.

When the Eisner regime gained control of Walt Disney Productions in 1984 and rechristened it the Walt Disney Company, such expressions of faith gradually faded away. Walt Disney began being painted as nonreligious and his faith essays became forgotten.

By the Iger years expressions of faith became nonexistent with many executives expressing an outright hostility toward Christianity and traditional values in official interviews. The Iger regime also began purging things from Walt Disney history including photos, footage, writings, and even entire songs and films. Many people have no idea what Walt Disney's actual views were as the company carrying his name is the antithesis of many of the faith and values he held dear.

We have used AI to recreate Walt's essay as it may have sounded in his own voice.

All footage and images in this video are from Walt's film, animation, and TV productions demonstrating how his faith values were always used in his projects.

The songs used during the opening scroll also come from Walt Disney productions.

"The Lord Is Good To Me" is one of the songs in the 1948 short Johnny Appleseed and is sung by Dennis Day. It had a long life after this film as a Sunday School song and often sang at 4H gatherings with many not realizing it was a Walt Disney Song. It was part of the Walt Disney Songbook for decades until the post modernists purged it in the 20th century.

"Strengthen the Dwelling Of The Lord" is one of the songs from what's regarded as Walt's final film, The Happiest Millionaire. In the film it's the anthem of the Biddle Bible Class and sung by Fred MacMurray with a chorus. Walt always cast MacMurray in the roles he himself most personally identified with. The song was composed by the Sherman Bros and meant to be much like the congregational songs that were popular in the early 20th century.

By presenting Walt's written essay as a video we hope that it makes Walt's views more accessible to a wider variety of people.

If you enjoy these videos of putting Walt's written words into a video format, please consider contributing to our Give/Send/Go so we can acquire more of these articles to adapt. Our goal is to make Walt's written words more accessible to the masses.

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Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.