Building a company

About this book

Without Roy, the world might never have known Walt. As his younger brother Walt Disney dreamed, drew, and imagined, Roy O. Disney stayed in the shadows, forming an empire. A brilliant financier and businessman, Roy helped turn Walt Disney's dreams into reality, building the company that bears his brother's name. Closer than the Warners or the Gershwins, Roy and Walt's lifelong partnership had its stormy moments, but neither of them ever wavered from their joint goal of producing high-quality family entertainment. While Walt's pen gave birth to Mickey Mouse, Roy founded the Buena Vista Distribution Company, brought Disneyland to a fledgling medium called television, and pioneered a merchandising business that would put Mickey on shelves from Brooklyn to Beijing. After Walt's death in 1966, Roy postponed his retirement and tirelessly devoted his energies to completing the theme park Walt had begun in Florida. When it was finished, Roy named it Walt Disney World, "so people will know that this was Walt's dream." Building a Company is a fully authorized look at the other Disney genius, featuring never-before-published interviews, notes, letters, and photographs.