About this episode Ever wondered about the true beginnings of the brands you interact with daily? This podcast delves deep into the origin stories of iconic companies, unearthing the untold narratives and hidden truths that never make it into official press releases. Join us as we expose the gritty realities, pivotal moments, and controversial decisions that shaped these giants, offering you a fresh, unfiltered perspective on corporate history.
0:00 you know every time a train whistle blows down in the holler i think about all the journeys people take and some of them well some of them are stories that get bigger than the person who took them oh like that story you told about the mcdonald's arches earl the one where the fellow whose name's on the sign0:20 wasn't the one who built it all that's the one bridget i'll tell you what it's the same tune with a different fiddle when you look at disney everyone thinks it was one man and a mouse all started with a wish upon a star well it wasn't i've got me brew i'm ready go on then love the honest0:42 truth is it started with bankruptcy before mickey before anything walt had a little studio in kansas city called laugh o gram and it went bust flat broke couldn't pay his people couldn't pay the rent bankrupt walt disney i never knew that you just think of him as well a success itself mhmm1:12 and right after that he and his brother roy started again they had a character a real popular one called oswald the lucky rabbit but walt didn't own him the distributor a fellow named charles mintz owned the rights and in 1927 mintz took him just took the rabbit and took most of walt's animators too oh the cheek of1:39 it so he was left with note pretty near he was on a train back from that meeting having lost everything and that's when the company says he dreamed up mickey miles a new character he would make sure he owned now i know how that sounds but hang on it sounds like a lovely story for a film the2:05 hero down on his look has a flash of inspiration that changes the world2:13 but you've got that look earl there's more to it isn't there there is there was a man named ub eyeworks walt's best friend and his chief animator a genius with a pencil and according to ub's own granddaughter the story of walt creating mickey on that train just wasn't true so you drew him who actually made the mouse2:41 ub eyeworks did he's the one who designed the character and animated that first cartoon steamboat willie walt was the voice the face the man with the vision for what to do with the character but ub's hands they drew the magic hi ub so one fella gets his statue in front of the castle and the other one gets3:09 forgotten that's about the size of it even ub himself said it isn't creating it it's what you do with it and walt he did something with it but it nearly broke him the record shows he had eight nervous breakdowns in the early thirties3:31 eight the poor man you never hear that part no you don't or that he was rejected over 300 times when he was starting out or that he and roy sometimes had to live in their office it's a world away from the fairy tales isn't it well that struggle it is and he learned from it he learned to3:56 be tough and he learned to be well secretive when he got the idea for walt disney world in florida he didn't make the same mistake he made with oswald what'd he do wolf he bought the land in secret over 27,000 acres used a bunch of fake company names so nobody would know it was disney buying up all4:20 that swamp he spent about $5,000,000 which was a right smart piece of change then but he got the land for about a $180 an acre $180 for land in florida because nobody knew who was asking that's clever that is it was he wasn't gonna let anyone take his dream away from him again not ever when you look4:48 at the whole picture the bankruptcy losing his first big star the fight for credit the secret deals he's not the clean simple story they put on the posters he's a whole lot messier but maybe maybe that's why it worked all that grit is what made the magic stick it wasn't just a wish it was a fight swear5:16 on my tackle box that is the honest truth it was a fight from the word go well that is about the size of it right then chuck that's a proper bedtime story that is night night sleep tight
