The Truth About Walt Disney's Last Written Words

Legendary animator and businessman Walt Disney truly left his mark on the world during his 65 years of life. His brainchild went from a whistling mouse at the helm of a musical steamboat to a global media conglomerate that, as Title Max mapped out, now owns everything from Star Wars and Marvel to Fox Sports, ESPN, Vice Media, and more. Needless to say, Walt Disney left behind a thriving and creative business model that will most likely own everything we see, do, and say someday.

He also left behind somewhat of a mystery. According to Reader's Digest, when archivists went through and documented what Disney left in his office after his death in 1966, they found a note that read, "TV Projects In Production: Ready for Production or Possible for Escalation and Story," followed by a weird list of titles and names. These were: Ron Miller, 2 Way Down Cellar, Kurt Russell, and CIA — Mobley. But, what in the world did he mean by this? Let's take a look into Walt Disney's last written words and try to solve the mystery.

When reading Walt Disney's last written words, the skeptic's eye may focus on that last line in the list of names. The mention of the CIA, combined with the broad and powerful influence a man like Walt Disney must have had during the peak of his fame, leads one to imagine the man involved in a maze of surreptitious spy plots that would probably make for a great movie. The truth, however, is a bit more banal than Cold War espionage in the Happiest Place on Earth.

It turns out that Disney was really excited about a young actor named Kurt Russell, and had plans to put him in movies. "I assume, as [does] everybody else, that he was talking about some movie that he was thinking about having me in," said Russell, according to Good Housekeeping. "I don't know what to make of it other than that."

And as Mouse Planet notes, that was probably exactly the case. Russell starred in a Disney film the same year as Walt's death, after which he was offered a 10-year contract with the company. Disney must have known that Russell was going to go on to be a star, but there was one thing he had wrong at the time of those final written lines: the actor's name. The note actually reads "Kirt Russell." But surely the man who brought to life the legendary Captain Ron could forgive the gaffe.