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Los Angeles

Home of Walt Disney’s first L.A. studio in danger of demolition

Walt Disney and the home at 4406 Kingswell Avenue (credit: Google Plus, Tales of the Flowers)
Walt Disney and the home at 4406 Kingswell Avenue (credit: Google Plus, Tales of the Flowers)

The modest bungalow at 4406 Kingswell Avenue has two bedrooms and totals 1,458 square feet.

Beyond its architectural details, however, this Los Feliz house has a remarkable legacy: It was here that a 22-year-old Walt Disney set up a makeshift animation studio, one that would grow into a $170 billion media enterprise.

The property was sold two months ago, and its new owners, Sang Ho and Krystal Yoo of Studio City, are not feeling very nostalgic about its role in the Mickey Mouse empire. They have requested a demolition permit for the 1914-built home, Los Angeles Magazine reported.

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While it is not officially a historic property, the city’s Survey L.A. program deemed it eligible for the National Register of Historic Places in November.

Walt Disney moved into this house, which belonged to his aunt Charlotte and uncle Robert Disney, in July of 1923. After he couldn’t find work at a studio, the industrious animator set up a makeshift studio in the garage behind the house with scrap lumber, crates and a $500 loan from his uncle. This was the beginning of the Disney Brothers Studio.

Along with his brother Roy, Disney made his first film made in L.A., Alice’s Day at Sea, right before Christmas of 1923. [LAM] — Cathaleen Chen

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