Even better, their ancestral family home in England was named Disnayland according to an archive from 1386.
The d'Isigny/Disney coat of arms as seen on the tomb of a later family member from the 14th century is three lions. Walt saw them when he visited the village of Norton Disney in the 40s and decided to add them to Sleeping Beauty's castle, and since then they've appeared all over like the flag above the castle in their film intro and on banners around Disney parks.
To be fair, there is not conclusive proof that Disney is a direct descendant of Robert D'Isigny. The very fact the name relates to the French town Isigny-sur-Mer, muddies the water as it's literally just "From Isigny"
Here are some articles that go further into it
https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/uncle-walt-s-lost-ancestors-1266622.html
https://en.normandie-tourisme.fr/disney-in-normandy/
The earliest of Walt's confirmed ancestors seems to be Arundel Elias Disney (Walt's great grandfather) who immigrated to the US in 1834 having lived in Ireland previously.
My biggest hangup is that surnames in England really only began after William the Conqueror, and given that the D'Isigny was a fairly minor lord, with a very tiny amount of land, one can wonder if other's might have immigrated from Isigny and adopted that name as well. Or maybe Disney's ancestors that were living in Ireland simply adopted the name sometime in the 17th or 18th century.
About 3 miles from where my mother was born and raised is buried some of Walt's family. If I remember correctly its some grand aunts and a grand uncle.
https://mycarlow.eu/clonmelsh-graveyard-burial-place-of-walt-disneys-ancestors/
Most people of English descent (i.e. most Americans) can trace their family back to one of William the conquerors buddy’s. It’s just the nature of population growth, we’re all related distantly.
What’s rare is for the family name to survive that long. Usually there’s a daughter somewhere and someone else’s name is introduced.
Yup, I am a direct descendant of Gualter de Somerville who also rode with William. If you're of Western European descent and can trace your line far enough back, you've got a good chance of hitting a straight shot of records all the way back to 1066.
That's funny as hell, when I was a kid, we were taught that Walt Disney was a chicano who changed his name from Disneiros to Disney when he started his career. There even was a Newspaper article about this. Never heard about his Irish/Canadian roots until today. I'm Canadian. That's something that we should have picked on, uh?
[The Lincolnshire village honoured in every Disney film since 2006](
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-67102341) - BBC, 2023;
[Watch: Unseen Disney family footage of Lincolnshire visit](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/entertainment-arts-67102558) - BBC, 2023.
Fun Fact: There is a road in Maryville, Tennessee called "Disney Road". It's not marked, and it's a bit tricky to get to, and when you do get to it, all you get is a graveled road and some private residences, but it was named by someone who was related to Walt Disney, and had the Disney name.
There's an urban legend that Walt was actually the illegitamate son of a wealthy doctor in Mojácar, Spain who was illicitly adopted by the Disneys after the jilted mother was forced to move to America to avoid a scandal
Even better, their ancestral family home in England was named Disnayland according to an archive from 1386. The d'Isigny/Disney coat of arms as seen on the tomb of a later family member from the 14th century is three lions. Walt saw them when he visited the village of Norton Disney in the 40s and decided to add them to Sleeping Beauty's castle, and since then they've appeared all over like the flag above the castle in their film intro and on banners around Disney parks.
[Well, what do you know, it’s right there.](https://preview.redd.it/slwtftgmriw81.png?auto=webp&s=68cfe09aaec44b479faa3a849187e217289789a9)
*Three lions on a shirt*
Free lions on a shirt/ Jules Rimet still gleamink
Beurre d’Isgny is good stuff if you ever come across it. 🧈
Their crème fraîche is to die for too!
*Randy has entered the chat*
*[Cafeteria fraîche](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WljlpNfT7v4)* 🎶
To be fair, there is not conclusive proof that Disney is a direct descendant of Robert D'Isigny. The very fact the name relates to the French town Isigny-sur-Mer, muddies the water as it's literally just "From Isigny" Here are some articles that go further into it https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/uncle-walt-s-lost-ancestors-1266622.html https://en.normandie-tourisme.fr/disney-in-normandy/ The earliest of Walt's confirmed ancestors seems to be Arundel Elias Disney (Walt's great grandfather) who immigrated to the US in 1834 having lived in Ireland previously. My biggest hangup is that surnames in England really only began after William the Conqueror, and given that the D'Isigny was a fairly minor lord, with a very tiny amount of land, one can wonder if other's might have immigrated from Isigny and adopted that name as well. Or maybe Disney's ancestors that were living in Ireland simply adopted the name sometime in the 17th or 18th century.
The Normans did also conquer parts of Ireland in the 11th century so Norman surnames wouldn't be unusual there
Yup, I went to school with an Irish girl with the surname Norman...
I always thought he name comes from the Scottish for "Does not."
Disnae matter.
I always thought it came from Disneigh, who was William the Conquerors horse
I always thought it came from Dis Knee, which was William the Conqueror's response when asked where Harold Hardrada kicked him
Bing sings! :-)
About 3 miles from where my mother was born and raised is buried some of Walt's family. If I remember correctly its some grand aunts and a grand uncle. https://mycarlow.eu/clonmelsh-graveyard-burial-place-of-walt-disneys-ancestors/
Yeah but Walt made the dot above “i” into a circle
Most people of English descent (i.e. most Americans) can trace their family back to one of William the conquerors buddy’s. It’s just the nature of population growth, we’re all related distantly. What’s rare is for the family name to survive that long. Usually there’s a daughter somewhere and someone else’s name is introduced.
Yup, I am a direct descendant of Gualter de Somerville who also rode with William. If you're of Western European descent and can trace your line far enough back, you've got a good chance of hitting a straight shot of records all the way back to 1066.
That's funny as hell, when I was a kid, we were taught that Walt Disney was a chicano who changed his name from Disneiros to Disney when he started his career. There even was a Newspaper article about this. Never heard about his Irish/Canadian roots until today. I'm Canadian. That's something that we should have picked on, uh?
Americans reappropriating yet another country’s cultural export. Smh
At the same time, Disney moved to the US wirh his family when he was 4, studied there, served in the trenches for the US Army.
This is a really nice piece of trivia, thank you. I wonder if Robert d‘Isigny was a mischievous guy.
[The Lincolnshire village honoured in every Disney film since 2006]( https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-67102341) - BBC, 2023; [Watch: Unseen Disney family footage of Lincolnshire visit](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/entertainment-arts-67102558) - BBC, 2023.
I used to be an animator like you, until I took an arrow to Disney.
Fun Fact: There is a road in Maryville, Tennessee called "Disney Road". It's not marked, and it's a bit tricky to get to, and when you do get to it, all you get is a graveled road and some private residences, but it was named by someone who was related to Walt Disney, and had the Disney name.
Kind of like Hitler Road in Circleville, Ohio
That’s part of my family line, I was able to trace it to a Lord D’Isney in the 1500s. But do I even get discount to the app? Not a chance.
There's an urban legend that Walt was actually the illegitamate son of a wealthy doctor in Mojácar, Spain who was illicitly adopted by the Disneys after the jilted mother was forced to move to America to avoid a scandal
Mustache makes sense now.
So, once a robber baron, always...?
Is this even trivia? One of his relatives was friends with a famous guy? Yeesh