Walt Disney is known for his popular work on iconic figures such as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Mary Poppins. However, there is so much more to Disney than his work. Jeff Kurtti, author, Disney historian and leading authority for The Walt Disney Company, has strived to bring academia and scholarly work to Walt Disney. 

In late September, Kurtti was appointed a presidential fellow at Chapman. Kurtti and his appointee, Brian Alters will collaborate on the research about Walt Disney and how he influenced the memorable and iconic Disney work.

“I was offered by Dr. Struppa to study the feasibility of making the study of Walt Disney himself and of his work. The idea was, ‘Can we establish and make credible and feasible the idea of the ongoing study of Walt Disney’s life and work and the results of that in a manner that has credibility and academic validity and has scholarly worth,’” Kurtti said in an interview with The Panther. 

Kurtti and Alters plan to develop a think tank to successfully allow the public to understand how influential Walt Disney is. The think tank will be a group effort from multiple researchers here at Chapman and they plan to publish several scholarly articles and lectures. 

“We want to academize Walt Disney — the think tank hasn’t been formed yet but we plan to bring a group of intellectuals together and conduct research, produce scholarly literature, all about Walt Disney, just like scholars would do about Shakespeare,” said Alters in an interview with The Panther. 

Alters’ class, The Pursuit of Happiness and Knowledge: Walt Disney and Charles Darwin, has been a popular class here at Chapman. His focus is to give reason and explain how Walt Disney should be studied to the same extent as theorists like Charles Darwin or writers like Shakespeare.

The think tank project will shed light on topics that have not been covered in previous studies about Walt Disney and his work, such as Disney’s business tactics, culture and academia. 

“Disney has been juvenilized because he appeals to young kids, which is something that Disney suffers from. As scholars, we will think of more than this appeal, from his music, art and film,” said Alters. “One area we want to focus on is his work’s affiliation with happiness — which is a quality our country is built upon.” 

Besides his long time researching Walt Disney and working for the Walt Disney Company, Kurtti was also the creative director for The Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco and a producer of the documentary about Disney songwriters “The Boys: The Sherman Brothers’ Story.” 

When asked why Kurtti decided on this specific topic of Walt Disney, he stated that many people tend to focus on the princesses and theme park aspect of Disney. But not the intellectual, business, and technological aspects. He plans for this project to be a reliable source and provide valuable documents for researchers studying Walt Disney.

“I have been lecturing at Dr. Alter’s class for years and we’ve always had these conversations about Walt Disney’s status in the world of academia, and why there isn’t more focus on serious scholarship of Walt’s intellect. He is always on the list of the world's influential people but he has never studied about him and his work,” said Kurtti. 

Kurtti also strives for clarity and truth about Walt Disney and who he truly was, putting an end to all the myths there are about him.