Walt Disney's signature

[snopes]

Comment: I heard a rumour that the Walt Disney signature used by the company was actually designed by an animator rather than Walt Disney's real signature because he did not like the way it looked. Is that true?

[snopes]

The Walt Disney "logo" signature is certainly a stylized (rather than a literal) version of his actual signature, but I would assume it was created simply because it looked better.

[Bryan With a 'Y']

Actually, I'm quite certain Walt Disney's signature was designed by an animator.

On a similar note, Clark Gable's signature was designed by a movie star. And mine was designed by a mildly sarcastic liberal.

[mags]

Originally Posted by Bryan With a 'Y'

Actually, I'm quite certain Walt Disney's signature was designed by an animator.

That was my thought as well. If his signature could be somehow spruced up by an animator, then why couldn't he have done it himself?

[KingDavid8]

I read somewhere (sorry, I can't remember the source) that many valid Walt Disney autographs were discarded by fans as 'forgeries', since they noticed the signatures didn't match the signature used by the company.

David

[snopes]

Originally Posted by mags

That was my thought as well. If his signature could be somehow spruced up by an animator, then why couldn't he have done it himself?

Because not every animator is equally good at the same type of work. Being good at drawing a cartoon mouse doesn't necessarily mean one can create an effective business logo.

[snopes]

As Phil Sears (the Disneyana dealer) notes:

Disney's signature from the 1920's does not resemble his signature from the 1950's or 60's. Walt consciously re-designed his signature over the years, in much the same way he changed the appearance of Mickey Mouse over time. Walt's signature will look different for every decade, and then there are differences within each decade. The signature used as the logo for the Walt Disney Classics Collection, for example, is based on Walt's autograph from the end of the 1930's/beginning of the 1940's. The autographs with the big horizontal flourishes above the "W" and "D" are mainly from the 1950's and 1960's. Adding to the confusion, like most cartoonists (although this title doesn't apply past the early 1920's!) Walt also had a printed, or Roman signature which he used occasionally throughout his life. This is the signature that looks similar to (but is not the same as) the Disney Company logo. That famous Walt Disney lettering- he invented his own font! You'll usually only see this signature associated with artwork. Walt would often print his name the way the public is familiar with seeing it on matted cels or prints. Printing his name was slower than handwriting it in a cursive manner, so these signatures are not seen as often. What is seen often are the Disney Studio artist's versions of Walt's Roman signature.

[diddy]

Not surprising. Many famous people no doubt have different signatures for publicity versus how they sign their documents for obvious reasons. Heck I'm not even famous and my signature is different based on context (signing a credit slip versus signing legal documents)

[pob14]

My signature has changed a lot in the last thirty years, sometimes intentionally, sometimes not.

As a side note, if you get Mickey Mouse's autograph at Walt Disney World, it looks like Walt's handwriting.