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WALT YOU ON
We live in UK’s secret Disney village & there’s tribute to us in every film… we don’t want anyone to know – here’s why
LOCALS in a tiny UK village linked to Walt Disney say they don’t want anyone to know about the connection.
It emerged that the world-famous illustrator's ancestors may have hailed from little Norton Disney in Lincolnshire.
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Disney visited the rural hamlet, which has a population of just 240, in 1949 and discovered his family’s coat of arms on a 14th-century tomb.
Disney then secretly honoured the village by incorporating the coat within flags that fly from the famous castle in its films’ title sequences.
The links - unveiled during preparations for this year's centenary celebrations - have split locals, with some concerned that their quiet village may be overrun by Disney fans.
One woman, who asked not to be named, told The Sun Online: “I moved here because it’s so quiet. We’ve got no facilities, whatsoever.
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“It’s great that Walt came but it was a long time ago and I don’t think we need to make a song and dance about it.
“Tourists coming would shatter the peace and they’d leave litter everywhere.
“I think the whole Disney connection is a bit far-fetched really. It’s all quite tenuous but some people seem to really want to make the most of it.”
Disney stopped at the village, near Newark, while on his way to Scotland in 1949, after being intrigued as to why it bore his surname.
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He learned that the French De Isnigy family had settled in the area after the 1066 Battle of Hastings, with the name changing to Disney by the 14th century.
At the village’s St Peter's Church he discovered the family’s crest, on the medieval tomb of Sir William d'Isney.
The coat - featuring three lions - has been reproduced on every Disney castle, and since 2006 the film titles have shown three lions on the castle.
Rev Jim Rooke, 79, who has lived in Norton Disney since 1978, warned Disney fans they might find themselves disappointed.
He said: “This has put the village on the map - but it’s a bit of a dead village, really.
“We’ve got a pub that opens five days a week and that’s about it.
“There’s no shop, the Post Office has long gone and there’s not even a bus service.
“We’re about right with the tourism we get. We get visitors coming to walk the footpaths and so on.
“I don’t think we could necessarily cope with more.
“I wouldn’t want to see the village Disneyfied. We put bright lights up at Christmas - but that’s about it.”
At the church, Disney fans Donna Southon, 48, and dad Eddie, 87, detoured while on holiday in Lincolnshire after reading about the village’s links.
Donna, of Royston, Herts, said: “We’re here on holiday and we didn’t really know about this place until we saw the news.
“It’s incredible that he has been here and this is where he got the idea from.
“All my nieces and nephews are Disney fans as well, so I wanted to take a few pictures to show them.”
Eddie, from Bedford, Beds, added: “I couldn’t believe it. All the time I’ve been to Norton Disney and I didn’t realise there was such a history with the Walt Disney family.
“The village should do more to make it known but I suppose it’s not really set up for tourists.
“They probably don’t want a lot of people turning up in cars. The pub would be pleased about it but perhaps the locals want to keep the place to themselves.”
Walt Disney’s nod to Norton Disney can be seen at the company’s six theme parks. Main Street, the village’s central road, shares its name with a thoroughfare at Disneyland.
Home footage held by the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco shows Walt and his family walking down Main Street and posing near the village signs.
He donated signed sketches of characters including Pinocchio, Snow White and Jiminy Cricket, on display in the village hall.
Norton Disney resident Chris Yarnell said some residents are discussing ways to further celebrate their Disney links.
One suggestion is to seek permission to use the Disney logo or characters on signs entering the village.
Chris, a self-confessed Disney fan who has visited its theme parks 11 times, said: “There is a will to do something, definitely.
“But there’s probably an equal amount of people that like their own lives, keep their heads down and mow the grass.
“But you will find that everywhere.
“It’s a difficult balance, I suppose.”
Chris, 65, added: “My wife and I are big Disney fans. We’ve been to Florida many times.
“It was a coincidence that we moved here but when we were doing research online we found that there was this tenuous connection to Walt Disney.”
To celebrate the centenary, Disney has presented the village with a specially commissioned picture of Mickey and Minnie Mouse walking through Norton Disney, drawn by company illustrator Kim Raymond.
Historian Sebastien Durand said it is impossible to prove whether Walt Disney was 100 per cent related to the Disneys of Norton Disney but that it is highly likely.
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He told the BBC: “We know that the Disney name began in France, continued in England and went to Ireland and then to America, so obviously all people who share that name Disney, including Walt Disney, share that same history.
"Nobody can trace a direct history over 1,000 years except if he is from a royal family."
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