Poor Uncle Walt. Here's a man who entertained millions, started one of the world's largest media companies, and yet can't shake one vicious and very cold rumor.
Over the years, this particular story has become a full-blown urban legend -- the type of tale that usually begins with a friend of a friend swearing that "It's true!" Whenever we hear a story that begins with "Someone who used to work with my boyfriend's great-uncle told me...," we immediately become very skeptical.
When we start to feel skeptical, we check out Yahoo!'s Urban Legends category, a nice antidote to these persistent "true" stories that spread like viruses through forwarded email and watercooler chit-chat.
In this case, we checked the category and spied a link titled Urban Legends Reference Pages: Disney. The site attempts to answer the many urban legends that circulate around Disneyland, Disney movies, and Walt Disney himself.
In no time, we had found a page dedicated to the legend of a cryonically preserved Disney. It offers the not-so-glamorous details of Disney's demise: His body was cremated and interred at Forest Lawn cemetery in Glendale, California. This site also provides the history of the rumor, a copy of Disney's will, and a picture of his grave marker. Nothing Goofy about it.
