Q: Would you be able to clarify the difference and history between Retlaw and WED? Also I was concerned about the possible hard feelings I heard existed between Walt and Roy over these two entities.
Jaimie, Chilliwack, British Columbia
A: Walt Disney created WED Enterprises in 1952 to handle his family’s interests, at first primarily in designing and creating Disneyland. Walt Disney Productions purchased WED from Walt in 1965, and at that time Walt created Retlaw (Walter spelled backwards) Enterprises to continue handling his family’s interests. (WED was renamed Walt Disney Imagineering in 1986.) Back in the early 1960s, Roy, worried about possible stockholder complaints, expressed concerns to Walt regarding the intertwined working relationship between Walt, WED, and the company, which led to a lengthy argument and the brothers not speaking to each other for a while.