Walt Disney carried a heavy burden of guilt over the tragic death of his mother, Flora, in 1938. Even decades after the incident, the mere mention of her could provoke an intense reaction from him.
The legendary creator, known for bringing happiness to countless individuals through characters like Mickey Mouse and laying the foundation for what evolved into a $186 billion media powerhouse, was deeply distressed by Flora’s demise. She passed away at 70 due to carbon monoxide poisoning from a malfunctioning furnace.
Walt shared a close-knit relationship with his mother during his formative years, often engaging in playful antics with her. Some of his pranks included presenting her with a fake severed thumb in a box and dressing in her clothes to impersonate a woman.
Flora was a dynamic woman who sold homemade butter to neighbors, meticulously managed the family’s finances, and took charge of designing and decorating the houses constructed by her husband, Elias.
As noted in Bob Thomas’s 1976 biography, *Walt Disney: An American Original,* Flora once remarked, “There’s nothing mysterious about designing a house,” reflecting her practical approach. She added, “And a woman should be well-versed in making it comfortable to live in.”
‘And a woman ought to know more about making it livable.’
Walt Disney blamed himself for the untimely death of his mother, Flora, in 1938 and would snap at anyone who dared to ask about her, even 20 years after the tragic accident
During the height of the Great Depression in the 1930s, Flora and Elias were struggling financially while managing apartment houses in Portland, Oregon. Elias was also suffering from a bad rupture while Flora had a succession of small strokes.
‘We have been worried for some time for fear you and Dad have been attempting too much and jeopardizing your health,’ Walt wrote to Flora in 1936.
‘I think you should keep in mind that your health is worth far more than any money that might be derived by trying to do too much with your own hands. After all, money is no good to us if we do not have good health to enjoy it.’
The 22-time Oscar winner and his brother/cofounder, Roy, were soon basking in the groundbreaking success of making the United States’ first-ever animated feature film: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It went on to become the highest-grossing movie of 1938 and amass $418million.
The Disney brothers convinced Flora and Elias to relocate to Los Angeles and bought them a brand new house in Toluca Lake as a present for their 50th wedding anniversary on New Year’s Day 1938.
By September, Walt and Roy had paid $8,300 for a three-bedroom, two-bathroom house. They furnished the 1936-built single family home at a cost of between $2,500 and $3,000.
‘More important it has a good heating system,’ Roy wrote Walt of the central gas heater with forced circulation.
However, the fancy furnace quickly began to malfunction, so the Disney brothers dispatched one of their studio workmen to repair it.
On the morning of November 26, tragedy struck. Flora collapsed on the bathroom floor, and Elias fainted in the hallway while searching for her. The lid on the furnace’s air intake had slipped, recirculating toxic exhaust into the house all night long.
During the height of the Great Depression in the 1930s, Flora and husband Elias were struggling financially while managing several small apartment houses in Portland, Oregon. He was suffering from a bad rupture while she experienced a succession of small strokes
Walt and his brother/cofounder, Roy, convinced their parents to move to Los Angeles following the groundbreaking success of making the United States’ first-ever animated feature film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, in 1937
The Disney brothers moved them into a rented apartment on Commonwealth Street before announcing they’d buy them a brand new house as a present for their 50th ‘golden’ wedding anniversary on New Year’s Day of 1938
By September, Walt and Roy had paid $8,300 for a three-bedroom, two-bathroom house in LA’s Toluca Lake neighborhood. They also furnished the 1936-built single family home at a cost of between $2,500 and $3,000
Quick-thinking housekeeper Alma Smith, who felt woozy herself, discovered the unconscious couple at 8am.
Smith called the police and they were all rushed by ambulance to Hollywood Hospital where Elias was revived but remained ‘in serious condition.’ Flora was pronounced dead on arrival from asphyxiation.
It was only two days after Elias and Flora had celebrated Thanksgiving dinner at Walt and his wife Lillian’s Tudor-style home in Los Feliz.
Roy ordered a report on the leaky gas heater, which determined that the ‘installation of the furnace showed either a complete lack of knowledge of the requirements of the furnace or a flagrant disregard of these conditions if they were known.’
On November 26, Flora and Elias collapsed from fumes through a faulty furnace and their housekeeper, Alma Smith, alerted authorities. Flora was pronounced dead on arrival to Hollywood Hospital from asphyxiation while Elias was in ‘serious condition’ and survived
Roy (right) ordered a report on the leaky gas heater, which determined that the ‘installation of the furnace showed either a complete lack of knowledge of the requirements of the furnace or a flagrant disregard of these conditions if they were known’
Walt, the 22-time Oscar winner, was still sore on the topic in 1958 when one of his secretaries casually mentioned Flora’s death and he sternly replied: ‘I don’t want that ever brought up in this office again’ (pictured in 1955)
Following the tragedy, Walt produced countless movies centering on orphaned or motherless characters
Walt had all the best intentions buying the house, so his ‘misery deepened’ by the fact that it directly caused Flora’s death. His guilt grew exponentially when he realized ‘the culpability of his own workmen.’
After the funeral, the grieving Disney brothers – who felt ‘personally responsible’ – continued to regularly visit their mother’s gravesite inside Forest Lawn Memorial Park’s Sanctuary of Truth in Glendale.
Years later, when Walt’s daughter Sharon asked him where her grandparents were buried, he lashed out, ‘I don’t want to talk about it’ – according to Neal Gabler’s 2006 biography, Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination.
In 1958, when one of his secretaries casually mentioned Flora’s death, he sternly replied: ‘I don’t want that ever brought up in this office again.’
Following the tragedy, Walt produced countless movies centering on orphaned or motherless characters.
It could be seen in films including Pinocchio (1940), Bambi (1942), Cinderella (1950), Pollyanna (1960),The Sword in the Stone (1963) and The Jungle Book (1967).
The Walt Disney Family Museum declined to comment on this article.
