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Right after Walt Disney died in December 1996 due to lung cancer, there was a reporter who claimed to see Disney's body in a cryogenics metal cylinder. This is what started the world-wide rumor of him being frozen after he had passed. AS time went on, the belief of the rumor and reality meshed into one. Until in 2019, a theory was created. And it was believed that the movie "Frozen" was created in order to cover up the speculation of Disney being frozen. If someone were to look up, "Disney Frozen '' or a statement like that, the movie would pop up instead. Thus, burying the rumor of Disney's frozen body.

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I think it's safe to say most people have heard some sort of version of the theory of Walt Disney's body being frozen after he passed. Some say it was just his head, others claim it was his full body. I personally didn't know this wasn't an actual fact until recently, which now sounds naive. But, regardless, we've all heard of Walt Disney being in a freezer somewhere, waiting for the technology that could "bring him back to life'"to be invented.

The rumor started a little after Disney died from lung cancer in December of 1996. Just a few weeks after Disney's passing, a reporter claimed he had snuck into the hospital Disney passed away in and broke into the storage room, where he saw Disney's body in a cryogenic metal cylinder. There's no photograph, no proof, nothing in support of this claim being true. Newspapers around the world heard of the reporter's claim and published it as a fact, thus fueling the rumor. However, Disney's known obsession with futuristic technology, which could potentially better the world, didn't really help his case.

As the decades went on, the line between rumor and truth continued to blur. Somewhere down the road, believers pointed out that the first man to ever be cryogenically frozen just so happened to be in the same city Disney is reportedly buried in, and was frozen only a month after Disney's passing. This proved that the technology existed at the same time and at the same place too. In addition, Bob Nelson, former president of the Los Angeles-based Cryonics Society of California, claimed Disney had called and asked a lot of in-depth questions about being frozen early on in his sickness.

Here's the thing, the tabloid that the reporter supposedly worked for, National Spotlite, hasn't been found in any major newspaper archives. This makes it possible that the tabloid didn't exist and neither did the reporter, bringing us back to the theory being just a rumor. There also isn't anything of Disney's that would lead one to think he knew anything about cryonics, besides Nelson's claims - which, really can't be proven to be anything other than claims. Disney's family members have even denied Disney being frozen, some even took offense.

The last thing that has believers raising eyebrows is that in the cemetery where Disney's ashes are said to be buried, there is no evidence or indicator of any remains of the legend being on his family plot, meaning Disney's remains may not be where they were said to be. His daughter's plate states "ashes scattered in paradise," suggesting her ashes were elsewhere. Surely, the creator of the largest media incorporation in the world would have a nameplate of his own on his family plot?

Recently, around 2019, there was a new theory born from the claim of Disney's body being frozen. People across the internet started and continue to believe that the movie "Frozen" was actually meant to be a distraction to Disney lovers. Truly, this sounds absurd, but the concept behind this is interesting. If you were to google "Disney Frozen," all that pops up is the movie. The movie's title keeps search engines from pulling up articles about Disney's frozen body. Instead, the articles are all on Disney's "Frozen." If you google even just the word, it's evidently true that the movie shows up more than anything else.

The New York Post made an interesting point too. The movie loosely follows the story of an old fairy tale, like many Disney movies. They could've kept the original name, "The Snow Queen" and credited the original author, Hans Christian Anderson. But, Disney wanted to make it their own by using their own title... or was that the reason?

Rumor has it ... "Frozen" was a movie title strategically thought of.

Lauren Reid is a senior at UT this year majoring in journalism. She can be reached at lreid9@vols.utk.edu.

Columns and letters of The Daily Beacon are the views of the individual and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Beacon or the Beacon's editorial staff.

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Rumor Has It: Disney picked the title 'Frozen' as a distraction

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I think it's safe to say most people have heard some sort of version of the theory of Walt Disney's body being frozen after he passed. Some say it was

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This video goes on to describe that Disney created the movie “Frozen” in order to cover up the theory of Walt Disney being frozen. A rumor was passed around that Disney had been cryogenically frozen in order to “live forever.” He did this in order to be thawed out and be brought back to life in the later future. Some people believe that his body remains underneath the ride, Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland. Another rumor was created that the CEO of Disney, Bob Iger, created the movie “Frozen” in order to distract the internet from the conspiracy theories and for it to be remained a secret.

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Disney Theory: Was Frozen Created To Hide The Truth About Walt Disney?

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After Walt Disney was diagnosed with lung cancer, he wanted to find a way in order to be able to live forever. Cryonic preservation was fairly new at the time and it wasn't successful until a month after Disney's death. This concludes that Disney could not have been preserved. Another piece of evidence is that his death certificate stated that he was cremated and interred at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. Therefore, his body could not have been preserved and brought back to life later on.

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Was Walt Disney frozen after death? There are some rumors suggesting that Walt Disney, the beloved creator behind Mickey Mouse and Disneyland, was cryogenically preserved after his death in 1966. Further, there's a rumor that his frozen body is hidden deep beneath Disneyland. Are these rumors true? Trust & Will investigates.

Is Walt Disney's Body Frozen?

Walter Elias Disney, commonly known as Walt Disney, is the world-famous animator and business tycoon that founded the Disney franchise.

Disney visited his doctor after experiencing leg and neck pain. Sadly, x-rays and following surgeries revealed an aggressive lung cancer that had spread throughout his body. Although the cancer was treated immediately, the beloved icon passed away in a matter of weeks, on December 15, 1966.

While these are factual details of Disney's death, it's what happens after that becomes quite an enigma, surrounded with secrecy and speculation. One of the popular rumors surrounding Walt Disney's death was that he had his body frozen.

Cryonic preservation is a method of preserving a body by freezing it in a liquid nitrogen vapor chamber. It is stored for the foreseeable future, although scientists state that the technology to reanimate a cryonically preserved body is not available today, and it may never be. Individuals who choose to have their remains frozen often have a "nothing to lose" mindset, but have optimism for a future world where the science or technology to revive or reanimate a frozen body is possible. Cryonics is a controversial topic, as many believe it is science fiction, with an emphasis on the word fiction.

There are even some rumors claiming that Walt Disney's frozen body is hidden deep underneath the Disneyland grounds in Anaheim, CA. Some claim that it is under Cinderella's Castle or under the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.

Although there must be so many fans that would love to see their beloved animator come back to life, the rumors are not true - Walt Disney was not frozen.

The first documented case of cryonic preservation took place one month after Disney's death. The subject was Dr. James Bedford, a psychologist who was cryonically preserved and stored under the care of Alcor Life Extension Foundation, a non-profit organization that leads the charge in cryonic preservation technology.

If cryonic preservation didn't begin until a month after Disney's death, how and why did these rumors begin?

Where did the Walt Disney frozen rumor come from?

No one can pinpoint exactly where the rumors about Walt Disney's allegedly frozen body, as well as its hiding place, came from.

In 1964, Robert Ettinger published the book, The Prospect of Immortality, which created a buzz about cryonic preservation. With Disney passing away just too years later, the idea of him freezing his body wasn't implausible. However, the rumors didn't just start there; they continued long after his death.

In 1986, twenty years after Disney's death, author Leonard Mosley published the biography Disney's World. The book claimed that Disney was fascinated by cryonic preservation as his health declined, and that he had his lung surgically removed and preserved in its entirety in case he was later brought back to life.

However, many of the claims and statements made by Mosley were discredited. Disney passed away just weeks after his cancer diagnosis, not leaving him very much time to research and think about cutting-edge science. Further, doctors preserved only samples of his lung for scientific study, not the entire organ.

Mosley credits colleagues and advisors as the sources of his information on Walt Disney. While it's possible that employees could have perpetuated a rumor regarding Disney's cryonic preservation, much of the book's claims and statements have since been discredited.

A second possible source of the Disney cryonics rumor is Marc Elliot's 1993 biography, Walt Disney: Hollywood's Dark Prince. The biography continued the narrative regarding Disney's desire to preserve his body. Further, the book made it appear that Disney was obsessed with death, that he had a "growing preoccupation with his own mortality." The book also stated that Disney wanted to preserve his body at all costs.

However, Elliot did not name any sources. Not only were his claims discredited by Disney authorities, Disney's direct family members denied having had any conversations with Walt regarding his desire to be frozen. His daughter Diane stated in 1972 that she does not believe that Disney had ever heard of cryonics, let alone would he have had a desire to be frozen.

Was Walt Disney cremated or buried?

Family members of Walt Disney have confirmed that his end-of-life wishes were to be cremated. His death certificate shows that he was cremated just two days after his passing, a total of 34 days after his cancer was discovered.

Where are Walt Disney's remains?

Walt Disney's ashes were interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. You can find his marked burial plot there, in a small private garden located to the left of the Freedom Mausoleum entrance.

Cremation, burial & natural funerals- know your burial options

Was Walt Disney frozen? While the public loves a good conspiracy theory, attempts to claim that Walt Disney had his remains cryonically preserved have been discredited. His own family members have provided statements that Disney was cremated shortly after his death. His ashes were interred at a memorial park, along with those of other family members.

Disney notoriously hated funerals, and thus kept the details surrounding his illness and end-of-life wishes very private. When he passed away, he did not have a funeral, and only his immediate family members were present for the interment of his ashes. Perhaps this desire for privacy by a man loved all around the world created room for speculation.

The mystery surrounding Disney's end-of-life wishes does get one thinking about their own preferences. How private are you regarding your own wishes? Would you want to be cremated, buried, or even cryonically preserved? Would you want the world to know, or would you want your decisions to be kept private?

Learn about different types of funerals here to help you ponder that decision. Whatever you decide, be sure that at least one person will be made aware of your wishes, no matter how private you wish to be. Make your end-of-life wishes known by documenting them in your estate plan. Take our free quiz to see where you should get started, or compare our different estate planning and settlement options today!

Is there a question here we didn't answer? Browse more topics in our learn center or chat with a live member support representative!
Trust & Will is an online service providing legal forms and information. We are not a law firm and we do not provide legal advice.

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Fact or Fiction: Was Walt Disney Frozen? | Trust & Will

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Was Walt Disney frozen after death? There are some rumors suggesting that Walt Disney, the beloved creator behind Mickey Mouse and Disneyland, was cryogenically preserved after his death in 1966. Further, there's a rumor that his frozen body is hidden deep beneath Disneyland. Are these rumors true? Trust & Will investigates.

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Fans have seemed to believe that the rumor of Disney being frozen is the truth. Even though there is proof that Walt Disney has been cremated, it still hasn't stopped people from believing the conspiracy theory that the movie “Frozen” was made to cover it up. The movie itself made over $1.2 billion dollars worldwide and is very popular on the web and Youtube with the famous song “Let it Go” with more than 600 million views. When people want to find more information about Disney being frozen with cryogenics, the movie itself would pop up instead of the conspiracy theory.

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Conspiracy theorists just won't let it go.

In a bizarre new theory from Screen Rant, Disney fans are claiming that the studio chose to name its 2013 smash-hit movie "Frozen" to distract people from the popular urban legend that Walt Disney was cryogenically frozen with hopes of reanimation.

The legend first gained popularity in 1972 after the LA Times reported that Walt was interested in the cryogenic process, according to Los Angeles Magazine.

However, it is widely accepted that Mickey Mouse's creator was cremated.

That didn't stop the rumors from growing and persisting over the years.

Screen Rant states that before 2013's "Frozen" came out, Google searches of "Disney frozen" yielded results surrounding Walt's body. Now with the same search query, results for the ear-worm-heavy film suffocate web pages like an avalanche.

This might be an attempt to protect the media giant's squeaky clean image, but it's more likely just a name chosen for the film, which admittedly contains a lot of ice and sub-freezing locales.

"Like a lot of Disney movies Frozen is loosely based off an old fairy tale called The Snow Queens by Hans Christian Anderson," the narrator says in Screen Rant's Youtube video. "It could have been called anything - The Ice Princess, Snow Sisters..."

"Frozen" made over $1.2 billion worldwide, spawned a Broadway musical and its official YouTube video for the song " Let It Go " has been viewed more than 600 million times.

This isn't the first time fans have tried to find sinister meanings in the family-friendly studio's films.

Conspiracies surrounding instances of sexual innuendo and subliminal messages are infamous in animated classics such as "Aladdin" and "The Lion King."

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'Frozen' at the center of bizarre new Disney conspiracy

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Conspiracy theorists just won't let it go. In a bizarre new theory from Screen Rant, Disney fans are claiming that the studio chose to name its 2013 smash-hit movie "Frozen" to distract people from the popular urban legend that Walt Disney was cryogenically frozen with hopes of reanimation.

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Rumor has it that the movie “Frozen” was only created to hide the truth of Walt Disney wanting to be frozen in order to be brought back to life in the future and live forever. His daughter, Diane, refuted this theory after being constantly harassed and bombarded with questions. She then told the public that Disney never mentioned anything with his death and the thoughts of being frozen with cryogenics.

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Disney Theory: Was Frozen Created To Hide The Truth About Walt Disney?

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Disney's Frozen was a massive success when it launched in 2013, but a theory suggests it only exists to hide the truth about Walt Disney. Disney found great success upon the release of Frozen in 2013, but a crazy theory wonders if the entire movie only exists to hide the truth behind Disney's founder, Walt Disney.

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There have been many rumors about the death of Walt Disney. One rumor was that he was frozen with cryogenics in order to be brought back to life in the future once science could make it happy. Another rumor was that only the head of Disney is frozen. People then began to over emphasize the rumor and say that his head is buried under the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland in Anaheim California 3 months after his death. Even with zero evidence, people still are persistent in believing that the conspiracy theory is true.

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The truth behind Walt Disney's frozen head

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It's one of Hollywood's strangest yet most widely believed urban myths, but is there any truth in it?

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One of the biggest urban legends in the Disney fandom was that Walt Disney's corpse was frozen in a cryogenic chamber containing liquid nitrogen that was intended to bring him back to life later on in time. It was brought up by a conspiracist that the movie made by Disney, “Frozen” was created in order to cover up the rumors of Disney being frozen and that way when trying to dig up information over the rumor on the internet, the disney movie would pop up instead.

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When you hear "Disney on Ice," you may think of the wildly popular ice shows featuring Mickey and Minnie Mouse and others skating in hockey arenas across the nation. But there's also the disturbing urban legend that Walt Disney's corpse was frozen in a cryonic chamber containing liquid nitrogen to be revived at a later date.

This week 52 years ago, television and radio broadcasts shared the news that Walter Elias Disney had died. The cartoon mogul who created Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck had produced some of Hollywood's greatest hits, dreamed up Disneyland and Disney World, and was one of world's most beloved storytellers. He was 65.

It is hard to pin down exactly when the rumors began. In early 1967, a few weeks after Disney's death on Dec. 15, 1966, a reporter for a tabloid newspaper called The National Spotlite claimed he had snuck into St. Joseph's Hospital in Burbank, directly across the street from the Disney studios and where he was treated during his final illness. As the story went, the reporter disguised himself as an orderly, broke into a storage room, and saw the deceased Disney suspended in a cryogenic metal cylinder!

Some went as far as to claim that his burial spot was a freezer stored underneath the "Pirates of the Caribbean" ride at Disneyland.

In 1969, the French magazine Ici Paris and, later still, The National Tattler in the U.S. advanced the rumors by predicting Disney would be thawed out in 1975. Some went as far as to claim that his burial spot was a freezer stored underneath the "Pirates of the Caribbean" ride at Disneyland. (It's not!)

And then there were several former Disney employees who continued to spread false stories about Disney's supposed "big freeze." During the 1990s, these now discredited legends were codified as "expert quotes" in a couple of less than reliable Disney biographies.

To be sure, Disney was a science fiction fan who looked forward to future advances in science, technology and medicine. His creation of EPCOT, "Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow," (which his brother Roy later slashed into a quasi world's fair), was originally designed to demonstrate how Americans would live, work and survive in the future.

And Disney couldn't help but raise some eyebrows with the last film he produced. Sensing his impending demise, he ordered the cameras to roll as he addressed his department heads one last time. Seated at his famous desk, just like he did during his television show that aired each Sunday evening, a smiling Walt appeared to make laser-beam eye contact with each colleague as he told them what he expected of their performance in the future and that he hoped to see them soon.

Some have speculated that he had read, or heard of, Robert C.W. Ettinger's 1964 book, "The Prospect of Immortality," which synthesized both believable and less likely ideas about cryonics.

That book, and many others like it that appeared long after Disney's death, predicted a day when medical science advanced enough to repair the damage to the once disease-riddled person who was frozen, allowing cryonics experts to thaw them out and bring them back to life.

For the record, there is no solid evidence to suggest that Disney was frozen. The website Snopes.com has produced a superb point-by-point analysis refuting virtually every aspect of the cryogenics and Walt Disney legend. Perhaps the most convincing conclusion comes from Disney's daughter Diane, who wrote in 1972, "There is absolutely no truth that my father, Walt Disney, wished to be frozen. I doubt that my father had ever heard of cryonics."

In truth, Walt Disney was cremated two days after his death and an urn containing his ashes were interred at the family mausoleum in the Forrest Lawn Cemetery of Glendale, California. It was a small, private service attended only by his wife, Lillian, his daughters and their husbands and children.

A chronic smoker, Disney's staff always knew when he was coming down the hall because of his hacking, dry cough. He had been in declining health for much of the last year of his life. Fans of the NBC television show "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color" began to notice how haggard and exhausted he looked on the air and wrote concerned letters to him about how raspy his voice had become. He was a long-time sufferer of chronic-obstructive pulmonary disease and emphysema, as well as severe damage to his cervical spine from falling off a horse while playing in a Hollywood polo tournament in the 1930s.

In early November of 1966, Disney began to complain of severe neck and leg pain that interfered with his legendary ability to work and create. A chest X-ray uncovered a tumor the size of a walnut in his left lung and oncological surgeons recommended the immediate removal of a large portion of his left lung.

He cleared the most pressing things on his desk and returned to St. Joseph's for surgery on Nov. 6. The surgeons found the tumor to be consistent with bronchogenic cancer. Disney's concern about this extensive surgery was how short of breath he was, but the real problem was that the lung cancer had already spread widely to his lymph nodes and elsewhere in his body.

Who among us wouldn't want to fantasize about the day he magically came back to life?

The always energetic man struggled to go back to the Disney studios after the operation, but the chemotherapy and cobalt X-ray treatments drained him of both his creative and physical powers. He was rushed back to St. Joseph's Hospital two weeks later and died of "circulatory collapse" on the morning of Dec. 15.

When contemplating his near-Himalayan shadow over popular culture, it's not hard to imagine why a "Disney on Ice" legend is so appealing. Americans never stopped loving good old Uncle Walt and all those wonderful stories, songs, and characters he introduced to the world. Our children and their children continue to thrill to the always familiar yet constantly expanding magical oeuvre that is Disney. Who among us wouldn't want to fantasize about the day he magically came back to life?

Alas, that's the most unlikely event ever to be dreamed up at the Disney dream factories.

Editor's Note: St. Joseph's Hospital was incorrectly listed as being located in Anaheim, California; it is located in Burbank.

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How a strange rumor of Walt Disney's death became legend

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When you hear "Disney on Ice," you may think of the wildly popular ice shows featuring Mickey and Minnie Mouse and others skating in hockey arenas across the nation. But there's also the disturbing urban legend that Walt Disney's corpse was frozen in a cryonic chamber.