Newly Named Square Memorializes Disney's 1920s LA Beginnings

LOS ANGELES, CA — In a reminder of the small seed that would grow into an entertainment empire over the following century, city officials recently memorialized the very first Disney studio in Los Feliz by dubbing the street corner it sat on as “Disney Bros. Cartoon Studio Square."

When Walt and Roy Disney moved to Los Angeles, they landed at their uncle Robert Disney's house on Kingswell Avenue in Los Feliz Village. They were soon contracted to produce the "Alice Comedies," and set up shop a few doors down near Kingswell's intersection with Vermont Avenue, according to Disney.

In 1923, they moved into vacant space in the back of a real estate office at 4651 Kingswell Ave. After more money came in, they rented the store next door at 4649 Kingswell Ave. — giving the Disney Bros. Cartoon Studio their first real location, according to Disney.

Over the weekend, Councilmember Nithya Raman led a group that dedicated the corner of Vermont and Kingswell avenues as “Disney Bros. Cartoon Studio Square." The intersection is now marked with an official city sign bearing its new official name.

As we stood on the corner looking up at the place where the Disney brothers began to build what would become the biggest entertainment brand, I was reminded about how my husband, Vali, would watch these cartoons with the same dream of making entertaining and impactful television. pic.twitter.com/5TVugdQmwW
— Councilmember Nithya Raman (@cd4losangeles) September 18, 2024

"Los Feliz continues to be the home of many artists who have been inspired by the work of the Disney Brothers. Many residents and visitors do not know of the historical significance of the intersection of Vermont and Kingswell, despite the backdrop of the 'Alice Comedies' being distinctly recognizable as the intersection," reads Raman's City Council motion, which authorized the naming after a unanimous council vote in June.

Just a few years after the Kingswell studio opened, Disney opened a new facility on the other side of the neighborhood, at 2719 Hyperion Ave., where a Gelson's now lives.