FROM: It's All in a Nametag Published Thursdays

Partners Federal Credit Union

Only Benson Myers could make the most obscure Disney topic - the Cast Member's federal credit union! - not only interesting but also historically relevant. It's a story of Disney Legends, of statues, of pirates... and of nametags, too!

- Benson Myers, May 26, 2011

Today I thought I would show you another of the fringe organizations within the Walt Disney Company.

Most people outside of Disney don't even know it exists, yet it provides a necessary and beneficial purpose. What I'm talking about is the Partners Federal Credit Union, a financial institution exclusively for Disney Cast Members and their families.

If you're unfamiliar with the differences between a bank and a credit union, let me explain.

Banks vs Credit Unions

A credit union is a financial institution owned by the people who use it and who are its members. Usually, the members are people who share something in common, like an occupation or a church. Credit unions are non-profit organizations, and so they can charge lower fees and interest rates for loans, and pay higher interest rates on savings.

The idea is that you are borrowing your own money and/or the money of your friends and neighbors. Account holders are called 'members', and each member, via his deposits, is part owner of the credit union. As a not-for-profit institution, all the revenue the credit union makes is returned to its members.

In contrast, banks can serve anyone in the general public, but their account holders have no ownership interest in the institution. Banks are owned by investors who may or may not be account holders. Banks are for-profit, meaning their primary purpose is to generate profits for their stockholders. In banks, only the stockholders - not account holders - get a share of the profits.

At banks, only stockholders have voting privileges. Account holders don't have voting rights, cannot be elected to the board, and have no say in how their bank is operated. Bank directors are paid, though they may not be from the same community where the bank does business, and may not even use the bank's services.

One thing banks and credit unions have in common is they're both insured by the U.S. government.

Enough about that! Let's get back to Disney...

Disney's Credit Union

In 1968, a group of Cast Members at Disneyland got together and decided to start their own credit union. Chartered as DRC Federal Credit Union, it took its name from the Disneyland Recreational Club, which in later years became the Disneyland Cast Activities Department.

The offices of the DRC Credit Union were located just behind the east side of Main Street, U.S.A., in a double-wide mobile trailer. As new attractions were built or expanded, such as Space Mountain, the office was moved farther south towards the administration and costume building. (This is the same building that houses the Primeval World diorama, the one with all the dinosaurs you can see from the Disneyland Railroad.)

Eventually, the offices were pushed outside Disneyland property, next to the Harbor Boulevard employee entrance.

In the 1970s, the name was changed to the Disneyland Employees Federal Credit Union. It didn't keep that name for long.

In 1986, Disney CEO Michael Eisner renamed company from Walt Disney Productions to The Walt Disney Company. He asked the Credit Union to change its name as well, and so it became the Partners Federal Credit Union.

In 2007, the Partners Credit Union merged with Vista Federal Credit Union, which had been established to serve employees working at the Walt Disney World resort in Florida. After the merger, the Partners Credit Union name was kept. However, its membership was now open to all employees of the Walt Disney Company and its many and diverse subsidiaries.

Today, the Credit Union has many branches, and deposits and assets in excess of $1 billion.

How Partners Credit Union Got Its Name

And now for a bit of Disney trivia.

How did Partners Credit Union get its name? If you've been to a Disney theme park, I'm sure you've seen the famous Partners statue in the central hub of the park.

The statue commemorates the relationship that Walt Disney had with his creation, Mickey Mouse. As Walt once said about Mickey:

"The life and ventures of Mickey Mouse have been closely bound up with my own personal and professional life. It is understandable that I should have sentimental attachment for the little personage who played so big a part in the course of Disney Productions and has been so happily accepted as an amusing friend wherever films are shown around the world. He still speaks for me and I still speak for him."

Mickey Mouse was the salvation of Walt Disney and his company. In the 1920s, Walt had lost the rights to his first characters to his New York distributer. Mickey was a last-minute creation that Walt made on the train ride back to California.

In 1981, in honor of the 200 millionth guest at Disneyland, resident Disney artist (and future Disney Legend) Charles Boyer was commissioned to make a special lithograph, entitled "Partners", in honor of Walt and Mickey Mouse.

The lithograph portrayed them walking hand-in-hand as friends and partners.

How is this connected to the Credit Union?

In 1993, Disney Legend Marty Sklar commissioned fellow Disney Legend Blaine Gibson to create a statue honoring Walt and Mickey, the same statue we talked about earlier.

Blaine Gibson was a talented sculptor whose works were exhibited around the country. It was in one such exhibit that Walt Disney noticed his work, and recruited Gibson to develop sculptures for the many animatronic figures in the attractions at Disneyland.

Gibson contributed to such classics as Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Mansion, and the Enchanted Tiki Room. He also sculpted all 41 U.S. Presidents, including Bill Clinton, for the Hall of Presidents at Walt Disney World.

In creating the statue honoring Walt and Mickey, Gibson took his inspiration from Charles Boyer's lithograph. Hence, while the statue and lithograph have the same name, the Partners Credit Union took its name from Charles Boyer's work, not from Blaine Gibson's statue (which came years later).

Fittingly, a copy of the Partners lithograph hung in the Credit Union's offices at Disneyland for many years until those offices closed in 2010.

I think the most fitting tribute is another thing Walt said about Mickey: "I only hope that we don't lose sight of one thing - that it was all started by a mouse."

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