Straight from today’s Quotle — here’s who really said it, and the story behind it. Play again

Who really said it

It's kind of fun to do the impossible

Attributed to Walt Disney 1901–1966 · American animator, film producer & co-founder of The Walt Disney Company
Attributed Rights unconfirmed

Widely and credibly credited to Disney and squarely in keeping with his ethos, but no primary source — a dated speech, interview, or signed letter — has been pinned to this exact wording. The earliest citation that can be checked is a secondary compilation, Derek Walker’s Animated Architecture (1982), published 16 years after Disney’s death.

Last verified 8 Jul 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

For presentations

Put it on a slide

Unconfirmed quote & credit

“It's kind of fun to do the impossible” Walt Disney (attributed) — earliest documented citation: Derek Walker, Animated Architecture (1982), p. 10. No primary source located.

Can you use it?

We couldn’t verify where this wording comes from, so there’s no rights status to give. Safe to present as an unverified or anonymous line — just don’t assert a specific author or source.

Image direction — grounded in this quote’s real context; paste into your image tool

In context

Evoking the world of Walt Disney — American animator, film producer & co-founder of The Walt Disney Company. Theme: "It's kind of fun to do the impossible". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Minimalist

Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "It's kind of fun to do the impossible". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Provenance

The sourcing behind the Disney line

Attributed to
Walt Disney (1901–1966)
Earliest checkable citation
Derek Walker, Animated Architecture (1982), p. 10
Status
Attributed — no primary source located
Where it’s catalogued
Wikiquote (Sourced) & D23

It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.

The line circulates as a standalone aphorism; no surviving Disney speech, film, or letter is documented to place it in a fuller sentence or context.

Walt Disney on Wikiquote (Sourced section)

Following the trail

  • Wikiquote lists the line in its Sourced section, but the citation it gives is a secondary compilation — Derek Walker’s Animated Architecture (1982), p. 10 — not a Disney primary source.
  • Disney’s official fan organisation, D23, reproduces the quote with the bare tag “—Walt Disney” and no speech, date, or publication behind it.
  • A search of Quote Investigator returns no entry adjudicating this line — it has not been traced to a first documented use.
  • Every verifiable citation post-dates Disney’s December 1966 death, so the exact wording cannot presently be tied to anything he is documented to have said in his lifetime.

The wording is credibly Disney’s but cannot be tied to a specific dated, published work: the earliest checkable citation is a 1982 secondary book. Because the first-publication of the exact wording is unestablished, no copyright status is asserted here — if it derives from a genuine 1960s Disney statement it would be post-1930 and in-copyright to the Disney estate, not public domain.

Fact-check

The sourcing problem

The attribution to Disney is plausible and near-universal — the issue is not who, but the absence of a verifiable where. The line is routinely presented as a firmly-documented Disney statement when the paper trail is thin.

A firmly-sourced Walt Disney quotation overstated precision

Quote sites and posters imply a settled provenance, but the earliest citation anyone can check is Derek Walker’s Animated Architecture (1982) — a secondary book published 16 years after Disney died, not a Disney speech, film, or letter.

Dealer listings citing a ‘1966 signed letter’ unverified provenance

Some autograph dealers advertise a Disney letter bearing the line, but such claims rest on the seller’s own provenance and are not independently corroborated primary sources — treat them with caution rather than as documentation.

Best read as credibly attributed but not primary-sourced: everywhere in Disney’s name and true to his spirit, yet not pinned to anything he is documented to have said, per Wikiquote.

Context

Why it stuck to Disney

Whatever its exact origin, the sentiment fits Disney better than almost anyone: a career built on being told animation, sync sound, feature-length cartoons and a walk-through theme park couldn’t be done — and doing them anyway. That resonance is precisely why the line adheres to his name so effortlessly, and why it needs no source to feel true.

The same resonance is what makes it a textbook ‘magnet’ quote: an upbeat, frictionless aphorism that gets pinned to a famous optimist and then propagated by quote databases faster than anyone stops to ask for a citation.

Everywhere in his name, true to his spirit — and sourced to no documented thing he said.

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Courage Success

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Walt DisneyWikiquote

Lists the line in its Sourced section, citing the 1982 Derek Walker compilation.
Walt Disney Quotes ArchiveD23

Disney’s official fan club reproduces the quote with no primary source.
Quote by Walt DisneyGoodreads

Typical popular attribution, presented without any documented source.
Walt Disney quoteBrainyQuote

High-traffic quote database carrying the line, sourceless.
It's kind of fun to do the impossiblePassItOn

Inspirational-poster use, illustrating how the line spread as decontextualised motivation.

About the attributed author

Walt Disney

Walt Disney

1901–1966 · American animator, film producer & co-founder of The Walt Disney Company

Walt Disney (1901–1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur who pioneered the modern animated feature and built the Disney studio and theme-park empire. A relentless innovator behind Steamboat Willie, Snow White and Disneyland, he became a byword for turning far-fetched ideas into reality — which is exactly why optimistic “do-the-impossible” lines gravitate to his name.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Primary source — Chicago

Walt Disney, quoted in Derek Walker, Animated Architecture (London: Architectural Design/Academy Editions, 1982), 10 — earliest documented citation; no primary source located.

MLA (9th ed.)

Walker, Derek. Animated Architecture. Architectural Design/Academy Editions, 1982, p. 10.

APA (7th ed.)

Walker, D. (1982). Animated architecture. Architectural Design/Academy Editions.

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘It's kind of fun to do the impossible’?” Last verified 8 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/its-kind-of-fun-to-do-the-impossible

Copied