Many of you will be familiar with the name Roald Dahl. Dahl was a British novelist, short story writer, poet and screenwriter. His works include James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, My Uncle Oswald, The Witches, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Twits, Tales of the Unexpected, George’s Marvelous Medicine, and The BFG.

You may also know that Disney made one of those books, James and the Giant Peach, into a movie in 1996 and you may also have heard that in 2016 Disney will release a film directed by Steven Spielberg based on The BFG. However, you may not be aware the Dahl’s relationship with Disney started long before either of these films were ever made. In fact, Disney published Dahl’s first children’s book.

Shortly after the start of World War II, Dahl enlisted in…