If Sleeping Beauty began her fabled nap today, she would awake when Walt Disney Co.'s newest bonds mature--in 100 years.

The theme park and animated film purveyor on Wednesday sold $300 million worth of the low-interest-rate bonds to institutional investors. Disney had said it planned to sell half that much--$150 million of the long-range bonds--but demand proved greater than the company had anticipated.

"It shows that people believe the Mouse will still be singing and dancing in 100 years," said Tom Deegan, Disney's vice president of corporate communications.

The money will be used for general corporate purposes, Deegan said, and for expansion plans that have already been announced, such as doubling the size of the company's Disneyland theme park in Anaheim.

The Disney bond pays 7.55% in annual interest, with the principal to be repaid in the year 2093. The 100-year bond stretches the boundaries for long-term finance to a length almost unheard of in recent years, since even the longest-dated bonds usually mature in 20 to 30 years.

Each $1,000 bond would entitle its owner to $7,555 in interest over its life.

For companies like Disney, such a bond is a chance to lock into the very low interest rates now seen in the credit market. As Disney was selling its 100-year bonds on Wednesday, the Tennessee Valley Authority increased an offering of 50-year bonds to $750 million from the planned $500 million.

TVA, the government-owned electric power company based in Knoxville, Tenn., was the first company in decades to try 50-year bonds when it went to market with a half-century issue in April, 1992.

This year, there has been a near-rush to sell what are commonly referred to as Methuselah bonds. Ford Motor Co., Boeing Co., Texaco Inc. and Conrail Inc. all have sold bonds they won't have to pay off for 50 years. Earlier this month, McDonald's Corp. sold 40-year bonds.

Until recently, the last time companies had looked to issue such long-term bonds was in the 1950s, an era of low, very stable interest rates.

The Disney bonds, managed by the Wall Street firm Morgan Stanley & Co. with Merrill Lynch & Co., carry a yield just less than a percentage point above the 30-year government bond. The relatively small premium for such a long-term corporate bond means that other companies will be tempted to issue similarly long-dated securities, analysts said.