The Business Of Building Dreams...

Six decades ago today the seeds were planted...

Walt Disney's dream of building a themed park for the family that he wanted to build in California got started on this date.  In New York, Walt's brother, Roy Disney met with financiers with a presentation for a park his brother wanted to his next big project.  Roy was the man with the skills that allowed Walt to dream as big as he did.

In a meeting with the three networks he pitched his plan.  CBS and NBC aren't interested in being an owner in an amusement park.  The fledgling ABC network, looking to boost its fortunes against the other two, more established rivals, is willing to make a deal.  Leonard Goldenson and Roy work out a deal for a weekly television show, investment in the upcoming park and a line of credit for Walt Disney to build his dream.

The deal will not be finalized until early next year.  When it does, it set the stage for the new show entitled "Disneyland" will provide new content for ABC as well as provide the public with updates about the park as construction continues.  Originally, someone else was to intro the show, but at the networks insistence Walt himself will host the show.  The program will cement his image as Uncle Walt over the duration of the years as families across America welcome him into their living room.

And it will also allow him to build his dream so that we can experience ours...

The Hyperion Way...

Dream a little dream...






On this day in 1925, Roy Disney put down a deposit ($400) for a piece of land marked 2719 Hyperion Avenue...

It seems he and his younger brother Walter planned on constructing a little business there. Something to do with this new fangled entertainment idea called "animation" that others have been trying. Hopefully, he and his brother could make a go of it in this crazy place called California.

They would go on to produce many works of wonder until they moved into their new digs over in Burbank. That little plot of land is where the head of the most powerful entertainment company in the world resides today. And it was built from profits made from the first animated film ever created, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs."

And that film would be created right here on a little plot of land that Roy just put a down payment on today...

The Quiet One Passes...

On this day, Thirty-nine years ago Roy O. Disney passed away at the sprightly age of 78 years young...

He was the shy one that didn't like to be on camera. Roy was the one that held the company financially together while his brother Walt dreamed.

And with his devotion, he helped him realize that dream...

It's Lonely At The Top...

Just thought you'd like to know...

With Time Warner spinning off their cable division the company is no longer the top/largest media company in the world. Actually, they're not even number two... they dropped to number three on the list behind number two News Corp.

That leaves the number two largest corporation, The Walt Disney Company at number one. Disney is now the largest entertainment company in the world. Walt Disney Productions has come a long way from the little animation start-up that Walt and Roy founded back in 1923. Imagine Jack Warner and all the other Hollywood moguls who thought Walt was just some guy that made funny cartoons. His company now dwarfs their own.

I wonder what the Maestro would think about how far his company has gone? I know he wouldn't find it perfect(EPCOT isn't exactly what he had planned), but I do think he'd be impressed at what Roy and he created and how it's affected the world...

The Other Side Of The Mouse...

On this day, thirty-six years ago, the other brother, Roy O. Disney passes away only months after opening up his brother's dream project: Disney World, which Roy had renamed as "Walt Disney World" in his brother's honor...

Roy Disney leaves this earth at the age of seventy-eight years young. While Walt was the showman of the two, Roy was the business mastermind responsible for getting the funding for his brother's sometimes strange, creative endeavors... he ran the day to day aspects of the Studio which Walt wasn't very good at. He was a talented, underappreciated, very kind and modest man.

With his passing the company has to find a leader that isn't named Disney... something that they've never had to do in its over forty year history. It's the beginning of "The Wilderness Years", where Walt Disney Productions had to search for an identity for itself. Without it's iconic leader and his brother to guide it, the company will meander forward until Michael Eisner, a Paramount executuve and Frank Wells, a former Warner Bros. executive are hired to revive the company and the mythic "Disney" name.

Bless you, Roy. You were a wonderful man like your brother, and you will be missed...

Greatly.

Dedication...

Although it had been open almost a month, on this day Thirty-Six years ago...

Roy Disney formally dedicates Walt Disney World in memory of his brother who passed away less than five years earlier.

The Resort only has one theme park... the Magic Kingdom. The vision of EPCOT that Walt had is still on Imagineer's minds but the direction it should take is no longer clear since his passing. Planning is still moving forward to carry out his dream in some form.

Today, we honor that dream...