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...

A 90 Year Journey...

The Disney Brothers Cartoon Studios has come a long way...

When Walt and Roy formed their company nine decades ago, I don't think they had any idea what the company they formed would look like today.  I'm sure they would be surprised to find that their studio which would turn into Walt Disney Productions and finally became known as the Walt Disney Company wound up being the largest entertainment company in the world.

Certainly, all of Walt Disney's contemporaries wouldn't have believed it.  From Jack Warner to Darryl F. Zanuck, none of the old Hollywood moguls would have thought that a guy that made little cartoon shorts would ever be on equal footing with them.  Remember when Walt made the leap from shorts to full length features with "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs"?  The disaster that they thought would happen.  No one will set through a hour+ long cartoon.

Disney's Folly.

That's what they called it before it was released.  The night of the premiere when the crowd gave it  such an enthusiastic response didn't even make the suits across town to ponder it much.  Even though it went on to be the number one film at the box office in 1937.  It certainly was no folly.

The money that Walt Disney made from that film bought the land in Burbank where he built the new studios that the company has called home for sixty years.  And with the land, he and Roy built sound stages.  His goals became bigger, and after World War 2, he had a lot of cash in England that he couldn't get out because of tax policy, so he used it as an opportunity.  He made some live-action films.  And they were classic Disney, particularly "Treasure Island".

And he took chances that the moguls didn't expect.  He attempted things that if had failed would have ended the company.  His production of "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea" was an expensive gamble that, if it failed would have destroyed his dream of a family park that was to open the following year.  If it failed, he most likely would have had to sell it and maybe even the studio.  But he didn't have to, it was a huge success.  And that park was supposed to be another project doomed to fail.

Not that he didn't fail from time to time.  But he succeeded when it counted. And his rivals misread him.  They underestimated him.  They didn't believe in him or his dreams.  And although all studios in this storybook land are built on dreams,  the base of the Walt Disney Company are built on the dreams of one man. A man that started off with big ideas, a pad of paper and a worn out pencil.  Oh, and a mouse.

Can't forget about that Mouse...

Birth Of A Dreamer...

And now, your host... 

On this day, 111 years ago was born a dream...

Wrapped up in a man of incredible vision, talent, and unbound optimism.

Happy Birthday, Walt...

A Mouse Is Born...

Happy birthday to you... 

A famous celebrity was born today...


Even though there would be no Mickey with Oswald, there would be no Walt without the Mouse.

Happy Birthday, Mickey...

Beginning Endings...

Could it all have started with a rabbit...





Eighty-five years ago today, Walt Disney's Oswald the Lucky Rabbit makes his cartoon debut...

"Trolley Troubles" would be the first of over twenty shorts featuring the iconic first animated creation of Disney (The Alice Comedies don't count since she's not animated). Walt would eventually lose the rights to this character, forcing him to create another character from scratch on a long train ride back to California that turned out to be a mouse...

A very, very famous mouse.

It's all hard to believe that a strange deal involving Al Michaels would lead to him coming home, but it almost reads like an improbable fairy tale. Then again, fairy tales are pretty synonymous with Disney, so let's honor Oswald. He truly is a lucky rabbit.

Wouldn't it be nice to see him in something today? Like a new short or a new special? He's been waiting a long time to be animated again. And he's still very popular, if you've tried to get some of those very elusive/exclusive rabbit ears you have experience with his celebrity. But imagine him up on the silver screen again as you sip your soda and eat that popcorn.

Imagine that...

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...

Unveiling UntoldTreasures...

Unfolding Archives...









There are many benefits to living in the West/California/Big Cities...

We have many things you won't find back East that are great. In-N-Out, Trader Joes, Fresh and Easy. Oh, and Disneyland, of course. And now we have Disney California Adventure. I'm sure many of you haven't heard of it since it's a new park that just opened. It's good, trust me. But, back to what I was saying, there are a lot of nice things we get to experience here. Many Disney related things. For instance, if you're in the Bay Area, you can go to the Walt Disney Family Museum and see/experience the amazing life of Walt.

But now, there's something else you can experience that opens today.

A while back I mentioned some of the wonderful things that D23 does, like the unfinished Oswald short that they brought to life for members. If you have to be in Southern California, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum in Simi Valley, is having a fantastic exhibit of Disneyana. If you want to see some amazing things and are a Disney Geek/Fan or just a pop-culture fan in general, please go. To purchase tickets, click here. Who knows who you might see there? But you'll find an amazing collection of memorabilia that will bring out the kid in you.

Here's a chance to see dreams in tangible form...

Buying Honey...

Honey changes everything...




On this day...

Walt Disney acquired the rights to make a film based on children's book that was very popular in Britain, but not as widely known in America. The author's widow, Daphne agreed to license the stories and characters after much wooing by Disney.

But it would take five years before this agreement would bare fruit. And it wouldn't start out as a film, but a short. A rather large short at twenty-six minutes, but a short none-the-less. Walt would go on to approve two other shorts for production, but he passed before they were put in to production.

Once completed, they were combined into a single story and thus, the animated film that was planned over a decade and a half ago would finally happen.

And now you know it as the classic "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" film.

Oh, bother...

Fifty-Six Lovely Memories...

Happy B-day, DL...







Hard to believe the dream was born Fifty-six years ago today...

Walt Disney opened his version of what a theme park should look like on this day, and in doing so he reinvented it. It was the first, the original and unheard of at that time. Disneyland became the park that all others would emulate. Doesn't look too shabby for being born all the way back in 1955, does it?

Through most of his life Walt struggled to get money for his projects, from shorts to films... he very often gambled the fate of his studio on projects that if they were to fail, would have doomed his own company to bankruptcy. And when it really counted, like "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" or "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" he came through more confident, more strong and more able than before. But after Disneyland opened he never ever had trouble getting financial backing again for anything.

Anything...

Happy Birthday to the one and only!

The Other Half Passed...

Drawing angles for four decades...


Forty years ago today, Ub Iwerks passes away in Burbank, California...

With the exception of Walt Disney, he was the one person most responsible for the creation of Mickey Mouse. Iwerks was a legendary animation pioneer and helped Walt turn the animation medium into the art form it is today. Animation fans in general and Disney fans in particular, truly owe this great man a world of gratitude.

Animation and Disney itself would look very different without his fingerprints...

The Agreement...

To all who come...










Fifty-seven years ago today, Walt Disney Productions and the American Broadcasting Company make it official...

They sign agreement for Walt Disney to build his dream project that will become known as the theme park. In exchange for this, Walt gets an advancement of funding and guarantee of loans, while the new network gets a weekly television show, part ownership in the risky venture and all concessions sold at the park for the first decade.

As usual, the world is skeptical of Disney's gamble...

The Beginning Of The Steam Dream...

Happy, Steampunk Birthday to you...






DCA isn't the only one celebrating a birthday today...

One hundred and eighty-three years ago, the creator of worlds, dreamer and visionary, French writer Jules Verne, the original "Steampunk" author and inspiration for many Disney films was born in Nantes, France.

His own birth will help create the birth of modern science fiction...

The Fairest Anniversary Of Them All...

Mirror, mirror on the wall...




Seventy-three years ago today "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" premiered in Los Angeles...

At the Carthay Circle Theatre, Walt Disney showed the world his dream of a full length animated film. A project that many thought would be a disaster, that Walt's rivals across town had laughingly dubbed "Disney's Folly" would go on to be the highest grossing film of the year.

They weren't laughing by the end of the year...

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...

The Dreamer's End...

On this day, fourty-four years ago, Walter Elias Disney passed from this world into the next.

The night before he had been visited by his brother, Roy Disney. Roy was relieved that his brother said he was feeling better and presumed that things would be taking a turn for the better. Walt even talked about work and returning to the studio, which he could see just outside the window of his hospital room after asking the nurses to turn his bed facing that way. He passed away the next morning. To the shock of everyone and the sorrow of his brother and family.

The Dreamer passed away, but the dream lived on and still does to this day...

Experiment Turns Twenty-Eight...

Ok, so EPCOT didn't turn out to be the "Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow" that Walt envisioned. But it still has his spirit, his sense of optimism and wonder. It is still something for the Mouse to be proud of... even if over the last decade or so they've not treated her well.

Today she turns 28. And she looks much nicer than she did a few years ago since having that plastic surgery to remove the wart... I mean wand from her nose. I figure we should start seeing greater attention to the details of the Second Gate over the next few years (I only hope that they approve getting rid of the graveyard below Spaceship Earth). The Suit in charge happens to be an Epcot employee, which is good. The focus on the words; "EPCOT Center" are a good sign...

The Walt Disney Company spent 1.4 Billion dollars to build it... I want to sound like Dr. Evil saying that. In 1982 that was a lot of money. Well, it's still a lot of money, just not near as much as it was then. The Mouse hasn't spent anywhere near that amount on a theme park since. The only company that has spent those kinds of numbers to create elaborate Disney attractions is the Oriental Land Company... the only company other than the Mouse with the right to build Disney attractions. When WDW's Third Gate, Disney-MGM Studios (now Disney's Hollywood Studios) was built in 1989 at a cost of less than 800 million. The fourth gate, Disney's Animal Kingdom was around 800 million(after cutting the "Beastly Kingdom" section) when it opened in 1998. The Second Gate in California, Disney's California Adventure was 650 million(after Pressler ordered Braverman to cut the budget by a third) in 2001 and Disney's investment in Hong Kong Disneyland in 2005 which cost 3.5 billion was in the hundreds of millions... 314 million dollars to be exact, with the Hong Kong Government footing the rest of the bill . I won't mention Walt Disney Studios Paris which opened in 2002, because I don't consider it having a budget, especially if you've seen it (granted, it's slowly improving and in a few years will look much more nicely themed). But enough of that... that's old hat. We're in a new time with lots of exciting things happening to the Mouse.

The future of the Second Gate at America's Second Disney Resort's is positive and full of promise with the Thirtieth Anniversary around the corner. I'm sure Staggs, unlike Rasulo, won't let Epcot go by without some TLC and a few surprises. Happy Birthday, EPCOT Center!

Now, let's work on covering up those bad show areas around the World Showcase...

Thirty-Nine And Growing...

Wow, it happened thirty-nine years ago today...

The very first guest descend on a new plot of land outside Orlando, Florida for the grand opening of Walt Disney World. The new park, the Magic Kingdom, the first since Walt Disney's original Disneyland is built on land that is twice the size of Manhattan, with its own police force, its own fire department and its own working government. The Walt Disney World Resort as it will be called, opens up with two hotels, the Contemporary and the Polynesian and a world of possibilities. It's still so today, just a wee bit bigger is all. And it's still growing.

I just hope that Tom Staggs puts his stamp on the resort and his own Suits...

The First Symphony...

Pretty music...



*



On this day, Eighty-one years ago...

The very first "Silly Symphony" cartoon by Walt Disney, "The Skeleton Dance," was released. These cartoons became big hits for Walt and his brother. They were a marriage of sight and sound, beautiful music with creative animation and the audience loved them.

Without these, Walt would not have had the ability to experiment in other areas such as the classic character cartoons and other Symphony shorts. Many would go on to win Academy Awards and help solidify the Disney name as the standard for others to reach for. It is the push of these boundaries that would drive Walt to make the first full length animated feature. And then live-action, and then Disneyland and on and on.

And these dancing skeletons are part of the start of it...


*Swirling music notes are copyright their respective owners.

Small Beginnings...

Mic...


To imagine him not being a part of the American consciousness...

Eighty-one years ago, Walt Disney applied to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a trademark to a new character he had created to replace Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, whom he lost in a shady business deal with his former distributor. He doesn't intend that to happen again with his new one, Mickey Mouse.

And the rest was history....

55 For 55...

It all started Fifty-five years ago today...

Walt Disney opened his version of what a theme park should look like, and in doing so he reinvented it. It was the first, the original and unheard of at that time. Disneyland became the park that all others would emulate. Doesn't look too shabby for being born all the way back in 1955, does it?

Through most of his life Walt struggled to get money for his projects, from shorts to films... he very often gambled the fate of his studio on projects that if they were to fail, would have doomed his own company to failure. And when it really counted, like "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" or "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" he came through stronger and more able than before. But after Disneyland opened he never ever had trouble getting financial backing again for anything.

Anything...

Happy Birthday to the one and only!