Dream It! Do It! (Disney Editions Deluxe) (32 page)

3. Disney Image Presentation—November, 1965

Little did I ever dream that Walt’s first reaction to something I had written would be, “I didn’t know anyone was writing my obituary!” It was actually one of two presentations prepared for the Florida Press Conference in November 1965, where Governor Hayden Burns introduced Walt and Roy, and formally announced that Disney was coming to the Sunshine State.

The first presentation was the “meat and potatoes” variety, describing the engine for economic growth that Disneyland had created in Anaheim and Orange County, California, in its first decade. The second was my nineteen-page script that attempted to describe the impact of Walt’s entertainment on people around the world. Despite his comment, I
had
recorded about three minutes of dialogue with Walt. I still regard “The Disney Image,” as produced with its wonderful visual content, as among the very best writing I created at Disney. The following pages give the flavor of the introduction in Walt’s dialogue that followed a line reciting his “thirty-two Oscars”—his Academy Awards.

The script then transitioned to Walt’s narration.

The script then segued back to a wrap-up ending.

4. The Many Worlds of Disneyland (1965)

The year 1965 was a celebration of Disneyland’s first decade—what Jack Lindquist called the “Tencennial.” The twenty-four-page, full-color section we created in the
Los Angeles Times
celebrated those first ten years, and of course looked at the new attractions soon to open: Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln in the Opera House on Main Street and the Plaza Inn (1965); “it’s a small world” and New Orleans Square (1966); and Pirates of the Caribbean (1967). For me, it meant editing and producing the newspaper section, and writing one of my favorite descriptions of the park.

5. “I remember…because I was there with Walt Disney at Mineral King” (1972)

In 1965, Bob Moore, Norm Noceti, and I had created the presentation that Walt, Card Walker, and other Disney executives and consultants (including the legendary Willy Schaeffler, director of ski events for the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California) used in order to win the approval of the United States Forest Service to create year-round recreational services and facilities at Mineral King, California. Located almost halfway between the population centers of Los Angeles and San Francisco, in the Sequoia National Forest, the approximately twenty square miles known as Mineral King had enormous potential to provide recreational opportunities for Californians. But it was accessible during summer months only by a dangerous and substandard access road. More than six years after the company was selected by the U.S. Forest Service, lawsuits and political manipulating continued to stall, and eventually kill, the Mineral King project.

Frustrated by the political infighting and delays and seeking public support, Disney decided to let the public know that we were ready to move ahead. I wrote the following explanation, which appeared as a paid ad in the
Los Angeles Times
and other newspapers with Card Walker’s signature:

6. “A Tribute to Harriet Burns” (2008)

As much as I enjoyed being “the kid” and having the opportunity to learn from so many Imagineering Legends in the fifties and sixties, there turned out to be an emotional payback. As my mentors passed away, their families asked me to organize and be the key speaker at the memorial services that celebrated the passion and the career of some of the great Disney talents: Richard Irvine, John Hench, Herb Ryman, Sam McKim, Claude Coats, Don Edgren, and Fred Joerger—and Harriet Burns, that special lady who was the queen bee of the Imagineering Model Shop. Even before the celebration of Harriet’s life, I wrote this tribute for all the Imagineers, to a wonderful talent, the true spirit of so much that Imagineers represent: