Fess Parker was the star of the "Davy Crockett" TV series, which
held America in thrall in the mid-1950s.
Q. Tell us
about the first time you met Walt Disney.
A. First time I met Walt in person was in 1954, and I'd just gone
out to the studio. I think it was the second or third time that
I'd been out to the Disney Studio and first time I was interviewed
by Bill Walsh, who was going to produce "Davy Crockett," and Tom Blackburn,
who wrote the screenplay. And I read a couple of scenes and then
they invited me back, I think for the third time ...
Walt came in and I brought my guitar out and he said, "Let's go
down the hall," so we went to a little office, a writer's office,
it was just a desk and two chairs, and I answered some of his questions:
where I was from and any other thing that he asked me. And it wasn't
very much ... And he said, "I see you brought your guitar."
And I said, "Yes sir, I wrote this little song, I'll play it
for you." So I did and we had a nice visit and then I said
it was nice to meet you. And a few days later I got word from the
studio that they were going to assign me the role of Davy Crockett.
I don't know what I expected but he put me completely at ease. He
was like someone I would have encountered, perhaps, in my home town.
Very low key. And I must say that almost everyone that I met at
the Disney Studio in that era, they were all just excellent people
to know. And some have become lifelong friends.
Q. Did you
have any notion of what a phenomenon the show would become?
A. You know, there were many minds who had a greater capacity
to anticipate that than I did. To me, it was just an exciting thing
to work for Walt Disney ...
Q. Did Walt
make any appearances on the set? Was his presence felt directly
or indirectly?
A. I think his presence was felt very strongly when he and his
wife and two friends came on the set in North Carolina. We were
on the Cherokee Indian Reservation and I'd been fighting all day
with a wonderful actor named Pat Hogan, who played Red Stick, and
it was exciting to have them on the set. I didn't realize what was
happening behind the scenes. I think, behind the scenes, we were
so far behind he wanted to see the company in action and perhaps
draw a conclusion of his own. But nothing happened, we just continued
until we finished.
Q. The show
sold a huge amount of merchandise. Walt was generous with you in
that area, wasn't he?
A. I would say Walt Disney was extremely generous. I just simply
one day said, "You know, I'd like to have a percentage of the
merchandise" and much to my surprise I was given 10 percent
of the Walt Disney Davy Crockett merchandise. I didn't even say
it to him in person. I just said, you know, to the agent that I
had at that time, I think perhaps there might be an opportunity
to participate in the merchandise and that question was asked and
answered with the ten percent, which was spectacular in any age.
Q. Walt didn't
always say yes, though, did he? Tell us the story of "Wringle, Wrangle."
A. Well, at the time, the studio, the Disney Studio did not have
a record label so when we had done the record of Davy Crockett and
put it out it was, I think, on Columbia. And then shortly thereafter
the Buena Vista label came into being, and I was aware of that,
and Buddy Ebsen and I had formed a little company called Music Land
... And I had learned from Stan Jones, who had written "Ghost
Riders in the Sky" and many other hits, a little song called
"Wringle, Wrangle." And we were shooting a picture called
"Westward Ho the Wagons" and so I went to Walt and I said,
"Here's a cute little song I think might fit in the picture."
And he said, "Well, play it for me." And I did and he
said, "Yeah, we'll use that." And a little later, on the
set, I had a chance to say to him, "You know, is there any
chance that Music Land, Buddy and I have this little company that
we've started, could we possibly have half of the music publishing
rights." And Walt said, " No, I don't think so."
And I said, "Why not?" And he said, "Well, company
policy." So, just for the fun of it, I said, "Well, who
makes company policy?" And he said, "I do." So we
didn't get the publishing rights but "Wringle, Wrangle"
went out and did about half a million records.

Q. Tell us
about the opening day of Disneyland.
A. Well, if I may, the opening day of Disneyland was the equivalent
of aftershocks that we experience here in Southern California. The
first shock was when Buddy Ebsen and I were pulled back from filming
the "River Pirates" segment and we appeared two nights
in the Hollywood Bowl. And the reason I describe it as an earthquake
is because Buddy and I didn't know what we were going to do. It
was Walt Disney Night in the Bowl for two nights so we got back
late in the afternoon, no rehearsal, and [composer/conductor] George
Bruns said, "You're going to sing this little song from "Davy
Crockett" called 'Farewell to the Mountains' with the symphony and
this chorus." And he said, "Don't worry, I'll tell you
where to come in." And that was it. So the next night before
25,000 people Buddy and I rode out on our horses, and the horses
almost stole the show, but we sang our little song.
Q. And that
was followed by the actual Park opening?
A. Yes, that was in preparation for the opening day of Disneyland.
Riding in the parade with Walt was the high point but the next high
point was not falling down doing the folk dances that we did around
the open ditches and so forth. It was an exciting thing. Live television,
opening the park, the Bowl all in a short period of time.
Q. The park
wasn't really ready for opening, was it?
A. People were so thick in the park, they were six and eight deep
at every point, so you were always before an audience and cameras
were the least of the worries. But it was still a ways before everything
was going to be buttoned up and there were ditches and they covered
it with plywood. So when you rode in the opening parade you were
on Main Street and that was beautiful but behind Main Street much
was left to be done. Art Linkletter and I had a chance to visit
not long ago and he was telling me about the time that he had laid
his microphone down behind some of this construction. When Ronald
Reagan passed the show over to Art, he had a hard time finding his microphone.
Funny things like that happened.
Q. The magnitude
of your fame must have been shocking. Was it?
A. To tell you the truth, it was a complete change in life. When
I was first sent out by the studio, I couldn't leave my hotel room,
I couldn't eat in the restaurant. I became a captive. That's not
much fun. Working with the public, I had a schedule that was just
incredible. I was in, almost, a city a day. I went to 42 cities,
part of it by myself, part of it with Buddy, and then later, I think
about 13 countries. That was very, very hard physical work and if
I hadn't been a fairly strong young man in those days, I don't think
I could have done it. The idea of fame is one of those mysteries.
That we make people famous and then they're famous. But what does
it mean? I don't know. To me, it was good fortune that I might be
able to work again.
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