Museum Home
Main Collection
Special Exhibits
Film Theater


Private Walt
Page 24 of 28 Vision of the Future: Walt's  Image (2)

Fred McMurray is being propositioned in the film 'Bon Voyage'

Fred McMurray is being propositioned in the film 'Bon Voyage'. Many viewers complained, and Walt realized that audiences held him to a very strict standard of behavior.

In fact, in his last years Walt sometimes gave vent to the thought that he was a not entirely happy prisoner of the image he had created. When parents sipped martinis in "The Parent Trap" and a prostitute bantered with Fred MacMurray in "Bon Voyage," he was beset with complaints. Of the "Bon Voyage" scene he later said, "That was a disaster. You should have seen the mail I got over it. I'll never do that again." "He was concerned and frustrated by the fact that he couldn't do something a little off-color," said Ron Miller. "But he had created this image. I'll never forget, when he saw the movie 'To Kill a Mockingbird,' he said, 'It's too bad I can't make a picture like that. . . .' He was locked in a corner." In fact, this frustration moved him to spend less time in the studio and more and more time with WED, a company that Walt started with his own money to work on Disneyland. As years went on, WED (Walt's initials) became the home of Walt's Imagineers: artists, engineers, designers, sculptors, architects, and a pantheon of other talented men and women who worked to stretch ordinary ideas into remarkable creations. A relatively recent joke crystallizes the attitude Walt encouraged at WED: Q. How many Imagineers does it take to change a light bulb? A. Does it have to be a light bulb?.
Walt loved it at WED. Some staffers referred to it as Walt's "laughing place," a reference to the line from "Song of the South." WED was not a huge corporation, as the studio had become. WED was a place where the creative people ruled. WED was a place where people didn't have to make appointments to talk to Walt -- they'd just catch him in the hall and say, "Look at this." In short, WED was a lot like the studio -- 30 years earlier. It was within the confines of WED that Walt began to explore the possibilities of moving his operation on to a whole new plane, with his Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (EPCOT). With typical enthusiasm, Walt began to read books about cities and city planning, and to talk to anyone who could help him understand more."
In an unpublished biography of Walt, Larry Watkin (who wrote the screenplays for "Darby O'Gill and the Little People" and "The Sword and the Rose") wrote, "A college dean with an imposing array of degrees told me that Walt Disney was one of the most stimulating conversationalists he had ever met.  The reason, of course, was that Walt possessed a tremendous store of knowledge. His curiosity was unbounded. He wanted to know how everything worked and never forgot any bit of information he picked up. He tucked it away for future reference . . . . He said he had never met a man who wouldn't stop and take the time to explain something you wanted to know. He'd be flattered to be asked."
Walt examines a WED model

Walt examines a WED model for  
'It's a Small World', the 1964 World's  
Fair Pavilion created for Pepsi-Cola, 
which later was moved to Disneyland. 
Staffers called WED, "Walt's Sandbox."

Walt on the set of 'Mary Poppins'

Walt remained closely involved with a number of film productions in the
1960's, most notably 'Mary Poppins'

Walt's calendar shows that the years 1964, 1965, and 1966 were a blur of activity: Mineral King, the Florida Project, "Mary Poppins," "The Jungle Book," "The Happiest Millionaire," Disneyland, and various parades, honors, and celebrations. He even considered helping his hometown of Marceline by building a public attraction: Walt Disney's Boyhood Home. He purchased a great deal of land in Marceline toward that end, and had plans drawn up. But then the project went nowhere.
The next generation of relatives was also advancing at this time. Ron Miller assumed greater and greater responsibilities in the studio. He became co-producer with Walt on a number of the studio's 1960s comedies, such as "That Darn Cat!" and "Lt. Robin Crusoe." Bob Brown, Sharon's husband, was finally persuaded to work at WED, where he became a valued staff member. And Roy's son, Roy Edward, was also involved -- not on the business side with his father, but working for Walt. He had begun back in 1954 as an assistant film editor on the True-Life Adventures. He then wrote and produced various television shows. "Walt called me one time," Roy Edward recalled. "I had done a show that was an adaptation of a Hungarian television program. Walt was doing the lead-in. I had written as part of the lead-in that this show was originally made by an old friend named Estvan. I'd written it out phonetically. And they were down here shooting, and I got this frantic call from the stage: 'You'd better get down here. Walt doesn't know how to pronounce this name.' I went down there and I [told him it was] Estvan. And he got very impatient quickly with that sort of thing. 'What is Estvan, anyway?' he asked. 'Well,' I said, 'It's Hungarian for Steven.' 'Oh, it's Steve, then.' And it was simple after that." 
In 1961, Walter Elias Disney Miller was born. Diane had kept her promise to her dad and had named the next boy after him. As the older children grew up, they got to know and adore their famous grandfather. On occasion, they would spend the night with Walt and Lilly in their firehouse apartment in Disneyland. Other times, he'd bring them to the studio, where they hung around while he worked (just like Diane and Sharon had a generation before, and Lilly even before that). His desk invariably had a pencil holder one of the children had made in school. Weekends, Walt and Lilly were the babysitters of choice. His fame sometimes embarrassed them. When he'd drop them off at school, they'd make him leave them off around the corner so the other children wouldn't spot their famous grandfather. And Joanna and Chris were petrified with fear when he cajoled them into accompanying him in the lead car of a parade (though Tamara says she loved it).
Walt's grandson and namesake, Walter, surrounded by his siblings: Joanna, Chris, Tamara and Jenny 

Walt's grandson and namesake, Walter, surrounded by his siblings: Joanna, Chris, Tamara and Jenny 
 

 
Back   Forward

Use of this site signifies your agreement to the terms of use.
© Disney. All rights reserved.