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Vision
of the Future: |
Walt's
Image (2) |
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.
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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In an unpublished biography of Walt, Larry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
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."
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Walt remained closely involved
with a number of film
productions in the
1960's, most notably 'Mary
Poppins'
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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
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