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Page 18 of
28 |
New
Horizons: |
The Postwar Years |
The 1950's saw a dramatic burst
of new activity in Walt's life.
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With the end of the Second World War,
someone watching Walt's career from the outside might
have thought he was slowing down. His first films were
not remarkable, and his studio seemed to be losing direction.
At the same time, Walt's love of trains transformed itself
into a hobby that was to fascinate him for years to come.
He started building miniature trains and eventually had
a ride-it-yourself steam engine on the grounds of his
home -- a home that also featured a soda fountain, which
entertained so many of his daughters' friends that he
happily groused that he was "supplying the whole neighborhood
with sodas." But of course Walt was far from heading into
a life of ease and leisure. During this time he was to
break into live-action films and nature films. And in
1955 he opened the attraction that was to be one of his
greatest loves -- Disneyland. At the same time, his entrance
into television altered Walt's life in a dramatic way.
Though his name had been famous for years, now fans recognized
his face from blocks away. Of course, as Diane and Sharon
entered their teen years, the days of happy jaunts to
the merry-go-round came to an end. Although this was a
disappointment for Walt, it was just a waiting game. In
time, both girls got married and set Walt forth on another
road in his family life: that of grandfather. |
The men and women who worked for Walt never
tired of trying to figure him out. In off hours at work,
on weekends, or over lunch, often the conversation centered
around this man who was an enigma to many of them. His
midwestern roots were far from remarkable. His education
had ended with one year of high school. He didn't have
any formal training in music, and he had long before conceded
that his artists were better than he. And yet there was
little question that Walt was the one indispensable man
in the Disney organization. To be sure, his staffers were
capable of producing top-notch work without him ("Dumbo,"
for example, was created with relatively little input
from Walt). But day in and day out, most of them would
concede that it was Walt's clear vision of the work that
separated Disney animation and films -- and later Disneyland
? from anything being done anyplace else. And Walt knew
it. His faith in himself was remarkable. When Roy or Lilly
were dubious about his plans, he pushed forward anyhow.
When critics complained about his work, he dismissed them.
Critics are "odd creatures," he said. "I can't figure
out what they want. . . . I've just never built anything
for them. . . . To hell with them. . . . It's the public
[that counts].". |
Walt's key animators, his 'Nine Old Men',
watch test footage in the screening room
of the new Burbank Studio. They
agreed that Walt's creative vision
was the driving force behind
their productions.
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Jiminy Cricket in a sketch from
1938. 'Pinocchio', arguably one of
Walt's most advanced animated
features, was initially a disappointment
at the box
office because of the loss of
the European markets
during World War II
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It unquestionably took all the resolve Walt
could muster to recover from the twin blows of the strike
and World War II. The strike had shaken his faith in his
staff. The war -- and the accompanying loss of European
markets -- had turned even a masterpiece like "Pinocchio"
into a financial drain. At war's end, the studio was under
a mountain of debt, and Roy was nervous about plunging
into new, expensive projects. While Walt lived in a world
of fantastic new ideas, Roy had to confront the
bankers and anxious stockholders. "The company was about
two inches from going under," said Roy's son, Roy Edward,
who remembered his father's sleeplessness at the time.
"He had a bicycle downstairs and he would get up in the
middle of the night and ride the bicycle for an hour."
In the next several years, Walt produced some of the most
disappointing works of his career -- grab-bag films that
consisted of packages of short pieces tied together by
negligible plots. Even "Song of the South" was not well
received, and it was the most ambitious effort the studio
was to mount for several years after the war. Although
he and Roy had bitter arguments, the disappointments only
toughened Walt's resolve to diversify and improve. These
years in the doldrums were followed by a growth burst
as the studio got involved in live-action films, True-Life
Adventures, and three ambitious animated features: "Cinderella,"
"Peter Pan," and "Alice in Wonderland." |
As the energy level in the studio returned
to a higher level, Walt's own desire for play seemed to
reach a new high. By the late 1940s, Diane was getting
a little old to be her daddy's playmate. But Sharon was
still happy to follow him around wherever he went. Generally,
that just meant trips to the studio or excursions to museums.
But in August 1947, she almost followed him off the edge
of the earth. The Disney family had been invited on a
flying tour of Alaska by a friend named Russell Havenstrite.
Diane was away at camp, and Lilly thought the trip too
difficult to make herself. So Walt and Sharon went off
into the wild blue yonder together. By and large it was
a wonderful adventure, but at one point on their way to
the tiny community of Candle, things turned a bit alarming.
The plane was in thick clouds, the pilot told them
that the radio had gone dead and there wasn't sufficient
visibility to land. Meanwhile, Walt and Havenstrite drank.
In part they were toasting the recent birth of a grandson
to Havenstrite, but Diane later speculated that their
drinking was also out of concern "that they might not
ever see any of their loved ones again." A half-hour trip
turned into two hours, and the plane was running low on
fuel. So the pilot took his chances and descend into the
clouds. When Earth came into view, the plane was right
over Candle. Walt emerged from the plane, tripped, and
fell on his face. Later he said, "I don't know whether
I kissed the ground -- or fell on it."" |
Walt with his daughter Sharon in Alaska.
On the way to the village of Candle,
their small plane nearly crashed.
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