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1956
RETURN TO MARCELINE
In 1956, Roy and Walt took a nostalgic trip back to Marceline, the little Midwestern town where they grew up. They were received as heroes. In this photograph, Walt seems to point to his initials on a desk in the school. Though residents were ecstatic about the idea that these were actually Walt's initials, it seems highly unlikely that they would have survived that long. To see a report on Walt's Centenary celebrations in Marceline, click here.

 

Walt and Chris

1957
WALT AND CHRIS
When Diane gave birth to a baby boy, Christopher Miller, Walt was overjoyed to have a grandson. Here he shares his kingdom with his first grandchild in 1957. Walt was somewhat disappointed, though, that Diane and Ron didn't name the boy after him. He had to wait six more years before Diane gave birth to another boy -- the fifth of her seven children. She named him Walter Elias Disney Miller. Walt was deeply moved. (More about Walt in the 1950s)

 

 

1959
SHARON'S WEDDING
Sharon married an architect, Bob Brown, on May 10, 1959. According to biographer Bob Thomas, Walt followed the precedent he had set at Diane's wedding and cried. The whole family liked Sharon's husband very much. He came to work for Walt in 1963. Sadly, a year after Walt's death in 1966, Brown also passed away from cancer. (More about Walt in the 1950s)

 

The World's Fair

1964
THE WORLD'S FAIR
Walt tells television viewers about the 1964-65 New York World's Fair. The Fair was the biggest project for WED, the company that Walt set up to build attractions for Disneyland. WED (the initials of Walter Elias Disney) wound up designing four attractions for the Fair, three of which were later moved to Anaheim to form part of the permanent attractions of Disneyland: "it's a small world," "Carousel of Progress," and "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln." (More about the World's Fair)

 

 

1964
"MARY POPPINS"
In the 1960s, Walt devoted his energies to television, the World's Fair, and EPCOT rather than feature films, but he made an exception for "Mary Poppins," based on the book by P.L. Travis. Originally no one thought that "Mary Poppins" would include animation. When Walt first proposed the idea, the writers and artists were appalled. "You could hear the Sherman Brothers [who wrote the music for the film] drop over dead," recalled Ron Miller. (More about "Mary Poppins") Of course, the animated sequences contributed to the overall magic of the film, as described here by Dick van Dyke, the star of the film, in an excerpt from "WALT: The Man Behind the Myth." Choose either 56K modem or DSL/ISDN.


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