The year is 1935. America is mid-way through the Great Depression. The Dust Bowl is devastating the prairies. A war-weary world, whether aware or not, is a few short years from one of its greatest crises. Mickey Mouse, a black-and-white cartoon icon, is about to face the music, in more ways than one.
Since childhood, Walt Disney had been a fan of the works of Jules Verne, including the author’s classic 1870 science-fiction novel, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. But later, as a film producer, he was not quite sure what he wanted to do with the story. After he had begun producing his True-Life Adventures, Walt started thinking that deep sea wonders, inspired by the novel, would make excellent material for a nature documentary. At one point, he even considered making it as an animated feature.
In honor of the opening of our latest special exhibition, Directing at Disney, exhibition co-curator and animation historian Don Peri shared his thoughts about his friendship and collaboration with to museum co-founder and daughter of Walt Disney, Diane Disney Miller.
It’s a story that has become almost legendary. But it’s much better, in fact, because it’s true. On many a Friday afternoon at the Walt Disney Studios during the mid-1960s, Walt Disney would call brothers Robert and Richard Sherman to his office. As the songwriters entered, the boss would say, “Play it.” They knew what he meant.
Ask any dedicated Disney fan and they will tell you: Walt loved trains. “Trains were a part of his whole psyche, I think,” Disney Legend Tony Baxter shared in the Disney+ Original Series Behind the Attraction. “He had his own backyard railroad with a featured engine—the Lilly Belle—named after his wife. So when Disneyland opened, [there] was a lot about trains, because that was Walt’s hobby.”
Walt Disney was no stranger to London. Multiple visits to England between the 1930s and 1950s—often for on-set visits to his live-action films such as Treasure Island (1950), The Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men (1952), and The Sword and the Rose (1953)—had given him the opportunity to become well acquainted with its capital city.
To celebrate Walt's South America Goodwill trip taken in 1941, we have Walt and Lillian's passports on display for a limited time in our Awards Lobby. The passports include country stamps and Uruguayan money from their trip.