For years, two of the most authoritative Disney Historians on the web were Jim Korkis and Wade Sampson. Then, in 2010, a huge secret was revealed—the two were actually one!
Jim Korkis (aka Wade Sampson, left) and Walt Disney both exhibit book-holding skills. © Disney
“While I was still working for the Mouse,” Jim Korkis says, “Disney Legal gave me permission to write about Disney history, as long as it was on my days off, and so long as it was clear that I was not writing as an official representative of The Walt Disney Company, and I was not sharing any current proprietary information. Thus, Wade Sampson was born, and Wade’s Wayback Machine debuted on MousePlanet.com on May 31, 2006. Except for my real identity, everything that I wrote as Wade Sampson, including the description of myself and my house, was true. Since I am no longer an employee of Disney, my ‘secret identity’ was no longer necessary.”
Jim continues, “Another important reason for removing the mask at that moment was the release of my first book about Disney history,The Vault of Walt. The book is more than 460 pages long and features anecdotes, quotes and facts that have never before appeared in print.”
The foreword to the book is by Diane Disney Miller, who praises Jim’s writing as “honest, and well written…so authentic, so true to my dad’s spirit, so unprejudiced and non-judgmental that as I read it I could see the twinkle in dad’s eye, hear his laugh.”
You can meet “Disney’s Double Agent” in person (and pick up The Vault of Walt for an author autograph) on Saturday July 23 at 3pm. Jim will be the host of a fascinating program about Walt’s interest in outer space—and for the lover of the really obscure Disney connection, you can also ask Jim in person what the pseudonym “Wade Sampson” really means!
On Saturday July 23 at 3pm, learn about Walt’s fascination with outer space and how he helped build support for the U.S. Space Program. Disney historian and author, Jim Korkis, will discuss Walt’s scientific and cultural contributions, the idea of Science Factual vs. Science Fiction, and Walt as a visionary and futurist. Excerpts from the Disneyland television series, including “Man and The Moon,” and “Mars and Beyond” will be included in the presentation. Tickets are available at the Reception and Member Service Desk at The Walt Disney Family Museum, or online at www.waltdisney.org