John Hench: Celebrating All the Colors of His Rainbow
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John Hench

John Hench: Celebrating All the Colors of His Rainbow

John Hench was a creative artist with the rare ability to bring people together. Artists are often noted for their fragile egos, temperament, and inability as team players. And it seems the greater the talent, the higher the likelihood that these characteristics will be indulged. But this was certainly not the case with John Hench. In his nearly 65 years with the Walt Disney Company, he managed to simultaneously maintain the highest degree of artistic accomplishment, and remain on good terms with all who fell within his sphere of influence.

This was certainly never more evident than on a Thursday afternoon this March. Only the high regard and affection that John Hench had earned could have brought together the diverse group that had gathered to honor him. Among them were Michael Eisner, Roy Disney and Diane Disney Miller, each there for the same reason: to celebrate all the colors of John Hench’s rainbow.

Host for the lengthy memorial was Marty Sklar, the Vice Chairman and Principal Creative executive of Walt Disney Imagineering. This was most fitting, as John Hench had been with WDI for all its fifty years. Indeed, Hench was among the first of the Disney studio employees who were hand picked by Walt Disney himself to work on a “secret project�? that would become Disneyland.

Martin A. Sklar, Vice Chairman and Principal Creative Executive, Walt Disney Imagineering

Opening his comments, Marty Sklar offered a letter, recently discovered among John Hench’s papers, on the screen. It was dated April 27, 1939, and offered the then 30 year old John Hench a job at Walt Disney Productions, located on Hyperion Avenue. The starting salary: $30 a week. It mentioned that he should plan to begin work at the earliest possible convenience. As the crowd marveled over the document, Sklar announced, “We are here to celebrate one of the most remarkable careers in entertainment history.�? He added that although he had remained on the job for nearly 65 years, John Hench had “never stopped searching and learning.�?

The crowd chuckled when Sklar pointed out, “If this was a memorial service for any other artist or friend, John Hench would not likely to have attended.�? It seems his friends and fellow artists knew that Hench was not fond of memorials. So, Sklar promised, “Today will be filled with fun, and loving, and learning. John Hench was an original. Not just a Disney original, but an original, period. It’s OK to laugh, it’s OK to cry. But please, hold your applause. This is not a popularity contest. Besides, John won that long ago.�?

The admonition to hold applause was understandable, with over 30 speakers on the schedule. But it was a rule that was broken time and again throughout the afternoon. The first speaker was Walt Disney Company CEO Michael Eisner, identified in the program as a “colleague and friend.�?