Kenversations™
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A Long and Winding Road

Walt’s death struck a blow to millions of people, most of which had never met him. They knew him from articles, from seeing him on television, from watching his films, and visiting Disneyland Park. There are published accounts of just how devastated some people who had worked for him were when he passed away, and how some of them would tear up at the memory of that day decades later.

One glaring flaw of Walt’s was that he never groomed a successor. Here he was, the active leader of this vibrant team, someone who was very much in control, the driving and deciding force behind the new projects at Walt Disney Productions, but he didn’t have an extensive corporate management structure set up with him at the top. His brother Roy, co-founder of the business, was older than Walt by several years and was, by title, the head of the organization.

Things were geared in a way to do what Walt wanted - to work on the projects he was interested in. The project in Florida was what he was most focused on when he died at the end of 1966, and that was naturally what Roy and the rest of the team continued work on. But what about after that? Indeed, Roy passed away shortly after opening the Walt Disney World Resort.

The real EPCOT never was built, Celebration, a planned community of a whole ‘nother sort, came to fruition the 1990’s.

After Walt’s death, people started to ask, "What would Walt do? What would he think? Is this something he’d like?" Eventually the company withered and was almost torn apart in 1984. The problem was, the guy was an innovator. He was always looking to do something new and different, always surprising people. Who would have ever thought someone known for animated feature films would set out to develop an experimental community?

There was no telling what he would have gotten into next. We can’t know that. What we can know, is what he did, how he did it, and in some cases, why. We can know what made the name Walt Disney so strong to begin with, and try to keep it that way in the world that has changed so much since he passed away.

Walt’s legacy has been far-flung and pervasive. I can tell you that the President of the Disneyland Resort still invokes his name backstage when talking about the future.

This year, The Walt Disney Company has done a few things to pay tribute to Walt a hundred years after his birth. There are exhibits at the theme parks, for instance, and for years there has been a statue of Walt in the middle of Disneyland Park.

However, the greatest tribute to Walter Elias Disney is not in those exhibits. It is when a child’s eyes open wide in wonder as they first walk down Main Street U.S.A. and see a storybook castle, when a grown man who normally wears a three-piece suit laughs it up with his family as he walks around Fantasyland wearing a pair of mouse ears, and when a grandmother and granddaughter enjoy Cinderella together in the comfort of their own home.

Thank you, Walt… and happy birthday.

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-- Ken Pellman

-- Posted December 27, 2001