Dispatch From Disneyland
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Deftly moving the pile of bills to the side, he sat down in his favorite chair, kicked his feet up on the ottoman, and let out a reflective sigh. He thought about Walt’s words to him just before leaving to film that movie in Switzerland. "Vic," Walt said. "We’ve got a winner down there in Anaheim. But I’m still not happy with it. Not by a long shot. Your work with Frontierland, the Indian dances, and all that. That was great. But I’d like you to focus on Tomorrowland for a while. Get with the boys and see what you can come up with. I’ll check up on you when I get back."
That was about all the direction he ever got from Walt at the beginning of a project. Then as the show developed, Walt would add some important insight here, change the story around there, add in a new team member who saw things a different way, and just generally ask good questions that would lead you to discover exactly what it was that Walt had in mind in the first place. The people that rose the fastest in this organization could tell what Walt was thinking even before he was. Something Vic was happy to say he was pretty good at.
Ah heck, Vic thought. I’d better thumb through those bills. See if there is anything important pending. That was when something on the floor caught his eye. It appeared to be a picture of the Matterhorn, no... a postcard. Vic picked it up and examined both sides carefully. It was addressed to him at WED in Glendale. On the back, in what was unmistakably Walt’s handwriting were two words followed by an exclamation point. It said simply, “build this!”
And that was how my grandfather Vic Greene got his first assignment as the head show engineer for WED.
Discuss It
-- Indigo
Dispatch from Disneyland: Memories and fantasies woven together to create whimsical tales that can happen any day at Walt Disney's magic kingdom. Through Indigo's dispatch you can experience some of the wonderful moments that make Disneyland such a magical place.
Dispatch from Disneyland is posted on the first Wednesday of each month.
The opinions expressed by our Indigo, and all of our columnists, do not necessarily represent the feelings of LaughingPlace.com or any of its employees or advertisers. All speculation and rumors about the future plans of the Walt Disney Company are just that - speculation and rumors - and should be treated as such.
-- Posted June 6, 2001