Thoughts on Walt
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Introduction by Tim O'Day

In 1901 Theodore Roosevelt was President of the United States and the country was still very much a rural society, illuminated with gas lamps or the new electric light. Personal communication was represented by hand-cranked telephones and modern transportation was transitioning from the horse and buggy to the Model T Ford.

As the 20th century dawned Walter Elias Disney was born in Chicago, Illinois, on December 5, 1901. Through the ensuing 65 years he embraced the culture and innovations of his times with his fertile imagination to become, as recently cited by Time Magazine, one of the century's foremost entertainers and one of its most recognized builders and titans.

During Walt Disney's 43-year career in entertainment his fellow Hollywood filmmakers, heads of state from Winston Churchill to Prime Minister Nehru of India, U.S. presidents from FDR to LBJ, famed artists from Salvador Dali to Igor Stravinsky, and famed authors and intellectuals from Upton Sinclair to Buckminster Fuller, admired his numerous achievements.

Through the years Walt Disney pioneered such filmmaking innovations as synchronized sound for animation (Steamboat Willie), Technicolor for animated films (Flowers and Trees), stereophonic sound for films (Fantasia), produced the first feature-length animated film (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), created and popularized the nature documentary (True-Life Adventures) and forged new groundbreaking animation techniques (3D animation, the Multi-Plane Camera, Xerography, the combination of live-action footage and animation).

From 1923 until his passing in 1966, as perhaps Hollywood's most prolific movie producer, Walt Disney personally produced 87 feature films (including animated features, live-action films and documentaries), along with over 605 cartoon shorts, featurettes and short documentaries. Additionally he produced five successful television series: Disneyland, The Mickey Mouse Club, Zorro, Walt Disney Presents and Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color.

Through his personal creation of Disneyland in California he introduced the concept of the "Theme Park" to the world, in addition to such innovations as the Monorail, the PeopleMover and the three-dimensional animation process of Audio-Animatronics. At the time of his passing he was exploring new ways of urban living through the creation of EPCOT, hoping to assist in finding innovative solutions for America's decaying inner cities.

In his lifetime Walt Disney, along with members of his staff, received more than 950 honors and citations from every nation in the world, including 48 Academy Awards® (32 personally awarded to Walt Disney himself - a record which still stands) and seven Emmys® (four personally presented to Walt).

Walt Disney's personal awards include honorary degrees from Harvard, Yale, the University of Southern California, and UCLA; the Presidential Medal of Freedom; France's Legion of Honor and Officer d'Academie decorations; honored by the B'nai Br'ith; Thailand's Order of the Crown; Brazil's Order of the Southern Cross; Mexico's Order of the Aztec Eagle; and the Showman of the World Award from the National Association of Theatre Owners.

Walt Disney was unique in the world because more so than any other entertainer or moviemaker of his time his name became synonymous with certain standards of quality, innovation, content and ideals -- standards that remain today indelibly linked with his name long after his lifetime. The films, television productions and theme park attractions created under his guidance are timeless testaments to his genius as a storyteller and showman.

Disney's creations contained simple traits such as the triumph of good over evil, humor, pathos, nostalgia, patriotism, optimism and wonder. He believed that with every laugh there must be a tear. In an age of "political correctness" Walt Disney's entertainment still transcends language and cultural barriers -- to him there were no borders to the basic human ideals that his brand of entertainment conveyed.

We have come a far way from the ragtime era in which Walt Disney was born. Now as we experience the dawn of the 21st century we pause to reflect on the 100th anniversary of his birth. Since his passing 35 years ago memories of the man himself have begun to blur, his life story and achievements have been analyzed in a myriad of ways and he has become not so much a noun as he has a brand -- many people have simply lost touch with the fact that he actually existed at all. This thought is ironic because no one on the world stage today has made as great an impact on our popular culture as Walt Disney -- during his lifetime and beyond.

It is hard for today's generation to imagine such a man as Walt Disney. To those that indeed remember him he is a hero and an inspiration, not in the same sense as the NYC firefighters, police and rescue workers, but a hero in the sense of persistently overcoming obstacles and seeing his visions become reality. Rising from a humble upbringing, it can easily be imagined that his story was carved straight out of the American Dream.

It has been said that Walt Disney was a simple man touched by magic. His was an extraordinary life and as long as we remember the man himself, and what he stood for, we will continue to be touched by his special magic for generations to come.