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20 Questions about Walt Disney

Question 1: Interviewer: Hello Mr. Disney. Walt Disney: Please, call me Walt. Interviewer: OK…Walt. When did Disneyland Park officially open? Walt Disney: It was on July 17, 1955. I was 53 at the time. It was in Anaheim, California. I stood in my private apartment over the fire station on mainstreet overlooking the grounds as the workers put the finishing touches on the rides. I remember seeing long lines of people waiting in the hot sun for the park to open. As all the children and their parents ran into the park tears of happiness filled my eyes. Author Connie Plantz had said “Right when I walked in I felt the magic.” One of my friends described Disneyland Park as the world’s biggest toy…for the world’s biggest boy.

Question 2: Interviewer: Very nice, do you have any siblings? Walt Disney: Yes, I had three brothers and one sister-Herbert, he was thirteen when I was born; Raymond, he was eleven when I was born; Roy, he was eight when I was born; and Ruth Flora, she was born 2 years after me.

Question 3: Interviewer: I have a sibling, his name is Fred, and he’s 104. So…where were you born? Walt Disney: I was born in Chicago, Illinois on December 5, 1901. My mother’s name was Flora Disney, and my dad’s name was Elias Disney. By the time I was five, my parents got tired of the city life so we moved to a farm in Missouri.

Question 4: Interviewer: Is Walt Disney you birth name? Walt Disney: No, my birth name is Walter Elias Disney. My parents called me Little Walt so then people just started to call me Walt, so I became known as Walt Disney.

Question 5: Interviewer: Can I call you Walter then? Walt Disney: No. Interviewer: Ok, I heard about you making the first color cartoon, can you tell me about that? Walt Disney: Absolutely, It was in 1932. It was called Flowers and Trees. It was a forest tale about a nice young tree that defeats a mean old stump. It was the first successful color cartoon.

Question 6: Interviewer: How did you come up with Mickey Mouse? Walt Disney: I shared my mouse idea with my best animator. We brainstormed about how Mickey Mouse should look-all black except for his white face, how would have big mouse ears, skinny arms and legs, and a long tail. To make him look more like a human we added big, puffy black shoes, bright red shorts with big buttons, and yellow gloves on his hands. I first wanted to name Mickey Mouse, Mortimer, but she said that she like the name Mickey a lot better. I was the voice of Mickey Mouse until 1947.

Question 7: Interviewer: That’s very cool. How did you like living on a farm? Walt Disney: I loved to live on a farm. Each of us had chores. My job was to take care of the animals; I had no problem with that. I loved the cows, pigs, ducks, and chickens; they were my friends. Caring for them was fun! I loved to draw; I would often draw the animals. My parents didn’t have enough money to buy paper for me to draw on. I liked to draw so much I would draw on anything that I could find. Even a scrap of toilet paper would do.

Question 8: Interviewer: Are there any other Disney Theme Parks than the one in the United States? Walt Disney: Yes, there are ones in the United States, Japan, China, and France. Disney Land in France is in Paris. Disney Land in the United States is in California as you know and Florida. The Disney Land in Japan is in Tokyo. The one in China is in Hong Kong.

Question 9: Interviewer: I would love to go to the one in Tokyo. Can you tell me about The Seven Dwarfs? Walt Disney: Sure, on December 21, 1937, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first full-length animated musical feature, premiered at the Carthay Theater in Los Angeles. The film produced at the unheard cost of $1,499,000 during the depths of the Depression, the film is still considered one of the greatest and most loved of the motion picture industry. During the next five years, Walt Disney Studios completed other full-length animated classics such as Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, and Bambi.

Question 10: Interviewer: How many rides are there in Disney Land? Walt Disney: There are 55 official "attractions" in Disneyland. However, many of those would not be considered "rides". If we only consider what you could arguable call a "ride," then Disneyland has 36 rides.

Question 11: Interviewer: That’s nice. I heard that you received some awards…can you tell me about that? Walt Disney: I received fifty-nine Academy Award nominations and won twenty-six Oscars, including a record, four in one year. I also received seven Emmy Awards.

Question 12: Interviewer: That’s a lot! My dad would always talk about the Mickey Mouse Club...can you tell me about that? Walt Disney: Yes, it was a daily ABC television show. The Mickey Mouse Club debuted on October 5, 1955. The group’s trademark sign-off song was the kids beginning to spell out the name of everybody’s favorite mouse…M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E. Soon children all over the world began singing the catchy tune. On the set where the show was filmed, I told all the Mouseketeers to call me “Uncle Walt.”

Question 13: Interviewer: What about the Mickey Mouse cartoon Steamboat Willie, can you tell me how you made that? Walt Disney: I made the announcement that the third Mickey Mouse cartoon, Steamboat Willie, would feature sound and music. Like many other filmmakers, I had no sound equipment in my studio. Ub, a young staff member, Wilfred Jackson, and I marked the film to film to show where the music and sound effects would go.

Question 14: Interviewer: What was the first roller coaster in Disneyland? Walt Disney: In 1959, I added three new rides to Disneyland. At first I didn’t want roller coasters in my park but once the fourteen-story Matterhorn Mountain ride was built, I enjoyed inviting special visitors-comedians, kings, and presidents. At the end of the ride I would always laugh when water splattered and surprised my guests.

Question 15: Interviewer: Where did the idea for EPCOT come from? Walt Disney: EPCOT means experimental prototype community of tomorrow. I originally wanted EPCOT to be a self-sufficient city where there was no traffic. Everybody would grow most of the food that they ate. Scientists would come up with new ideas. I had this vision in the 1960s and I always wanted to see it work but it didn’t come to life until 1981. EPCOT was never what I hoped it would be.

Question 16: Interviewer: Can you tell me about your family? Walt Disney: I got married to Lillian Bounds in 1925, I was 23 and Lillian was 26. We got married on July 13, 1925. We have 2 kids, Sharon and Diane. We adopted Sharon. I had seven grandchildren.

Question 17: Interviewer: When did you decide to make Disneyworld in Florida? Walt Disney: I decided to make Disneyworld in 1965. While we were working on the amusement park I came up with calling the workers “Imagineers” because to build an amusement park it takes imagination and engineering.

Question 18: Interviewer: We know that Mickey Mouse was your first character, but which characters came next? Walt Disney: Pluto, Goofy, and Donald Duck came after Mickey. Pluto was in 1930, Goofy was in 1932 and Donald Duck was 1934.

Question 19: Interviewer: We talked about animated films, what was your first film with actors and actresses? Walt Disney: It was called Song of the South. It had animation and people. That film debuted in 1946. My first movie with all actors was treasure island in 1949.

Question 20: Interviewer: Who took over The Walt Disney Company when you died? Walt Disney: My brother Roy Disney took over the company. I never got to see the Disneyworld in Florida. I died 5 years before it opened.


 * Walt Disney died on December 15, 1966 from lung cancer.