An American Icon

Over the 4th Of July we visited the new Disney Family Museum in San Francisco. It was a worthwhile experience.



This museum is about the Disney back story. The details of his life and that of his Irish immigrant family. It should come as no surprise that it is largely a success story but not in a way that glosses over the challenges Walt faced in his life.







A few things I didn't know:



He lied about his age to go to work for the Red Cross during the first world war as a battlefield ambulance driver. He was 17 and had to be 18 to qualify. His mother signed a permission slip and he says he changed his birth date to 1900 to qualify.




The first year of profits from Mickey Mouse all went to a film distributor because Walt wasn't very good at reading the fine print in contracts.



In the early 40's his artists went on strike. Walt got into a battle with the head of the new union and workers picketed the studios for some time. He was frequently accused of stealing artwork but it never came to anything.



The strike left him bitter about unions and he testified before the house unamerican activities committee in the 50's saying he was convinced that the unions were run by communists.



The museum exhibits rare Mickey Mouse toys of all kinds. Walt was one of the first to hire a marketing specialist to merchandise a cartoon character which lead to a major industry all by itself.



Disneyland started with a passion for trains, for miniatures which he collected in the thousands. He visualised a place where Disney employees could take their children near the studio for picnics. That developed into ideas for rides and shows. When he told his wife he was interested in building an amusement park she said "Oh no Walt! Amusement parks are so dirty!" He replied "Not mine!"

The Museum is housed in a historic Presidio building that has been expanded in such a way that you can't telll from the exterior. The back of the building features a glass wall overlooking the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge. Walking past that wall you are led into a gallery that tells the Disneyland story. A curved ramp runs past the display of the miniature train Walt built in the back yard of his Holmby Hills home. It was just big enough to ride on. At the bottom of the ramp is a scale model of Disneyland with video monitors that show how the park was built with lighting timed to highlight different sections.

The last gallery is about Walt's last year on earth. He was named "Showman of The World" by the motion picture theater operators association and you can hear the speech he gave. There is a description of his last 24 hours. Then you walk into a completely white gallery with pictures and video on the walls summing up Walt's life. For a fan it is an emotional moment.


I admit I'm one of those.