'Uncle Walt' lives on in Disneyland exhibit at Oakland museum
By Chad Jones, STAFF WRITER
DIANE Disney Miller doesn't like it when people suggest that her father, Walt Disney, was a cold, aloof workaholic.
"He may have been all business at the office, but at home he was a hugger," Miller said earlier this week at the Oakland Museum of California. "He was a warm, affectionate man."
The occasion for Miller's visit was a Wednesday press preview for "Behind the Magic: 50 Years of Disneyland," a treasure trove designed to thrill Disneyland lovers of all ages that opened Saturday.
The 7,500-square-foot exhibit traces the evolution of Disneyland from a glimmer in Disney's eye to one of the most popular vacation destinations in the world.
This collection of 250 pieces of art, models, drawings, promotional material and just plain great stuff began life at The Henry Ford in Michigan last year and is now on a multi-year tour.
"Behind the Magic" remains in Oakland through Aug. 20 and is the next best thing to a trip to the Magic Kingdom itself — and the lines are sure to be faster.
Looking through the exhibit, which is in three distinct sections in different parts of the museum, it's clear that Disney's creative vision was the guiding principle behind the creation and evolution of Disneyland.
But don't assume Disney was all-consumed by his work.
"People say he was a workaholic like he wasn't a normal person," Miller said. "He enjoyed his family and friends, trips and pastimes. He loved his work, so that was his major pastime, but he tried his hand at polo and golf, and toward the end of his life, lawn bowling. He took his team to tournaments all around the country. He enjoyed life, was curious and really liked people."
The smiling Walt Disney a generation remembers from the TV show "Disneyland" pops up frequently in "Behind the Magic."
On video screens throughout the exhibit, folks who worked with "Uncle Walt" talk about him lovingly and lavish praise on his driving need to re-define family entertainment.
One person who appears in many of those videos is Martin A. Sklar — "Marty" to his friends — who was hired while still in college to create a newspaper for Disneyland's Main Street, U.S.A.
Sklar stuck with the company and helped Disney create
Imagineering, the corps of artists, engineers and magicians who essentially create all the physical aspects of the Disney empire such as theme parks, cruise ships and museum exhibits.
At the exhibit's opening, Sklar remembered Disney as a great man to work for because he fully expected never to be disappointed by his Imagineers.
"Can you imagine working for someone who constantly said that what you did yesterday was great, but it isn't good enough for tomorrow?" Sklar asks. "Walt was always asking: What's next?"
One of Disney's major "what's next" moments was the invention of Audio-animatronic figures, and an early example provides a major highlight of the exhibit.
Disney and his Imagineers created a standing, talking Abraham Lincoln for the 1964 World's Fair in New York that was so popular Disney had one created for Disneyland.
The original Lincoln figure was stuck in a crate and forgotten — until now.
The fully recognizable Lincoln head sits atop a body encased in clear, yellowish plastic, and inside is a robotic maze of wires zig-zagging through a metal skeleton.
The figure is fascinating and a little creepy.
Other highlights include ride vehicles from Peter Pan's Flight and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (which was originally conceived of as a roller coaster until Disney toned it down) and a giant stone serpent from the Indiana Jones Adventure.
The Disney company's fanatical attention to detail is evident in the displays devoted to interior design colors for the Disneyland Hotel rooms and the Disneyland employee — sorry, "cast member" — dress codes through the years, most of which begin, "Into each life some conformity must fall."
People ask Miller, who lives in San Francisco and runs Napa's Silverado Vineyards winery with her husband, what her father would think of Disneyland today as it celebrates its golden anniversary.
"I tell them he'd be thrilled by its popularity but puzzled that no one wants anything in the park to change," Miller said. "There's an element of nostalgia in Disneyland, and I think people know it was Walt's park. That means something, and I like that very much."
Sklar has been involved in the creation of all 11 Disney parks around the world.
"But Disneyland is where the heart is," Sklar said. "This is the only park Walt walked in."
You can e-mail Chad Jones at
cjones@angnewspapers.com or call (925) 416-4853. For more visit
http://www.insidebayarea.com.
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