'(Continued)
:
t. .
if
where he arrived with an old suit, a sweater, some
drawing materials, and $39.98 in cash. Behind him
in Kansas City were sizable debts which took him
years to pay off.
Walt's spectacular rise in Hollywood is pretty well
known: how he formed a partnership with his
brother Roy, who brought into the company its only
tangible assets, $250 in cash; how their Uncle Robert
loaned them another $500 and let them live in his
house till they got on their feet; how an order from
an independent New York distributor for a series of
pictures finally set them up in business; how, with
the aid of two girls they hired for $15 a week apiece,
they made their first "Alice" cartoon; and how the
studio grew from a little shack in Burbank to the
multimillion-dollar corporation it is today.
One of the girls, Lillian Bounds, later became Mrs.
Walt Disney and the mother of their two daughters
Diane, now Mrs. Ron Miller, and Sharon, who
works as a secretary in her father's company. Miller,
a former football star, also works for Walt as an
assistant director, but Mrs. Disney long ago gave up
working in her husband's enterprises. As Walt
puts it, with a grin, of course, "She only spends my
money now and can't understand why I'm so broke."
Walt's being "broke," by the way, is the topic of
constant jibes among his family and employees.
Recently, when told that he had purchased a
quarter-horse for $1,500, his secretary asked: "What
with?" But as another member of his organization
puts it: "We should all be as broke as Walt!"
Ouccess often demands a big price. In Walt's case
it nearly ruined his health.
The more successful he became, the harder
he worked on new ideas, new developments, new
techniques until he reached the breaking point.
Seven years ago he was close to a nervous break
down when his doctor insisted he cut down to a
five-day week, learn to relax, and get himself some
hobbies which would release his tensions.
It's not surprising that, just as his work pleases
young and old alike, Walt would pick a pastime that
fits the same pattern a miniature railroad with a
half-mile of tracks crossing his Holmby Hills estate.
At first his neighbors were distressed by the con
stant tooting and whistling. They felt it didn't belong
in the most exclusive section of Los Angeles, but
they quickly got used to it.
A good portion of the equipment was built by
Walt himself when he worked as an apprentice in
the studio's machine shop. However, Walt admits,
"I was promoted quite fast."
When he first told his wife Lillian about his
project, she thought he was kidding. But when he
suggested naming the engine "Lilly Belle," after
her, she discarded all objections.
In fact, one has the feeling that just as Walt is able
to look at life through the eyes of all age groups,
Mrs. Disney treats her husband the same way,
depending on his moods. The railroad is but one
example. His French poodle, Lady, another.
Walt has been fond of pets since he had a whole
flock of them including dogs, cats, roosters, and
lambs when he was a farm boy in Missouri. His
favorite at the time was a German Shepherd.
Mrs. Disney had no objection to dogs when their
children were young, but she seemed nowhere as
delighted a few years ago when her husband
suggested getting another pet. And she may never
have agreed to the purchase if her eldest daughter,
Diane, hadn't insisted: "Mom, you just have to get
a dog for Daddy. He wants one so much."
When Mrs. Disney weakened, Walt followed up
his advantage by letting her choose the dog, "because
this way she couldn't pick on it later on. It became
her dog as well as mine."
Walt is only teasing when he refers to his wife's
"objections" to some of his ideas. Theirs is one of
Hollywood's happiest marriages, and Lillian Disney
wholeheartedly goes along with her husband's
pastimes, including the baseball games they watch
by the hour (Walt used to be part-owner of the
Hollywood Stars, a Pacific Coast League team now
defunct). She even holds back her anxieties when
Walt plays polo.
Today, the miniature railroad is stored at the
studio, because Walt has found a bigger hobby
Disneyland. This biggest amusement center in the
world grew out of Walt's disappointment when he
couldn't find a park to his liking when his daughters
were little. But what they missed out on, Walt's two
oldest grandchildren are able to enjoy thoroughly
in the company of their grandfather! At age one,
Tamara Marie Miller is too young to be taken
along to Disneyland. But on nice warm Sundays,
other spectators can often watch Grandfather Walt
take Christopher Disney Miller, not quite four, and
Joanna Sharon Miller, two, on the various rides
while he explains the signs, switches, signals, and
other fascinating gadgets with the same seriousness
with which he told the reporters about Brian
Conners, king of the leprechauns.
In the final analysis, one feels that the real secret
of Walt Disney's magic touch is his ability to see,
to talk, to discuss, to visualize things even
leprechauns so that they come excitingly to life
for everyone to enjoy.
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