In the summer of 2012, I was called to meet with director Alan Smithee in the “Old Animation” building at Disney Studios in Burbank, California. I have worked on previous Disney films, but our offices were not on the studio lot. It was my first visit to the “Old Animation” building, and I was looking forward to the meeting. During my career I was fortunate enough to work at many Hollywood Landmarks. It was always thrilling to work at a historical location, but I’ve never been moved to document the experience. As soon as I reached the front steps and saw the ANIMATION sign, I grabbed for my smart phone and took a picture. I was unsure why I needed that photo, but I wanted a record of the experience.
Walt Disney has always fascinated me as a person. Prior to walking into the Animation building, I had read the biography An American Original Walt Disney by Bob Thomas. I became familiar with the life of Walt Disney through the struggles and triumphs. Before building a major studio and theme park, he was an artist and an animator. He pushed those around him to perfect his visions while changing the landscape of entertainment. However, prior to being labeled a visionary, genius and icon, he was simply called “Uncle Walt.”
After meeting with Alan Smithee, I was hired to begin work on the feature film Untitled. For the next year, the Old Animation building became my workplace. The Old Animation building is home to mostly television writers these days. So it was exciting to think that I was an artist working in the same building as Walt Disney and his “nine old men.” While researching for the film, I met some of the wonderful people throughout the Disney archives and my fascination with Walt Disney grew.
It wasn’t long, before my curiosity led me to the glass doors of Walt’s Old office. Unfortunately the current occupant, writer/producer Marc Cherry, maintains that wing as a private area. However, the building’s talent administration eventually arranged for us to visit Walt’s office. Despite the renovations through the years, I hoped the office would still have a sense of Walt Disney. But I was disappointed to find the office mostly unrecognizable from the photos I had seen before. Marc Cherry used a similar furniture configuration, but everything else seemed different. I gazed out the window toward the Verdugo Mountains only to find sound stages and administration buildings. While I was humbled to have the opportunity to visit the space, it was noting like I imagined.
Right after my visit to Walt’s office, I noticed a flyer for an exhibition at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library titled Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives. It was conducted by D23-the official Disney fan club. I decided to visit the Ronald Reagan Library to see Walt’s formal office. Within the exhibition, the contents of Walt’s formal office were arranged and displayed for the first time off Disney property. The area containing Walt’s office was appropriately titled The Hub of a Creative Empire. Upon viewing the exhibition, I felt that I was finally getting to see the office of Walt Disney despite being 38 miles from the studio. The office instillation looked flawless, and every detail had been taken into account. I studied the area the best I could from behind the museum railing, but I still wanted to see more.
One of the first tasks bestowed upon the original Disney archivist, and future Disney Legend, Dave Smith in 1970, was the cataloging of Walt’s office that had been untouched since his death in 1966. Dave did a complete inventory of Walt’s formal and private office including extensive photo documentation. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Smith recalled, "It was an eerie thing to sit in his chair and count the paper clips in the drawer," with a nervous chuckle. On the bookshelves, he discovered books and letters given to Walt by Upton Sinclair, Winston Churchill and C. S. Lewis, who inscribed one of his books of poetry with the words: "From one visionary to another." These are exactly the types of items I couldn’t see from a museum barrier. I wanted to know what miniatures were on Walt’s shelf? What books were in his office library? What was the story behind the large bell on his desk? What items and awards were framed on his wall? These were the questions that drew my fascination with Walt’s office and the items within it.
Generations of people have enjoyed the creative vision of Walt Disney. Millions of people have seen the recreations of Walt Disney formal and working office at the Disney theme parks and museum exhibits. What follows is an itemized look at the hub of his creative empire. This is a collection of photographs and stories that celebrate the working environment of a true visionary.
P.S: Corrected things:
1. Some minor typos and grammatical errors
2. Changed to MLA format and single line spaced (as per your requirement)
3. Minor change in sentence structures for tense correction and easy understanding.
4. Proof reading done for spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, spontaneity of the passage.
