Disney 50th Anniversary Year     

     When I returned to my old office back at Disneyland the place was buzzing. It was the long-awaited and long-prepared-for 50^th Anniversary year of the company.

     Walt had begun his fledgling enterprise in a tiny garage and now, half a century later, the Disney kingdom had blossomed into an world-wide entertainment giant. And I got to be a part of this magical year.

     And to start things off just right in 1973, I was promoted. How cool is that? I became the Manager of Special Events, which meant that I was the responsible supervisor of everything we did outside of the Parks. Wow.

     What a fabulous opportunity that was. And, what an awesome responsibility as well. After all, we as a company were highly concerned about the image we put forth to the public and there was, most certainly, a standard of excellence we had to meet in every event. What a great job, huh?

     As with everything we did, we relied on the power and reach of television to spread the joy of what we did for family entertainment. That year, there were four major TV events, once in each quarter of the year, in which we would have a presence. Starting on New Year’s Day with the world-famous Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California.  Then, a major segment as part of the 45th Annual Academy Awards show. The one I was most involved in was the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. And, finally, we produced a huge halftime show at the Orange Bowl Football Game in Miami, Florida. Four huge events that took place outside the Park.

     The celebrations, of course, also continued all that year in both the California and Florida Parks with a brand new Electrical Light Parade. It was spectacular and great fun both to create and to watch. But, probably the most important happening for me that year was the re-release of the great old children’s TV show, The Mickey Mouse Club.

   
  It first aired in 1955 and, as a kid, I think I was glued to the television set every day it was on. I fell in love with one of the stars, Annette Funicello, along with every other young man in America and loved all the singing and dancing. It was originally a filmed program and broadcast in black and white, as there really wasn’t decent color television available in the U.S. until the early 70s.

     Being based at the Studio during the Disney On Parade production, I made some wonderful new friends with whom I continued to work on various projects all throughout the anniversary year and well into the next. Namely, Ed Ropolo who was the absolute master of creating theatrical movie trailers and TV commercials for Disney’s movies and the highly-energetic and over-the-top Director of Publicity for the Disney empire, Bob King. Great guys, and who would become life-long friends as well. Both of them had been with the organization for a very long time and they kinda took me under their wings as the new kid with some great potential.

     The three of us were having lunch one day in the Studio Commissary and the conversation came around to the re-release of the “Mouse Club” and what an amazing success that effort had been. We started a “what if?” line of thinking that made all of us become increasingly more excited as we flowed through it together. What if we produced a brand new, modern version of the show, shoot it with television in full color instead of in black and white on film, use the hip and current music genres of the day, cast a truly diverse group of kids who all could sing, dance and act their little hearts out.  Wow!

     The next several months were spent in “pick-up” creative meetings with all of us who were still doing our “day jobs” and had to grab time here and there for some serious head-knocking and brainstorming, which was especially hard with them up in Burbank and me way, way down in Anaheim.

     During that period of time, Bob King had written a memo to Card Walker, the President of Walt Disney Productions, about me about what an asset I would be to the Studio.

     I deeply appreciated that wonderfully kind gesture of Bob’s and it served to make our relationship even stronger.

     After several months of creative thinking and planning, we were ready to make our pitch to Card and the heads of the Studio. We had created a daily show with a different theme for each of the days of the week and designed 65 separate programs which would run for 13 weeks on television stations throughout the U.S.

     By this time, we had also recruited the firm who had been so successful syndicating the re-release of the original show and they were beyond excited about having this new series to pitch and sell to their already happy stations. We thought we had a real winner!

     And, wonderfully and gratefully, Card Walker and his executives thought it could be a winner too!! They gave us money to produce a “pilot” so they could see if what we had designed would really work. After all the talk, after all the thinking, we were more than ready to put this show up on its “feet” and see if our creative juices would flow into something successful.

     I was responsible for casting and rehearsing the kids for the pilot and for creating the set piece where we would shoot a musical number. I called Jack Fisk, one of Hollywood’s top Art Directors (and husband to academy award-winning actress, Sissy Spacek) and he was more than willing to help us design the set. I pulled together some talented kids that I knew from church mostly, who would be the “cast” for the pilot.

     A truly wonderful thing happened next. My old friend, Peter Martin, who now lived “next door” to the Studio in Pasadena was available and I asked him to be my musical director for the pilot. He, happily said yes, so together we wrote a different song for each of the themed days and went into the Salty Dog recording studio with my hastily gathered group of young performers. In a way, the “band was getting back together” (remember The Five Part Invention way back in Denver?) with Peter and I now collaborating once again on what could become an absolutely fantastic new project for both of us. 

     Part of our show content was also to include some educational filmed material and we thought that a 4-minute mini-documentary on the subject of skateboarding, which had been sweeping the country and had become extremely popular with the younger set, would be just the thing for our pilot. Thankfully, I didn’t have to look very far for my skateboarding expert…he was right under my nose. Todd Wuergler!

     My son Todd. The perfect choice to demonstrate the joys of skateboarding. My partner Ed was responsible for the filming of that segment and what a fabulous opportunity for Todd to show off his rapidly expanding expertise. Daughter Debbie was also recruited to be an “extra” and part of the background crowd.

     A true family affair. I was having the time of my life!

     The kids were great, the set was fabulous, the skateboarding segment was terrific, and the music was pretty darn cool too. We were now ready to circle back to the “powers that be” and see if their faith in us and in our idea would hold sway and that we would be given the opportunity to do this for real.

     It did. They did. And we were on our way!

     I was now a full-blown Disney Television Producer!  

And... an official member of the Club!

First Time at the Studio - Disney On Parade...

     After that wonderful little detour deep into Mississippi, I headed west once again, stopping once more in Colorado to visit Mom and my fabulous Grandmothers and boy, did I have a great story to tell them.

     I arrived in California with plenty of time to find an apartment in Glendale a couple of miles from the Disney Studios, buy a slick new chocolate-colored 240-Z sports car, and a new pair of really good-looking production executive-type shoes.

     I was ready to rock!

     I have to admit, once again, that I got more than a little bit excited when I drove through the main gate on the Disney lot.

     This was the true center of the Disney universe, where all the magic happened, and where many, many very creative people worked doing great things and making great movies every day. I was truly excited to be there.

     My office was on the third floor of the famous Animation Building.

     There is a fabulous story about Walt going to the Bank of America many, many years ago to ask for a loan to build an animation studio on this very spot. The bank was highly skeptical that a company that made cartoons starring a mouse would ever make it big. So, the deal was, they would give Walt the money to build a building only if he would construct it so that it could be easily converted to a hospital when his cartoon business failed. The building was constructed with four wings on each of the three floors with a big desk-like structure placed at the entrance of each of the wings that could become a nurse’s station. Really. The rooms down the hallway of each of those wings could also be converted into patient rooms whenever Walt went bankrupt and had to give the building back to the bank.

     Well, we all know that the cartoon starring the mouse was just the beginning of what was to become an extremely successful artistic and world-wide entertainment empire. Walt Disney never had to give the building back.

     The land was, of course, zoned for a hospital, which was eventually built right across the street…St. Joseph’s Hospital, where our darling Leah was born. But, wait…I’m getting waaaaaaaay ahead of myself.

     Mike Grilikhes was yet another amazing boss. I was tasked with being his right-hand guy, which meant that I got to learn from one of the very best. Disney On Parade was a series of travelling arena shows (I knew a little bit about shows that travel, remember?) produced by Nawal Productions, a joint venture between NBC and Walt Disney Productions.

     The shows were primarily for children and featured famous Disney characters performing in various comedy and musical routines as well as condensed versions of famous Disney motion pictures. The shows toured all over, not just in America, but in Europe, South America, Australia and Japan.

     The first show premiered in Chicago in 1969, and ran for over three hours. It required 40 tractor-trailer trucks to haul the props, costumes and sets. Mike Grilikhes was brought in primarily to cut the show down to two hours and reduce the amount of props and sets without losing any of the quality. He did a magnificent job doing that.

     And I got to be his assistant. Cool, yes?

     One of the more entertaining tasks for which I was responsible was supervising the recording of the sound tracks of the show into the 8 languages for the countries in which it would eventually travel: South American Spanish, Spain Spanish (Castilian), Portuguese, Japanese, German, French, Italian and Dutch. Try to imagine me sitting in a recording studio, hour after hour, first with a German Donald Duck, then a French Donald Duck, then an Italian Donald Duck and on and on and on…absolutely hilarious!

     After the show opened and it was successfully running out on the road, my production assistant job was over and I was headed back to Disneyland. 

     My goodness, what a whirlwind I was headed into...1973. 

A Little Family Research Along the Way...

     Early in my trip to Burbank, I decided to take a little family history detour up to Poplar Creek, Mississippi, the birthplace of my great-grandmother Florence Lucinda Martin Daniel.

     I had been working hard on my genealogy but simply could not find the information or records I needed to tie her family completely together. It was truly a frustrating bit of research and I was hoping that by visiting her actual place of birth I might be able to find out something…anything that would clear up my confusion.

     I pulled into “town” which was only a ramshackle old general store down at the bottom of a hill. I mean this was a really small place. No other structure around, no people, just a very warm and quiet May afternoon.

     There was a payphone hanging on the wall of the general store with a phonebook hanging from it connected by a small silver chain. (Some of you reading this may wonder what in the world I’m talking about, right?) Back in the “olden times” (this was 1972 remember…cellphones had yet to be invented) there used to be telephones hanging or mounted just about everywhere into which you could deposit some coins to make a call. Before you did that, you could look up the number in the phone book – which listed everyone in the area alphabetically by name. Amazing, yes?

     I looked up the name “Winfrey” thinking, hoping actually, that there just may be a decedent or two still living in the area. Sure ‘nuff – there was a listing for a Nathaniel Winfrey. I deposited a quarter, waited for the dial tone, dialed the number, and almost right away, Nathaniel answered the call.

     My opening line to him was, “I think I may be related to you and would love to talk to you about your family.” He said he would love to do that, asked me where I was, and said he would be down to the general store in about a half-hour.

     While I was on the phone, I looked up the hill and could see what appeared to be some gravestones behind a fence. Maybe a church cemetery, right? And, just maybe, I could find old Absalom and his wife Sarah Lucinda buried up there.

     I had some time before Nathaniel arrived, so I drove up to the church, got out of the car and walked over to the gate to the graveyard. It was an absolutely beautiful late spring day. I could hear several birds singing in the trees that surrounded the church yard. It was a very peaceful setting.

     As soon as I walked past the gate, I had the astounding sensation that felt like someone had grabbed me by my shirt front and was pulling me toward the very back of the cemetery. I mean literally pulling me in a specific direction. It was an amazing feeling, very real but also non-threatening. I felt quite calm and very willing to be led, not knowing where I was going.

     Once I got to the back row, I was astounded to be looking at several headstones that bore the name “Davison” – Sarah Lucinda’s maiden name. This had to be her family area of the grounds. I immediately sat down, resting my back against a blackened headstone that looked something like the tablets that Moses brought down from Mt. Sinai. A larger than normal headstone with two arched tops and which was large enough to act as a backrest for me as I feverishly wrote down all of the inscriptions on all those “Davison” stones.

     A quick glance at my watch told me it was time to head back down the hill to meet Nathaniel. When he arrived in his red pickup truck, and shouted at me from the window, “are you the guy who called me?” – I was tongue-tied for a moment and really didn’t know quite what to say to him. He was a black man.

     Remember that my opening words to him on the phone were “I think I may be related to you,” so now learning that he was a man of a different race than mine tossed my mind into a bit of a spin. I really didn’t know what to think.

     I told him why I was there, that I was trying to locate my ancestor, Absalom Farrar Winfrey and could he help me do that. He told me he didn’t know much about the family, but he guessed that his elderly uncle, who still lived out on the old Winfrey place might be able to help me.

     Those words shook me like a giant thunder clap. THE OLD WINFREY PLACE. Did I find what I had come for? Had I located my great-grandmother’s actual birthplace? I could feel my heart pumping and could not wait to drive out there…wherever out there was.

     I thanked Nathaniel for his time and he gave me directions. Off I went with my chest pounding. My goodness, this family research is fun stuff, yes?

     After about a two-mile drive into this beautiful Mississippi wilderness, I turned into a dirt road and saw a wonderfully large field of white cotton. 

     And up on the hill just as Nathaniel had described, there was a small silver metal Quonset hut, with an old man in a hospital bed out on the front porch.

     I introduced myself to this wonderful old gentleman, who was being watched over by a lovely young black woman who I was about to learn, was his granddaughter. After I told him why I was there, he pointed down to one edge of the cotton field and asked if I could see the outline of a brick wall that appeared to be the remains of a house foundation.

     "That, dear sir, is the home in which your great-grandmother was born. That is the main house of what once was the Winfrey plantation. Ah,” he almost whispered, “I remember old Colonel Winfrey. He was a fine gentleman.”

     My heart starting beating again.

     And then, I learned something astounding that I had never known before.

     I told this wonderful old man the feelings I had when his nephew, Nathanial, drove up to me down at the general store. How I had a strange moment thinking about my heritage and where my family had really come from. He laughed at my obvious discomfort and gently said, “Didn’t you know that the emancipated slaves took the names of their former owners when they were set free?”

     Revelation! No, I had never known that. How had I ever missed knowing that bit of American history? Later, with a bit more research, I learned that when Absalom and Sarah arrived at Poplar Creek from Atlanta, the couple brought with them two young African-American slaves---Constantine and Violet---who married in 1859 and took the Winfrey name. Their heirs include successful men and women in business and the professions, such as Oprah Winfrey.

     I thanked him deeply and most appreciatively. He had given me an incredible gift of knowledge and had helped me tie some loose family ends together. I wanted to return to the church yard and finish copying the information from the headstones before I headed back out on my journey.

     I made my way to the back of the cemetery once again, only this time I made it back there on my own steam – there wasn’t anyone “pulling” me to go there.

I sat down with my back up against the same double headstone and started back copying the information. I started to reason out loud with myself, saying, “I wonder…if her mother and father and siblings are here, why are she and her husband not here too?” For some unknown reason, I turned to read the inscription on the headstone I was leaning up against. It had some black soot on it so it was hard to read. So, as I scraped off the black stuff, what was revealed underneath were the initials “A.F. Winfrey” on one side of the double tablet and “S.L. Winfrey” on the other side.

     I was actually SITTING ON THEIR GRAVE!

     I am firmly convinced that old Colonel Winfrey WANTED me to find him! I am just as convinced that something heavenly or heaven-sent, “pulled” me into that corner of the graveyard when I first arrived. He truly was anxious to be found. He, and whatever angels he had enlisted, helped me find him. I know beyond doubt that I was guided in every step in this marvelous discovery.

     Talk about your heart pounding! Wow!

     A few years later, I performed the temple ordinances for Absalom and Sarah and had them sealed together for all eternity along with their entire family. What an absolute thrill. I also had the feeling that he was right there with me in the Jordan River Temple when I did his family’s work.

     My goodness, what a joyful day that must have been for them! I know it was truly an amazing and wonderfully joyous day for me.

Walt Disney World...

     Here I go again…from sea to shining sea. My first road trip was Denver to New York in October of 1970, then New York to California in July of ’71, now two months later (September ’71) I’m back behind the wheel and rackin’ up the miles as I get to see more stunningly beautiful scenery of America the Beautiful. 

     As I drove into northern Florida what really surprised me was it was covered with pine trees and cattle…I was expecting palm trees and sand. (Did you know that Florida is the 2^nd largest cattle-raising state in the country?)

     First stop in Florida was to visit Bob Allen and his wonderful wife Rollie in their home in Windermere which was, back then, a sleepy little old village just three miles outside the back gate of the Park. It was great fun to see them again but it also turned out to be a fortuitous stop because they knew of a home I could rent right there in Windermere. A call was made to the owner before I left the Allen’s, I took a quick tour of this great old house which was right on the shore of the Butler chain of lakes (yes, a bass boat came with the house…cool, huh?) we made a deal that very afternoon and I moved right in. My whirlwind had begun.  

     Monday morning, I drove through the fun and welcoming entry gate and right into my next exciting Disney adventure.

     I was confident that this was really going to be great fun!

     I reported to the Entertainment Division office, which was still in a trailer out in the back lot. I already knew several of my colleagues from Disneyland so after some hand-shakes and some quick introductions, I was given my desk and my work assignments, got my photo taken, and then hit the ground running.

     A minor disappointment was that I discovered that I was two days late from being in the inaugural, now classic, full-cast photo that had everyone lined up in front of Cinderella’s Castle and which had made the cover of Life Magazine.

     Drat! Sure wish I could have been in that photo.

     My initial job was to supervise and manage the several performing groups that appeared nightly in the two amazing brand new hotels (there were only two hotels when the Park opened). In the Contemporary Hotel, there was an excellent piano player in the huge open lobby, a wonderful small jazz trio out in the marina bar, and a fabulous big dance band up on the top floor’s upscale supper club, “Top of the World”. There also were roaming groups of the Disney Characters that floated in and out occasionally and who were always a big hit with the guests.

     The other hotel was the Polynesian which had another terrific jazz band in the main bar, another pianist in the lobby and out on the beach was a fabulous nightly dinner show featuring a large troupe of Polynesian dancers and musicians. There was also a fantastic barbershop quartet that appeared on one of the tour boats that sailed on Bay Lake between the two hotels. And, once again, the Characters showed up, but here in this venue, they wore Hawaiian shirts and floral leis.

     A nightly parade on the water featured a cool new entertainment concept. The Electrical Water Pageant gently cruised past both hotels with fun recorded music playing from the floats. Another one of my jobs was to ensure it was on time and all the animated lights were working. Disney was in the parade business, as you can appreciate, and Bay Lake was just another type of “street” for this very creative and innovative “parade” to go down.

     I made good friends with all of the performers during my time in that supervisory role and continued to be stunned by the high level of their musical and performing talents. This was, collectively, a really great group of people who, like me, had a wonderful sense of privilege in being among the performing cast of this wonderful new place.

     I was about to witness the absolute genius of Bob Jani, my Vice President of the Entertainment Division and the man I’ve already told you about who is truly one of the most creative individuals I’ve ever encountered…and this in a virtual “sea” of creative individuals all throughout the Disney organization.

     This is the cover of the Master Event Script (a full inch thick, mind you) for the Opening Spectacular and Dedication Ceremony of Walt Disney World. 

     This was so HUGE that it took a full 3 days to execute, and had been in the planning stages for the past several years. And remember, I first encountered some of that preparation for this opening way back in the early 60s in Denver when both the Hustlers and the Five Part Invention were performing and the Disney “training ground” that Bob Allen was running. This celebration had been in the works for a very long time. And it was beyond superb.

     Rather than me give you the details, please take a moment and read this article. It will give you an overview of this amazing celebration. When I read through this article it not only brought back some wonderful memories but, once again, it truly took my breath away. This really was an awesome event.  

http://allears.net/ae/issue599.htm

     My time working in Walt Disney World was only going to be seven months, as Bob Jani had yet another really delicious opportunity for me to taste. This time, he invited me to go back to California, not back to Disneyland, but this time to the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank to work on the new international touring show, Disney On Parade. I was to be “on-loan” to the Studio and become the show’s Production Assistant to the Producer, Hollywood mega-talent, writer/producer Michael Grilikhes.

     You guessed it. Pack up the car and start back across the country for yet another very long road trip. But, I was really getting good at this, right?

     I cannot begin to tell you how truly fabulous my time at Walt Disney World had been. The vastness and scope of this new land of entertainment and recreation was already being called “the Vacation Kingdom of the World” and I got to be a small part of its beginnings.  

     Can’t wait to see what more my Disney experience has to offer in this next upcoming chapter. What a fabulous ride this has been so far…

The Happiest Place on Earth...

     After another cross-country drive, and a quick visit with Mom, Grandma Kurland, and Great Grandma Daniels in Colorado, I pulled into Anaheim, California. Before I ever did some apartment hunting, I drove around the outside of Disneyland and just soaked in both the joy and the anticipation of knowing that on Monday morning I would walk through those gates into a brand new career working behind the scenes. 

     Even though I would be leaving my performing life behind (for a season of indeterminate length) I somehow knew that I would most likely find and outlet of some kind to keep me sharp being in front of an audience and who knows what that might look like?

     But, for the near future, I would be supporting performers and producing shows that would be entertaining the good folks who would come to Disneyland expecting excellence in everything they encountered. Wow…what an amazing opportunity!

     After the required preliminaries with the Personnel Department, I was ushered into Bob Allen’s office, and it was truly a wonderful reunion. He took me down to meet my new boss, Bob Jani, the Vice-President of Entertainment. Bob Jani turned out to be, hands down, the most creative, innovative, out-of-the-box and entertaining thinker I had ever met, and to this very day, I really don’t think I’ve ever met his equal in those departments. In my later executive and leadership life, I would find myself mimicking his methods and style in managing both people and projects. In meeting Bob Jani, I could feel deep down, in that very moment, that I was in for one heck of an exciting ride.

     It was the height of the summer season (early July) and the Park was in full operation. They put me in charge of the Tomorrowland Stage, where top name talent would entertain every night. I had a team of technicians to manage and we would run the lights and sound for two performances per night.

     The very first show for which I was responsible starred the giant movie star and long-time Hollywood Legend, Debbie Reynolds. She was absolutely fabulous. An amazing singer and an even more amazing dancer and she was a huge hit with the Disneyland audiences. Her young teenage daughter came along with her and roamed the Park all night while her Mom was working hard performing. The daughter – Carrie Fisher, who you would come to know as Princess Leia was a real handful but great fun too.

 

     The next big act turned out to be a group that I already knew – The Supremes. By this time, Diana Ross had left the group but I remember Cindy and Mary, and what’s really cool, is that they remembered me from the concert back at Red Rocks Amphitheater. “What are you doing here?” was their greeting for me. “I’m doing your lights and sound…welcome to the Happiest Place on Earth.”

     Along with prepping and running the shows in Tomorrowland, I was also responsible for the Big Band shows at Carnation Gardens Plaza just off the Hub in front of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. This was a bit of heavenly nostalgia for me, because my Mom (your Grandmother) was the singer with some of the great Big Bands of the 1930s. Also, remember that I had played trombone in the big bands in both high school and college. Big Bands and their music was one of my true joys in life. And, one of the best experiences that summer was working with Bob Crosby and his fabulous big band. Bob was music legend Bing Crosby’s brother and a very delightful and talented gentleman. We had a really good time working together.

     One of the most fun moments I had that summer was being a Disney Character for a day. Being a manager, we were all required to spend a day in a costume and interacting with the park guests just as the full-time Characters did every day. I drew the overly-happy dancing orangutan from Disney’s animated classic movie, The Jungle Book – King Louie! What great fun!

     But, also what really hard work! The costume was very hot and very heavy. King Louie’s arms were very, very long so inside the costume there were steel rods that I had to hold onto to move the arms. That was okay just walking around, but they were absolute murder to dance in! Yep, dancing. The Character Show in the Carnation Gardens Plaza took place every afternoon and one of the featured acts was King Louie and Baloo the Bear dancing…wait for it…The Charleston! I think I lost 10 pounds that day. Not only did I have great fun that day, but I also gained a deep appreciation for the folks who wore the Character costumes day in, day out. And I began working with them more and more as I produced and managed certain shows. They become a great part of my Disneyland life.

     One of the more interesting behind-the-scenes sidelights was that there was an extremely strict schedule for the characters. It was absolutely forbidden to have any of the same characters active in the Park at the same time. You could not have Mickey Mouse or Goofy working the crowd in Main Street and have another set of Mickey/Goofy showing up in Frontierland or Small World at exactly the same time. The characters had supervisors with them that watched the clock with exactness and precision to ensure that duplication never, ever happened. Cool, no?

     Every now and then I had to stop and pinch myself. Was this really happening? Was I really an actual employee (cast member) of the place I had dreamed of working in since I was a wee small kid? Yes, yes I was! And loving every moment!

     Summer was finally over, and the Park schedule changed to a shorter week and the nightly shows were wrapped. It was now late September and my work life was changing into a much less frantic routine.

     Until…Bob Jani called me into his office one day and asked me to move to Orlando, Florida to help open Walt Disney World.

     What!?!?!?

     Talk about an absolute high! I was beyond excited! I was going to be in the original cast of what would become one of the most fabulous destination resorts in the entire world! Yes, remember that from the very moment I had met Bob Jani I could feel that working for the Disney organization was going to be a fabulous experience.

     And…this just kicked it up to a brand new level of “thrilled”.