by Jeff Dixon
Veering off Hollywood Boulevard, he headed into the animation courtyard, cut behind the Studio Store, and entered Walt Disney: One Man’s Dream through the theater at the exit of the attraction. Allowing the doors to click shut behind him, he stood in the quietness of the room. A few years ago, he had hidden in this very place and made the first discoveries Farren Rales had left for him to find. That seemed like a lifetime ago, but once again, he felt his heart pounding with anticipation about what was going to happen next. Using an access door that opened into a hallway behind the exhibits, he traveled the pathway he had used many times before. For Hawk, the centerpiece of this attraction built in tribute to the life and times of Walt Disney was the office. A replica of his office in California on the day he passed away, this recreation was loaded with Disney treasures. While most guests would take the walking tour and become fascinated with old photographs, Walt’s elementary-school desk, models of attractions, video clips, and sound bites…Hawk would always end up at the office. It was one of the places where he felt most connected to Walt. That is how he knew the Kurt Russell detail was inside the office.
Opening the wooden door, he stepped inside. Immediately in front of him was the massive glass window guests would look through to see inside the office. Hawk stepped behind Walt’s desk and saw the stack of papers on top of it. Clearly written in red grease pen, a favorite of Walt’s to use, the name…Kirt Russell. Hawk reread the name; he had never noticed that Walt had misspelled the actor’s name until just this moment. But he clearly had done so. The page he was studying was a typewritten page titled, “TV Projects in Production: Ready for Production or Possible for Escalation and Story.” It was a list of possible live-action productions the studio was working on. At the very bottom of the page, Walt had made the following notes, each written on a separate line:
Ron Miller—2.
Way Down Cellar—2.
Kirt Russell—3.
CIA—Mobley
These were words that it is generally believed Walt jotted down on the last day he ever worked in his office. The famous words were Kirt Russell, as most people would know instantly who that was. The other names carried little meaning to most people who might look at them.
A soft ding reminded Hawk that before he had entered, he had powered up the electronic tablet. Once again, there was another update and the golden key icon was waiting for him to activate it. Sitting down in Walt’s desk chair, he placed the tablet on the desk, used his kingdom key as an overlay on the electronic key, and waited. The video window opened, he tapped it to activate it, and the screen filled with the face of Farren Rales. He was standing in front of the desk in this very office. He smiled as he spoke.
“Great work, Hawk. I knew you would make it here to Walt’s office. I wanted to go a bit ‘old school’ with my last clue, just in case anyone figured out how to chase us electronically. I knew that would break the string of clues, and well, since you were looking for something Walt had written…which you obviously have found…I thought I would handwrite a clue for you also. You have been in this office more times than I can count. I am sure you have studied the things on the desk. They are pretty much just as they were the last time Walt sat at it. Probably where you are sitting right now.”
Hawk shifted slightly in the desk chair. He knew he was watching Farren on a recorded message and the assumption was an easy one to make. But still the fact that he made it was a little unnerving to the CCA. On the video, Rales moved behind the desk, where Hawk was now, and pointed out some things that Hawk could see not only on video but in front of him. Rales seemed to be randomly taking inventory.
“On the desk, there are copies of the magazine The Disney World, a company magazine highlighting details of what was happening in the world of Disney. These other papers were all things Walt had read and was working on. Here is a note from September 8, 1966, “to discuss with Card Walker and others” about the “Progress Report on the Disney World Project” and the page you are looking for, “TV Projects In Production: Ready for Production or Possible for Escalation and Story.”
Rales picked up the page and held it in front of him. Hawk saw it on the screen and then glanced at the actual paper in front of him. Looking back toward the screen, he saw that Rales was pointing out what he had noticed earlier.
“Ron Miller—2. Way Down Cellar—2. Kirt Russell—3. CIA—Mobley…Let’s figure out what this means. Ron Miller was Walt’s son-in-law. He also worked for the studio and was a producer on live-action films. Walt was trying to really help him develop his skills in that role. A little more than a year later, in January 1968, after Walt was gone, the Disney television show offered a two-part live action story titled Way Down Cellar, just as Walt indicated on this paper.”
Rales now smiled and allowed his mind to drift back to the story. “You probably have never seen it. But during a pickup football game, three young boys go searching for their ball after a bad pass and find an entrance to a secret tunnel hidden in the ruins of a burned-out church.” Rales whispered, “Secret tunnels, a church, and a search… hmmm…sounds like your life, doesn’t it?” Rales laughed at himself. “Walt was probably working on casting for the project. He was really just jotting notes to himself so he could remember, and he got in a hurry and misspelled Russell’s first name. But of all the notes he jotted down, these were the most famous of his last words. So that was why I gave you the clue, and of course, here you are.”
Hawk gently reached his hand across the desk and touched the paper that Rales was referring to. Walt had written those words on his last day in the office. Now here they were, and like all things, there was a story behind why they were written. There was always something to discover in the details.
“Hawk, once Walt created Mickey, nothing was ever the same. Travel through time in Hollywood until you get to the end. When you’ve seen Mickey grow, you’ll find something you must know.” Rales stopped speaking, nodded, and then ended the video with a grin as he said, “See ya real soon.”
The screen went blank and the entire attraction was plunged into blackness. The only light was the glow from the screen of the pad in Hawk’s hand. In the dark, it eerily illuminated the desk. The screen was giving him a choice to view the video again or delete it. He quickly hit delete, and the screen went black, but a glow from the tablet’s being turned off threw out a faint amount of light.
Hawk had an idea. He hit the power button, and the tablet powered down, taking all the sources of light out of the office. It was so dark, the blackness smothered him. The lights inside the office set piece had gone out at the same time the lights on the other side of the glass had gone out. A power failure could have occurred, but even the emergency lights had not come on. Since that had not occurred, this blackout was something else. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. Just like the electronic pad, the much smaller touch screen threw some light so he could see his immediate surroundings. He thought about calling someone to ask why the power was out but then realized if he did that, it would let people know where he was, and he had been trying to avoid others this evening. Instead, he checked the apps on his phone and found one with the symbol of a flashlight on it. He tapped it and the LED light began shining from the back of the phone.
“Gotta love these smart phones.” Hawk smiled at his makeshift flashlight.
The light was surprisingly bright. It threw enough light to illuminate where he was walking and enough that he could see details and navigate through the darkened attraction. He walked to the window, carefully angling the beam so it didn’t reflect back into his eyes, and placed the phone against the glass. It threw a soft white glow into the area where guests would usually stand. Out of the corner of his eye, Hawk thought he saw something move in the shadows of the viewing area. He slid his phone flat along the glass to his right, toward the direction where he thought he’d seen motion.
Standing with his phone pressed against the glass, he leaned as close as he could and peered out
into the eerily lit area. He saw nothing. He pulled his phone away and turned back toward the door of the office. Smash! Something hit the glass behind him, causing him to jump away from the unexpected noise. He spun quickly to look back through the window, his heart thundering in his chest. He squinted his eyes in an attempt to somehow increase his ability to see in the dark. He saw nothing. He then turned the light toward the window, and it reflected off it, blinding him.
Hawk could not see, but he knew there was someone in the guest side of the attraction. Whoever had tried to scare him and get his attention had been successful. He assumed the person also was the cause of the total blackout. He needed to get out of there. Momentarily, he paused at Walt’s desk. Heading toward the door of Walt’s office, he used his flashlight app, then promptly shut it off. The light would give away his position, and right now he didn’t think that was wise.
Opening the door, he stepped into the backstage hallway. He could move to his right and exit the backstage area near the theater where he had entered. If he moved to his left, he would wind through the backstage area toward the main entrance of the attraction. He chose to go left.
The absence of all light created a darkness in which simple things became a chore. Using his hands as a buffer, Hawk felt his way along the walls and knew that eventually he would get to the exit. There was an intersection of backstage halls ahead of him. He had traveled the path in the light often enough to know that he needed to stay to his left to get out. Moving at a snail’s pace and occasionally stopping to listen for the sounds of anyone else in the hallway with him, he found the intersection and continued to his left. If his mental timer was accurate, the exit couldn’t be far away. Finding the door, he felt for the handle, grabbed it, and released the door. Slowly swinging it open, he discovered it was just as dark on the attraction side as it was backstage.
A brilliant flash of light pushed back the inkiness for a moment. Hawk tried to shield his eyes, but he reacted too late. His next blink was filled with the flash of the light again, and he was blinded as the room sank back into darkness again. Out of the black, a pair of hands grabbed him and jerked him through the door into the attraction area. The attacker lifted him off the ground, but Hawk twisted and tumbled free.
He crashed against a solid display and identified the sound of framed photographs shattering against the floor. Taking the force of the blow along his spine, he slumped to the floor, stunned. Whoever had pulled him through the door grabbed him again and this time wrenched his arm behind his back. The searing pain that raced up his arm to his shoulder brought Hawk back to alertness, and he swung his body, trying to relieve some of the stress on his right arm.
He threw his free elbow toward an unseen target behind him. The elbow blast connected, and whoever it was released the grip on the arm. Relief and pain spiked up and down the length of Hawk’s arm as he felt his way behind the display piece he had crashed into moments ago. He needed to be able to see who he was fighting.
The pain subsided in his arm, as the flicker of a plan emerged in his brain. Hawk once again reached into his pocket and found his phone. He turned the flashlight app back on and then slid the phone like a hockey puck across the floor. The light allowed him to see that his attacker was moving toward him again. The man, dressed completely in black, wore a mask. He was once again on Hawk.
Before he could take hold, Hawk dropped and barrel rolled out of the way. He felt a sting of pain in the shoulder that had just been twisted, but he was successful in giving himself space and got to his feet. The light from the phone cast slivers of illumination all around them as it reflected off of the various displays. Hawk charged toward his foe. He speared him and they both hurtled backward into a wall adjacent to the doors of the attraction. The man grabbed Hawk as they hit and once again was able to get a grip on his right arm. In a move that came faster than Hawk could react to, the man again twisted his arm and drew it up behind the CCA. Turning again to find some relief from the angle his arm was torqued into, he realized this time his attacker anticipated the move.
Hawk felt his arm being bent more radically and for a brief instant he thought it would snap. He felt the MagicBand being torn from his wrist and there was nothing he could do to stop it…it was gone. Driving Hawk downward, the attacker viciously twisted his arm once more then released him. The man in the black mask stepped toward the phone that was still lighting the room, and stamped on it. With a crunch, the light was extinguished, and the room plunged into darkness.
Grabbing his shoulder, Hawk was relieved to find it had not been torn out of its socket. Refocusing, he heard footsteps moving away from him, disappearing in the distance. He scrambled to his feet and gave slow pursuit, necessitated by the lack of light. As he stumbled through the attraction, he heard a soft hum as the lights began to come back on behind him. Each section of the attraction was illuminated in a matter of seconds; to his dismay, he found himself running alone through the attraction. Walt Disney: One Man’s Dream had become a nightmare.
He slowed, then stopped, and rubbed his wrist where the MagicBand had once been. It was gone. The thief was gone. And he was alone, standing outside the glass next to Walt’s office where he had been minutes before. He heard no footsteps, he didn’t hear the opening or closing of a door, it was if the person had simply vanished.
How would this enemy know about the MagicBand? As he thought about this, he didn’t like what his brain told him. Ignoring it for a moment, he moved to the next burning question. Why was it important to him? Other than using it at the Emporium, Hawk had no clue what else he might need to use it for. With a sigh, he knew those questions had no answer…yet. He glanced inside Walt’s office through the glass and noticed the stack of papers on its surface, slightly askew. He had done that. Just before he left the office, while it was completely dark, he had slid his electronic tablet beneath the paper pile to hide it. Now he was glad he had. Although the MagicBand had been taken, he still had the tablet; and up to this point, it was still his most valuable connection to whatever Farren Rales had him searching for.
He made his way back toward the backstage area to retrieve it and allowed his mind to start working the new clue he was given moments before the attraction fell into darkness.
CHAPTER TWENTY - FOUR
Three Days Ago
Early Morning
After retrieving both his busted phone and the electronic tablet, Hawk now stood in front of the Great Movie Ride in Hollywood Studios. He allowed the clue to replay in his brain:
Once Walt created Mickey, nothing was ever the same. Travel through time in Hollywood until you get to the end. When you’ve seen Mickey grow, you’ll find something you must know.
And there was something else Rales had said. It was almost a throwaway statement, but the more Hawk pondered it, the more he believed it was part of the clue. It was the famous line from the Mickey Mouse Club closing song:
See ya real soon.
Hawk reasoned that if he was going to travel through time in Hollywood, the next clue was hidden somewhere here in the Studios. After all, the Studios attraction was patterned after the Hollywood dream era of the late 1930s and early ’40s. Although Hollywood, as it was portrayed in film and even recreated here in the theme park, never really existed, it was an era when most believed that Hollywood was a place to chase and make dreams come true. This idea always made him smile. He remembered what Walt Disney himself had said when asked if he could share the secret of what it took to make dreams come true. Walt had said, “People often ask me if I know the secret of success and if I could tell others how to make their dreams come true. My answer is, you do it by working.” Hard work was the essential ingredient in making dreams come true and finding success. Farren Rales had repeated that to Hawk more times than he could count, and that was one of the reasons these quests were the way the Imagineers had chosen to share their secrets with him. It was the way Walt put this original plan into place so many years ago. Now Hawk was the one working to
untangle the complex puzzle and find the answers.
If this last clue was in the Studios, then the added line, see ya real soon, made him believe that next clue was close. So where could he travel through time and watch Mickey grow? It had to be a place close by…but where? He moved slowly down Hollywood Boulevard, looking at the lighted signs of the shops surrounding him. It was well after midnight, the third shift had moved in, and there was the usual light nighttime activity happening around him. He had grown accustomed to seeing it and visited the parks so often after hours that many didn’t even notice him, although it did seem he was getting a few more second glances than usual.
He traveled down the street toward the park entrance and looked at the sign on the shop to his right. Mickey’s face was at the top of the sign and red neon letters spelled out Mickey’s of Hollywood. An image suddenly appeared in Hawk’s mind of something he’d thought had been forgotten. If this was the place he was thinking about, the answer could be right inside. He moved to the entrance. It was locked, of course…as it should have been this time of night—or in this case, the morning. He peered in the window and saw a maintenance crew working on some overhead lighting. Tapping on the glass, he got one of the men’s attention and they came over to the door. Opening it, they were surprised to see the CCA of the company. After some brief moments of chitchat, during which Hawk convinced them he was there just to look around and get some ideas, they went back to work…and so did he.
There it was, just as he had remembered it. A statue of Mickey Mouse as he appeared in Steamboat Willie in 1928. Glancing down the length of the store, he could see other statues as well. He had indeed remembered correctly. Like so many other places in the world of Disney, this was created in such a way as to tell a story. The detail was hidden in plain sight, and the bulk of the guests who moved through the shop each day never slowed down to see it. Mickey’s of Hollywood, which runs along Disney’s Hollywood Studios Hollywood Blvd. and includes Disney & Co. Fashion Extras and Pluto’s Palace, features one of the most unique views of Mickey available anywhere on property. It had been built so that if you started at the front of the store, near the park entrance, where Hawk was now, you could move through the store and see Mickey’s career and the progression of his animation. Or, as the clue had suggested, you could see Mickey grow.