by Neal Gabler
“giving whiskey to a man…” Interview with Don Taylor.
Watering the horses. Jean P. Taylor affidavit.
Popping corn. Clem Fleckinger quoted in Bob Thomas, Building a Company.
Selling apples door to door. Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reels 3 & 4.
Collected apples from neighbors. Jean P. Taylor affidavit.
Remodeled neighbor’s house. Ibid.
Flora buttering bottom of bread. Miller, Story of Disney.
Rift with Herbert and Ray. Jean P. Taylor affidavit.
Herbert and Ray in Kansas City. Interview with Don Taylor; Postmaster, Portland, Ore., to Herbert Disney, Feb. 15, 1927, Herbert Disney File, National Personnel Records Center, Civilian Personnel Records, National Archives.
Tobacco in pocket. Miller, Story of Disney.
American Society of Equity. Marceline Mirror, Nov. 8, 1907.
“radical.” Jean P. Taylor affidavit.
“He had high ideals…” Ruth Disney interview by Smith.
Socialism. Miller, Story of Disney.
Elias’s illness. Ibid.; Roy O. Disney interview by Hubler, Jan. 18, 1968, RHC.
Auction. Roy O. Disney interview by Hubler.
“Disney’s small-town America…” Steven Watts, The Magic Kingdom: Walt Disney and the American Way of Life (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997).
Population growth. Marceline Mirror, Feb. 2, 1911.
Changes in Marceline. Marceline Mirror, Mar. 23, 1911 (autos), Sept. 20, 1907 (school), Jun. 11, 1909 (power plant), Oct. 23, 1908 (waterworks), May 25, 1911 (lighting streetlamps).
“for people who live in cities…” Disney speech at Marceline.
Dragoon passengers. Green and Green, Remembering Walt.
Recall of Marceline. John Culhane, Walt Disney’s Fantasia (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1983).
Preoccupation with farm life. Rush Johnson, interview by author.
“That’s what it is…” Meeting on Sound Stage—Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, Story Meetings 1939, Fantasia, Story Meetings, Etc., A1782, WDA.
Kansas City. Kansas City Directory (Kansas City: Gate City Directory Co., 1913); Workers of the Writers Program of the Work Projects Administration in the State of Missouri, Missouri: A Guide to the “Show-Me” State (New York: Duell, Sloan & Pearce, 1941; rep. 1973).
“The city was not pretty…” Writers of the WPA, Missouri Guide.
Size of house. Memo, Roy to Walt, Feb. 27, 1962, Roy Disney Folder, Walt Disney Corr., Inter-Office, 1960-1964, A-Disney Aircraft, A1648; Greene and Greene, Man Behind the Magic. There is some dispute over the exact address. The city directory lists the address as 2704 Thirty-first Street, and school records as 2716.
No indoor plumbing. Brian Burnes, Robert W. Butler, and Dan Viets, Walt Disney’s Missouri: The Roots of Creative Genius, ed. Donna Martin (Kansas City: Kansas City Star Books, 2002).
“a fairyland…” Ruth Disney interview by Smith.
Sold the Marceline farm. Elias Disney Deed, Book 178.
Paper route. Burnes, Butler and Viets, Disney’s Missouri.
Owner of record. Ibid.
“the route book would list…” Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reels 3 & 4.
Economics of the route. Paul Hollister, Man or Mouse: The Story of Walt Disney, So Far, unpub. ms., 1955, WDA, chap. 1.
“some little amount.” Roy Disney, interview by Richard Hubler, Jun. 18, 1968, RHC.
Roman chariots. Lorena Butler (Coomber), interview by David Smith, Feb. 2, 1972, WDA.
Sunday papers. Walt Disney: An Intimate History, CD-ROM.
Churchgoing. Roy Disney interview by Hubler, Jun. 18, 1968.
Ruth’s Sunday school. Ruth Disney interview by Smith.
Routine. Hollister, Man or Mouse, chap. 2; Disney, Autobiography.
Excited by the paper route. Walt Disney, “Newspaperboys, Ah, How Well I Remember!” Family Weekly, Oct. 14, 1961.
Seeing the lamplighters. “Disney’s No Comic Character: Burris Jenkins in Disneyland,” The E Ticket Fall 2002; in Baltimore News-Post, May 1959.
Insisted that the papers be placed. Miller, Story of Disney.
After Roy graduated. Walt Disney interview by Martin, Rees 3 & 4.
Falling asleep. Ibid., Reel 11.
“So the upshot of it was…” Ibid., Reels 3 & 4.
Playing with toys. Miller, Story of Disney.
“It stands out in memory…” Walt to Aunt Josie [Barnes], Dec. 24, 1952, B Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1953-1954, A-B, A1550, WDA.
Nail in boot. Walt Disney interview by Martin, reel 11.
Putting on an addition. Richard Hubler, Walt Disney, unpub. ms., RHC.
“developed an appreciation…” Walt to Doris Kanter, Jun. 3, 1957, E Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1957, E-O, A1567, WDA.
Nightmares. Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reel 11.
Catch a ball. Roy quoted in Robert De Roos, “The Magic Worlds of Walt Disney,” National Geographic, Aug. 1963.
Delivering theater bills. Paul H. Hefty to Walt (1938), He Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1938-1939, De-I, A1516, WDA.
McAllister Creamery. Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reels 3 & 4.
Cranberry sauce. “My Most Memorable Christmas Gift,” draft, McCall’s, [1957], Mc Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1957, E-O, A1567, WDA.
Leather boots. Ibid.
“comforts and good things…” Ruth Disney Beecher to David Smith (Dec. 1976), Beecher, Ruth, Folder, Disney Family Corr., A2379, WDA.
“He was a very fast walker.” Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reel 11.
Nephew in Glendale. Thomas, Building a Company.
Paid his bills in cash. Ruth Disney Beecher to Smith.
Finding a twenty-dollar bill. Miller, Story of Disney.
“just didn’t believe…” Roy Disney interview, June 18, 1968.
Elias Disney’s personality. Hollister, Man or Mouse, chap. 1; Roy Disney interview, June 18, 1968. Dorothy Puder, interview by author.
“The whole Disney family…” Walt Pfeiffer in Hubler, Disney.
“become very conservative…” Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reel 1.
Chasing Bryan’s buggy. Ibid., Reel 11.
Republican. Hollister, Man or Mouse, chap. 7.
End of fiddle playing. Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reels 3 & 4.
“get a switching.” Quoted in Thomas, Building a Company.
“violent.” Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reels 3 & 4.
“he did have a temper.” Ruth Disney interview by Smith.
“He was full of clowning…” Roy O. Disney interview by Hubler, Nov. 17, 1967.
Plate trick. Miller, Story of Disney.
“very slow to catch on…” Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reels 3 & 4.
“chief delight…” Marjorie Walters to Walt, Jan. 18, 1957, W Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1957, P-Z, A1568, WDA.
Dressing as a woman. Syring, “Great Geniuses.”
“enthused about everything.” Walt Pfeiffer quoted in Greene and Greene, Man Behind the Magic.
“[w]hatever he wanted to do…” Syring, “Great Geniuses.”
“gave the impression…” Quoted in Hollister, Man or Mouse, chap. 2.
“just argue the dickens…” Roy Disney interview by Hubler, Jun. 18, 1968.
Elias’s impatience. Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reels 3 & 4.
“He raised his other arm…” Ibid..
“peevishness.” Roy Disney interview by Hubler, June 18, 1968.
“she couldn’t keep it from Dad…” Walt Disney, Big Brothers of America speech, Mar. 14, 1957, WDA.
“strangers to me…” Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reels 3 & 4.
Crawl into bed. Walt quoted in Thomas, Building a Company.
Roy as father figure. Ruth Disney interview by Smith; Walt Disney: An Intimate History CD-ROM.
“I really believe…” Roy Disney interview by Hubler, Jun. 18, 1968.
“real family.” Walt Pfeiffer quoted in Hubler, Di
sney.
“My own family…” Walt to Richard Gehman, Feb. 7, 1964, G Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1964, Disney—Gifts, A1601, WDA.
“[O]ld Elias didn’t like anything…” Walter Pfeiffer, interview by Bob Thomas, Apr. 26, 1973, WDA.
Meeting Walt Pfeiffer. Ibid.
“ham.” Ibid.
Violin lessons. Ruth Disney Beecher to Smith; Miller, Story of Disney; Ruth Disney, interview by Smith.
“I went to bed tired…” Walt to Richard Gehman.
“I’d do anything…” Walt Disney interview by Martin, Disc 11 CD.
Dressing as Lincoln. KCKN Disney Transcription Spot, Mar. 29, 1945, Kansas City Broadcast (Three Caballeros), Walt Disney Corr., 1945-1946, L-P, A1535, WDA.
“I always got something…” Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reel 11.
“Two Bad Walters.” Ora Newsome (teacher) to Walt, Feb. 5, 1945, N Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1944, F-N, A1531, WDA.
Talent contests. Walt Disney, Autobiography; KCKN Disney Transcription Spot.
Walt had to slip out the window. Pfeiffer interview by Thomas.
Hans and Mike. KCKN Disney Transcription Spot.
Studied Chaplin. Pfeiffer quoted in Hubler, Disney.
“could do it to perfection” LeRoy “Lefty” Greene to Walt, Jan. 6, 1936, Jan. 22, 1936, Gr Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1936, E-L, A1512, WDA.
“[W]e always got a little more applause…” Walt Disney: An Intimate History CD-ROM.
“reacted on me like…” Disney, Autobiography.
repeat the second grade. Benton School Annual Register, Room 14, District Year Ending Jun. 7, 1912, Registrar, Kansas City School District.
“courteous…” Margaret Hamilton, “Walt Disney: Back to School,” Kansas City Star, Feb. 8, 1942.
“second dumbest.” Greene and Greene, Man Behind the Magic.
Imagining things. Bert A. Teeters to Walt, May 19, 1961, T Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1961, M-Z, A1589.
“dreamer” and “I’d sit in class…” Edith Efron, “Still Attacking His Ancient Enemy—Conformity,” TV Guide, Jun. 17, 1965.
Mouse in school. Walt Disney, “A Roving Mouse Landed Me in a Hole!” New York Enquirer, May 5, 1957; Walt to Daisy Beck, Sept. 27, 1940, B Folder, Walt Disney Corr., A-B, A1520, WDA.
“[T]he kids used to make fun…” Pfeiffer interview by Thomas.
“He used to come home…” Ruth Disney interview by Smith.
“laggard.” JWM, “Walt Disney, Showman and Educator, Remembers Daisy,” CTA Journal, Dec. 1955.
“great patience…” Ibid.
Relay team. Walt to Daisy Beck, Sept. 27, 1940; Margaret Hamilton, “Back to School.”
Drawing. “Mickey Mouse a Local Boy,” Kansas City Star, Feb. 13, 1942.
Likeness of Teddy Roosevelt. Mildred Pease Smalley to Walt, (received March 29, 1960), S Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1963, O-Z, A1598, WDA.
Animating flowers. Hubler, Disney.
Miss Beck’s posters. Ibid.
Glass advertisements. Pfeiffer interview by Thomas.
After school… Katherine Rhels to Walt, March 23, 1940, R Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1940-1941, N-R, A1524, WDA.
Decorating the clubhouse. Laura Francis Cottingham to Walt, Jul. 1, 1945, Co Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1945-1946, A-K, A1534, WDA.
Appeal to Reason. Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reels 3 & 4.
“It was kind of sissy…” Walt Pfeiffer, interview by Christopher Finch and Linda Rosenkrantz, Jul. 5, 1972, WDA.
“Even in our old 7th grade…” Smalley to Walt.
“It was a great stimulant…” Walt to Bert Hudson, Feb. 9, 1949, Walt Disney Corr., 1949-1950, H-Q, A1542, WDA.
“plastered with drawings.” Joseph Becker to Walt, Feb. 18, 1953, B Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1953-1954, A-B, A1550, WDA.
Drawing outside on a blackboard. John C. Harvey to Walt, Feb. 6, 1956, H Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1956, G-L, A1563, WDA.
“The neighbors would go down…” Quoted in Syring, “Great Geniuses.”
Receiving instruction. Pfeiffer interview by Thomas.
“It was a sad day…” Roger Swanson, “Disney Holds Fond Memories of Years in Kansas City,” Kansas City Star, n.d., Kansas City Box, A2364, WDA.
Thinking of becoming a newspaper cartoonist. JWM, “Disney, Showman and Educator.”
“[g]etting through seventh grade…” Ibid.
“He will draw you…” My Golden School Days, comp. and arr. Janet Madison (Chicago: Reilly-Britton Co., 1911), Ruth Disney, WDA.
“I am still prouder…” Lowell Lawrance, “Mickey Mouse—Inspiration from Mouse in K.C. Studio,” Kansas City Journal-Post, Sept. 8, 1935.
Made $16,000. Greene and Greene, The Man Behind the Magic.
“educational.” Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reels 3 & 4.
Bribing the engineer. Phil Santora, “A Kid from Chicago,” New York Daily News, Sept. 30, 1964.
Butcher route. Ibid.
“elegance of this plush…” Schickel, Disney Version.
Group of soldiers. Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reels 3 & 4.
Detaching cars. Ibid.
“finagling.” Ibid., Reel 4.
“He’d go up and down the train…” Roy quoted in Walt Disney: An Intimate History Magic CD-ROM.
“opening chapters of an American success story…” Watts, Magic Kingdom.
Family home life “wonderful.” Roy Disney interview by Hubler, Jun. 18, 1968.
O-Zell in KC. Articles of Incorporation of O-Zell Co., Sept. 14, 1911, Arizona Corporation Commission.
Buying O-Zell shares. Inventory of Moore Collection, Beecher, Ruth, Folder, Disney Family Corr., A2379, WDA.
“difficulties” in the business… O-Zell to Elias, Dec. 2. and Dec. 21, 1916, ibid.
“Walter Disney, one of the newcomers…” McKinley Voice, Oct. 1917, Disney Drawings Folder, WDA.
Excused from class. Vilma Gloss to Walt, Apr. 17, 1954, G Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1953-1954, G-K, A1552, WDA.
“it was THE PASSION of your life!” Ibid.
“even when the teacher thought…” Lena B. Stein to Walt, Aug. 3, 1955, S Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1955, S-Z, A1560. See also A. Alvin Abrams to Walt, Mar. 22, 1940, A Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1940-1941, A-B, A1520, WDA.
Pretty dancing girls. Birdie Cohan to Joel Cohen, Sept. 30, 1987, Chicago Folder, Disney Family: Genealogy, Etc., A2383, WDA.
Drawing at school socials. Ruth Disney interview by Smith.
Sketching a man’s head. Minnie M. Dunwell to Walt, May 7, 1957, Do-Dz Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1957, A-D, A1566, WDA.
Drawing the human body. Elias quoted in Syring, “Great Geniuses.”
Playing hooky. Roy Disney interview by Hubler, June 18, 1968.
“with my mouth wide open…” Walt to Carey Orr, Chicago Tribune, Mar. 16, 1949, O Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1949-1950, H-Q, A1542, WDA.
Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. Miller, Story of Disney.
Live models. Ibid.
Never be a fine artist. S. J. Woolf, “Walt Disney Tells Us What Makes Him Happy,” NYT Magazine, Jul. 10, 1938.
“no doubt the turning point in my whole career.” Walt to Ruth Van Sickle Ford (director of the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts) Jul. 12, 1957, C Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1957, A-D, A1566, WDA.
Magic books. Untitled clipping. 8 MWEZ, n.c., 17, 901, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
Dutch act with Maas. Disney, Autobiography, 2nd installment.
“‘smart alecky kid’…” Harry F. Gilliam to Walt, Nov. 23, 1946, G Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1945-1946, A-K, A1534, WDA.
“extremely shy and reserved.” Rochelle Bregstone Livingston to Diane Disney Miller, Oct. 11, 1983, Chicago Folder, Disney Family: Genealogy, Etc., Box A2383, WDA.
“something of a ladies’ man.” Ruth to Walt, Dec. 5, 1950, Walt Disney Corr., 1949-1950, A-G, A1541, WDA.
Crush on Walt. Livingston to Miller.
Beatrice Conover. Mrs. Beatrice Cono
ver Peterson to Walt, Jan. 17, 1933, Misc. File, WDA.
Working at O-Zell. Miller, Story of Disney.
Sarah Scrogin’s encouragement. Walt to J. C. Parsons, (Wahl Co.), May 4, 1935, Misc. File, WDA.
Picnic poster. Walt to Sarah York Scrogin, Nov. 7, 1934, Misc. File, WDA.
Walt’s potential. Sarah York Scrogin to Walt, Oct. 31, 1934, Misc. File, WDA.
mail carrier. Walter E. Disney, National Personnel Records Center, Civilian Personnel Records, National Archives and Records Administration.
Getting mail job. New York Journal American, Jan. 29, 1938, 8 MWEZ, n.c., 17, 901, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
Mail routine. Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reel 12.
“gold rush to me.” Ibid..
“It was thrilling…” Ibid., Disc 13, CD.
Bombing. NYT, Sept. 6, 1918.
“disgusted.” Walt to J. M. Cottingham, Feb. 10, 1931, Misc. File, WDA.
Dressing as Chaplin. Syring, “Great Geniuses.”
Losing the camera. Ibid.
Seeing Roy off. Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reels 3 & 4.
“They were blowing…” Walt Disney interview, Marceline, audiotape, WDA.
Shame. Ruth Disney interview by Smith.
“He looked swell…” Walt Disney interview by Martin, Disc 4, CD.
Joining the Canadian forces. Walt to Barney Yanofsky, (editor of Foreign Service), Jul. 2, 1934, Misc. File, WDA.
Fife-and-drum corps. Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reels 3 & 4.
Too young, too old… Ibid., Disc 4, CD.
St. John brothers. Miller, Story of Disney.
Finding Maas’s grip. Ruth Disney interview by Smith.
“If I did…” Miller, Story of Disney.
Flora relenting. Syring, “Great Genuises;” Miller, Story of Disney.
Camp Scott routine. Jack Lait, “The Short Cut to France and Other Fronts,” American Red Cross, Central Division Bulletin 1, no. 42 (Oct. 19, 1918), Red Cross Photos Folder, WDA.
“a good time out here…” Walt to Virginia Baker, Sept. 6, 1918, Walt Disney Early Corr. Folder, Disney, Walt, Corr. 1918, A3381, WDA.
“I’ve never seen a sicker…” Miller, Story of Disney.
Selected for France. Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reel 4.
Vaubin. Ibid..
St. Cyr. Ibid.; Miller, Story of Disney.