Last-Ears

Summary:

This last section of the book covers the ideas and planning for Walt Disney World  and EPCOT until Walt's death.  Walt and his wife Lilly traveled the world on Walt's Private plane.  They went to Paris, Switzerland, Cuba and many more exciting places.  Walt was always looking for inspiration for Disneyland and for new movies.  For example, when he was in Cuba he went to a pirate's island and was inspired to make Pirates of the Caribbean and when Lilly found a mechanical singing parrot in Puerto Rico it became inspiration for The Enchanted Tiki Room.

Mary Poppins

 

Walt was asked to go to present attractions at New York's World Fair in year 1964. Ford commissioned Walt to make an attraction that Walt called Magic Skyway which was a ride through time starting at the Stone Age through present day.  General Electric sponsored the making of The Carousel of Progress as it was called after the ride moved to Disneyland from New York. Walt also created It's A Small World with artist Mary Blair who did all of the artwork and design features.  This ride was also moved to Disneyland after the world fair.  Walt with the help of all the workers at WED created all of these attractions including the very complicated Audio-Animatronic President Lincoln for the attraction Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. Once the stress of the World Fair was over Walt put his attention into making Mary Poppins the highest grossing and most successful Disney Film.  It had thirteen Academy Award nominations and made $44,000,000. He also put in the Haunted Mansion in Disneyland and made movies including the Jungle Book and LT. Robin Crusoe. 

Tiki Room

Mary Poppins with Bert

Walt received his highest award on September 14th, 1964 when President Johnson presented him with The Medal of Freedom the highest award that a civilian can receive.  A big part of Walt's life came when he decided to help art conservatories by helping create Cal Arts and college for talented young individuals. 

Walt decided he wanted to have another Disneyland in Florida in 1958.  He also decided that he wanted to create a City of Tomorrow later called EPCOT using state of the art technology and creating a community environment where citizens would have a simplistic lifestyle.  All land for the Florida Project as WED called it was settled in 1965.  Walt had two of his best men Marv Davis and Joe Potter assist him in this ambitious project. EPCOT became Walt's obsession and put most of his time and effort into it.  In 1966 Walt was made the Grand Marshal at the Tournament of Roses Parade.  After this event Walt's health greatly decreased; his polo injury was bothering him more than ever, he suffered from and chronic sinus problem, he had developed a kidney ailment.  Walt even as a young man had a premonition that he would die before finishing his work and his illness reinforced that thought.  During this time though Walt and Lilly became closer and spent more time together.  He also worked more seamlessly with his brother Roy and didn't have as many quarrels.  But Walt's heath continued to worsen and when he went for an X-ray they found his lung cancerous and had to remove it.  He was optimistic about it and returned to work as soon as he could.  But he was admitted back to the hospital soon after he left his physical pain was excruciating. His family finally thought he was feeling better when he died on December 15, 1966 from an acute circulatory collapse. He never got to see his final project.  His death was mourned by many, but business had to go on. Roy took control of the company and saw out the the Florida Project that Roy decided to call Walt Disney World.  But soon after its opening Roy too died just barely seeing out his brother's dream. 

Roy Disney at Walt Disney World's opening

Walt's Dream of EPCOT

 



The  Walt Disney name continues to stand for what it did then; quality, family, entertainment and he will always be remembered by those who knew him and people who experienced the Disney dream. 

Review:

This section for me was very depressing.  The author kept hinting that the inevitable was coming, but I refused to look at the signs.  I was procrastinating to read until the end because I was afraid of the emotional wreck I would become.  I had to read it eventually and as I predicted I cried.  It's like watching the Titanic; you know what is coming and you tell yourself you're not going to cry this time, but then you always do. Of course this section wasn't all about his death but also his final accomplishments.  I found it to be very interesting that a few of Disneyland's most successful rides started at the World Fair.  The mission to create the perfect Audio-Animatronic Lincoln was inspiring.  I did like reading about the start of Walt Disney World because being there this past Summer I had many questions that were answered in this part. Walt really did live a wonderful life and it was an amazing experience for me to read about his journey.

Focus: Explain Why Walt Disney was so successful.

Walt Disney was successful because of his dedication and passion for the entertainment business.  He stayed true to his ideas and morals.  He never wavered from the dream he was trying to make reality.  He was not always successful but it was his failures that made him stronger in his future.  Walt also had a great family to support him as well as thousands of employees and millions of fans.  His father was an entrepreneur and sparked Walt's innovative mind.  Walt was always driven by what the people would like and it was because of his attention to detail that he was as successful as he was.