We got off to an early start in Kansas City. Today was largely devoted to the life of my personal hero, Walt Disney, and visiting two locations that were very influential to his career.
Our first stop was the Laugh-O-Gram Studios or rather, the building where it once was. In 1921, Walt started his first animation company in Kansas City. By 1923, however, Walt filed for bankruptcy and bought a one-way ticket to Los Angeles.
Several years ago, the building was purchased by a group called Thank You, Walt Disney, which is raising funds to create a museum. To date, they have shored up the building, which was already collapsing.
From there it was a two-hour drive to Marceline, Walt's boyhood home and the place that most inspired him. When Walt was four, his father bought a farm in Marceline, right on AT&SF train line. The Disneys moved back to Chicago five years later, but Marceline inspired his love of trains, funny animals, and was the inspiration for Main Street, U.S.A. in Disneyland.
Surprisingly, there were no signs on the highway that advertised Marceline as Walt's hometown. Nor does the "Welcome to Marceline" sign. However, once we got into town, there was no mistaking the Disney connection.
Fearing that it might rain, we thought we'd try to do the outdoor locations first. We went to Walt's Barn and Dreaming Tree. Since they're on private property, we thought we'd only be able to view them from the road. However, we were surprised to find a small parking lot and marked path with signs.
When Walt was a boy, he loved to play in the barn and sit under a large cottonwood tree, draw the animals on the farm, and let his young mind soar.
The tree was struck by lightning a few years ago, so it's not as mighty as it once was. However, a new tree grown from one of its saplings sits nearby.
Just up the path is a re-creation of Walt's barn. It was built several years ago by a group of Disney fans and perfectly matches the one that used to sit in Walt's backyard, inside which he worked on his backyard train set just prior to building Disneyland. That one, also inspired by the original in Marceline (which long ago vanished), sits in Griffith Park in Los Angeles.
Inside the barn, there's a little book that describes the history if the barn and what it meant to Walt. Visitors are invited to sign their names on the walls inside. With thousands of signatures already there, even on the hard-to-reach rafters, the hardest part was finding an empty spot. We even found the signatures of a few famous cartoonists.
Next door is the original Disney family home. We almost missed this, but luckily sharp-eyed Marsha spotted the sign as we went by.
From there it was a few blocks to the Walt Disney Hometown Museum which, appropriately enough, sits in the former Marceline train depot.
The trains still come by on a regular basis. When we arrived, we were given an introductory tour by Kaye, a wonderfully friendly woman who not only knew Walt Disney, but even had him as a house guest in 1956 when she was just seven years old!
From there we were sent off on our own through the two-story museum which is chock full of Disney family photos, letters, furniture, and more. Most of it was provided by Walt's younger sister, Ruth, and her children. It was interesting getting the back story not just on Walt, his parents, brothers, and sister, but even his uncles, too. Especially Uncle Robert, who was Walt and Roy's first investor.
There were also numerous artifacts, such as a car from the Midget Autopia (which Walt had moved from Disneyland to Marceline, where it ran for many years) and even Walt's school desk, which was now back from being on loan to Disney World. Upstairs was a terrific collection of hand-made scale models of Disneyland buildings in amazing detail that one dedicated fan had spent years creating. He donated them all to the museum just before he passed away.
There's so much to see in the museum you could probably spend days just reading it all. It was endlessly fascinating. One of the more intriguing items to me was the Disney Studios stationery. Early letters just had the studio name, or Walt or Roy's name, in a simple font printed at the top. In later years, however, the stationery was designed to promote the current film, from Mary Poppins to 101 Dalmatians. Always the promoter that Walt.
Our next quick stop was Walt Disney Elementary, just down the street. It was built to replace Park Elementary, where Walt actually attended. The flagpole outside was donated by Walt and is from the Squaw Valley Olympics, which he helped organize. Inside, the school is decorated with Disney characters painted by one of the Imagineers.
Then it was on to E..P. Ripley Park (named for the president of the AT&SF RR -- Disneyland also had an engine named for him). Walt and his little sister, Ruth, loved to attend band concerts and other functions at the park.
At the back of the park you'll find a locomotive and caboose from the Disneyland Railroad.
The park sits right on Kansas Avenue, Walt's inspiration for Main Street, USA.
Aside from a few details here and there, it's a little hard to see the connection between the two.
There's a street sign with Mickey ears, and the Uptown Theater, which has hosted two Disney premieres (The Great Locomotive Chase in 1956 and The Spirit of Mickey in 1998), bears a plaque acknowledging the second.
Several of the shops have little Disney touches in their windows, such as Mickey dolls or use of the Disney font. But Main Street's Victorian roots seem to have vanished a long time ago (quite unlike Durango) and now it looks pretty much like all of the other small towns we've passed through on this trip.
We were told at the Museum that Walt visited in the 1940s with one of his Imagineers and took lots of photos in perpetration for design work on Disneyland. The most obvious connection, if you know where to look is Disneyland's Coke Corner and Marceline's Zurcher Building (the Emporium of its day).
For many years, people could only see the building's physical resemblance, but not the link to Coca-Cola. That was until the building behind it was torn down, revealing a long-hidden back wall bearing a painted advertisement that young Walt would have seen every day.
After strolling down Main Street, we drove down to the municipal park and swimming pool, which was dedicated to Walt in 1956. Though we didn't see his name on the pool anywhere, the whole area, which also includes a baseball field and a pond and has crudely painted characters on the sign, is called the "Disney Sports Complex."
From there it was back on the road, headed to St. Louis. While we absolutely loved our trip to Marceline, especially the Barn, Dreaming Tree, and Museum, we felt that the town would do well to study Durango and return Main Street to its Victorian roots. We would have loved to have eaten lunch in a little cafe, but didn't see any businesses that were open. That seemed kind of odd for a Saturday afternoon. They could really use a cafe, an ice cream shop, a candy store, and a shop that sells Disney merchandise. I think with a little turn-of-the-century revitalization, special events to celebrate their place in Disney history, and better marketing, Marceline could easily be turned into something even more special.
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