Ray Pointer
12-15-2006, 01:24 PM
Today, December 15th marks the 40th year since the death of Walt Disney due to complications associated with Lung Cancer. He had just turned 65 on December 5th. Who would have known that ten days later he'd be dead? For many of us in the Animation circle, both fans and workers--(and especially those over 40) seem to remember where we were when the news came out. The impact was almost as powerful as the assasination of President Kennedy three years before. My recollection is connected with the following annecdote.
When I was in ninth grade, there were twins, a sister and brother, Margaret and Eric. Their father was in the diplomatic corps, and they had lived some time in Europe. The twins were like night an day--the sister down-to-Earth, while the brother was a sardonic sour-puss nerdy type well before the term was ever coined. You know the type. The skinny pasty faced boy with glasses, a blonde too-long pageboy hair cut, and sour, lemon-sucking facial expression. He was the type of kid that thought he was above everyone else because he knew something. In short, he may have qualified as the original "nerd."
The twins were in a special Art Class I was in. At the time, I was very much interested in the subject of Walt Disney, having read the biography, THE WALT DISNEY STORY, by Diane Disney Miller. This was the only book on him at the time. And while I took a lot of flack for expressing my interests, I never regretted reading it. Eric made the cavalier remark, "I don't think Walt Disney has any talent!" I answered, "Who do you think does?" He responed, "Charles Schultz." I said, "That's comparing an apple and an orange. Both men have talents in different areas, but in Disney's case, it reaches far beyond what Schultz does, and Disney has accomplished so much more."
About a week later, Eric stopped me in the hall during class change and said to me, "Walt Disney DIED! I THOUGHT YOU SHOULD KNOW!" The tone of his voice seemed a bit mean-spirited as if he was attempting to get the last word on our discussion comparing Disney to Schultz. I was sadden by the news, but also puzzled about Eric's motivation for telling me the way he did. That, I believe was more devastating than than the news of Disney's death.
But here we are, 40 years later, and there is so much renewed interest in the subject of Walt Disney with the recent Neal Gabler book, as well as new DVD releases, including a couple produced by me! http://www.animationshow.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/dxangrytongue.gif:P"> http://www.inkwellimagesink.com (http://www.inkwellimagesink.com/)
To quote Jerry Beck on December 11th:
http://www.cartoonbrew.com (http://www.cartoonbrew.com/).
When I was in ninth grade, there were twins, a sister and brother, Margaret and Eric. Their father was in the diplomatic corps, and they had lived some time in Europe. The twins were like night an day--the sister down-to-Earth, while the brother was a sardonic sour-puss nerdy type well before the term was ever coined. You know the type. The skinny pasty faced boy with glasses, a blonde too-long pageboy hair cut, and sour, lemon-sucking facial expression. He was the type of kid that thought he was above everyone else because he knew something. In short, he may have qualified as the original "nerd."
The twins were in a special Art Class I was in. At the time, I was very much interested in the subject of Walt Disney, having read the biography, THE WALT DISNEY STORY, by Diane Disney Miller. This was the only book on him at the time. And while I took a lot of flack for expressing my interests, I never regretted reading it. Eric made the cavalier remark, "I don't think Walt Disney has any talent!" I answered, "Who do you think does?" He responed, "Charles Schultz." I said, "That's comparing an apple and an orange. Both men have talents in different areas, but in Disney's case, it reaches far beyond what Schultz does, and Disney has accomplished so much more."
About a week later, Eric stopped me in the hall during class change and said to me, "Walt Disney DIED! I THOUGHT YOU SHOULD KNOW!" The tone of his voice seemed a bit mean-spirited as if he was attempting to get the last word on our discussion comparing Disney to Schultz. I was sadden by the news, but also puzzled about Eric's motivation for telling me the way he did. That, I believe was more devastating than than the news of Disney's death.
But here we are, 40 years later, and there is so much renewed interest in the subject of Walt Disney with the recent Neal Gabler book, as well as new DVD releases, including a couple produced by me! http://www.animationshow.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/dxangrytongue.gif:P"> http://www.inkwellimagesink.com (http://www.inkwellimagesink.com/)
To quote Jerry Beck on December 11th:
http://www.cartoonbrew.com (http://www.cartoonbrew.com/).