Monday, December 10, 2012

At Walt Disney's Grave on his birthday - Dec 5 2012


This is something different for the blog. Last week on Wednesday, December 5, 2012 it was Walt Disney's 111th birthday. Every year on that day I take a trip to the cemetery to honor his memory. Afterwards I upload pictures of my trip on the AnimationNation Forums which I've been maintaining since 1999.

This year I also recorded video of my visit. I have a strong affection for Walt and while I was recording the video emotions were high when I thanked him for all the good he's done while he was in this life. As a result I hesitated on posting video of my time at his grave but I've since dealt with my feelings about it and went ahead and shared the experience online. 

You can see photos and the video from my excursion to Walt Disney's grave by following this link to the AN Forum topic. Walt was a truly great man and it was a great privilege to pay my respects on behalf of the animation community.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I saw the pictures of Walt's burial place and I must say, you're a great photographer Charles! Walt was an idealistic man, bringing wonders such as Mickey Mouse, Disneyland, and many other grand ideas to make the world a better and magical place.

Hey Charles, did you do work for Disney besides the attraction It's Tough To Be A Bug?

Charles Z said...

Glad you like the photos Pat. The camera I used was a cheap thing but it worked out okay. Walt Disney was a great American and one of the greatest men of the past century and of all time in my opinion. I frequently see him in dreams and when I do it's a significant experience. I saw him in a dream the day after my visit to his grave as a matter of fact.

I never worked for Disney as an employee of the company but the reason I came out west to get into animation was because I made it into a training program at Disney Studios while working at Hallmark Cards early in my career. Unfortunately by the time I got to Burbank from Kansas City a major strike had just started in the industry by the animation union. That changed everything and I wasn't able to reconnect with Disney afterwards. Meanwhile I got a break in TV animation and that's the way things went. It paid better than Disney and the company had become very corporate in the years that followed which didn't appeal to me. Several of my students wound up working there instead.