Jackson County
(Mo.) Historical Society
Portals to the Past by David W. Jackson
Disney’s World of Hollywood Animation
First Sketched in Kansas City
When Elias Disney moved from
Marceline to Kansas City, Mo., in 1911, who could have dreamed his 9-year-old
son would eventually put Kansas City on the map as the birthplace of Mickey
Mouse? Inventive Walt Disney was destined to make sure his exhilarating
childhood might be accessible—even through fantasy and make believe—to
children all over the world for generations to come. At age 14, Walt attended
classes at the Kansas City Art Institute. Disney’s inspiration for the modern
theme parks we enjoy today came from Kansas City’s own Electric Park located between
45th and 47th, Paseo to Woodland, which was near Disney’s childhood
neighborhood around 42nd and Troost Ave.) featuring shows, dining,
roller coasters, log flume rides, miniature trains, and other novelty
entertainment. Equally tantalizing and influential were Kansas City’s
theaters booking silent motion pictures and live, vaudeville acts. After serving nine months in
Europe with the Red Cross Ambulance Service during World War I, Disney
returned home and became an artist for the Pesman-Rubin Advertising Agency,
where he met Ubbe Iwwerks. In 1920, Disney and Iwwerks joined A. V. Cauger’s
Kansas City Slide Company that created advertisements on glass slides for
theaters to project on screens between films and acts. Disney learned the process of
animating drawings and at age 20 incorporated Laugh-O-Gram Films, Inc., on
May 23,1922. Laugh-O-Gram artists, operating on the second floor of the
McConahy Building on 31st and Forest, produced work comparable to
New York’s best animated films. Their first series of cartoons, several that
still exist, ran in theaters here and in Europe. Laugh-O-Gram
also created films featuring live-action actors interacting with cartoon
animals. With imaginary animal cartoons running through his mind, it is
fitting that Disney, who often slept in his studio at night, would befriend a
pet mouse. Mortimer took food from Disney’s hand, played on his drawing
board, and later became the inspiration for the world’s most-recognized
fictional character! Disney’s
last Kansas City film was Alice’s
Wonderland, featuring himself and four-year-old Virginia Davis, who meets
the owner of a struggling film studio trying to come up with a new idea for a
film series; she visits his studio and interacts with animated characters. Desiring to
be closer to family, Disney closed Laugh-O-Gram and moved to Los Angeles, Ca.
He boarded a train at Union Station with $40 and his one-reel Alice cartoon. Disney’s contract for
the Alice Comedies, October 16,
1923, marks the Walt Disney Company’s date of origin. The men who worked with
Disney in Kansas City joined him in California. All became pioneers of the
Hollywood animation industry. The success of Disney’s first
feature-length animated film in 1937, Snow
White and the Seven Dwarfs, allowed him to purchase land in Burbank, Ca.,
that remains Walt Disney Company’s headquarters. Disney’s achievements
eventually won 32 Oscars . . . more than anyone else in motion pictures. In 1955, Disney opened
Disneyland, the world’s first theme park.
In 1965, he announced his plans to build an even larger complex of
amusement parks and a model city, “Epcot,” in sunny Florida. Walt Disney died
the next year, but his brother, Roy, who had made a promise to his little
brother, made sure Walt Disney World opened in 1971; Roy died three months
later. Kansas
City’s Laugh-O-Gram Films studio (the McConahy Building) is being restored,
but public support and a little Disney magic are needed so the nonprofit,
“Thank you, Walt Disney, Inc.,” may one-day showcase how Disney’s world of
Hollywood animation was first “sketched” in Kansas City. The Jackson
County (Mo.) Historical Society is accepting donations of photographs,
documents, artifacts and memorabilia from the time when Disney was in Kansas
City to help commemorate the birthplace of Mickey Mouse. David W. Jackson is archivist for the nonprofit,
membership supported Jackson County (Mo.) Historical Society's Archives and
Research Library located at 112 W Lexington Ave, Ste 103, Independence,
Mo. 64050. They are available to the public by advanced appointment. For more
information, or to donate historical materials, call (816) 252-7454, visit
www.jchs.org, or e-mail info@jchs.org. |
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