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| Walt Disney- the man who gave us magic |
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| As Walt entered his mid-60's, he didn't seem te be slowing down. Indeed, he appeared to be speeding up. He decided to create four exhibits for the 1964 World's Fair in New York. During this exposition he could experiment with new ideas, like Audio-Animatronics. The exhibits were made for the state of Illinios (The Mr. Lincoln Attraction), for General Electrics, Pepsi-Cola and Ford Motors. This was also the birthplace for one of the most famous attractions of the Disneythemeparks, "It's a Small World". The song was especially written for it. Walt also had ideas for the future: a sky resort called Mineral Mines, planned to be build near the Sequoia National Park, and Walt Disney's Boyhood Home in Marceline. Neither plans were realised. |
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| But Walt succeeded in one of his plans: a new approach in training the arts. CalArt, a place where students would be educated in all facets of the arts, was opened in 1961. He was also busy on a new themepark-project. This time it would be placed in Florida. Walt bought a piece of land twice the size of Manhattan in the middle of Florida, so he wouldn't have the problems of expantion like in Anaheim. The Florida Project would contain a "Disneyland" and a new form of city, where residents would be living in a perfest environment. He named this city EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow). Although EPCOT excists today, it's not the place Walt envisioned. Walt devoted as much time as he could spend on this new dream. He studied every minute of the day by reading books. |
| In late 1966, Walt was diagnosed with lung cancer. Years of smoking had caught up with him. Walt told his family that they shouldn't be concernred, that he'd have the cancer removed and quickly recover. But on Monday, November 7, ther surgeon told Lillian, Diane and Sharon that the cancer had spread and that Walt had between six months and two years to live. They were a few more visits to the studio - which was working on "The Jungle Book" - and to WED Enterprices. But Walt spend most of the next few weeks with his family, making plans for the future: "I'm going to concentrate on the parks and building EPCOT," he told son-in-law Ron. On November 30, he went back to the hospital. And on December 15, he died. The flag at Disneyland flew at half mast. And as commentator Eric Severeid said: "We'll never see his like again." |
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Walter Elias Disney December 5, 1901 December 15, 1966 |
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