Rest in Peace, Bob Hoskins

Originally known mainly as a character actor in his native country, British actor Bob Hoskins took a major risk when he accepted the role of Eddie Valiant in the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Not only was he playing against a non-existent co-star who would be added to the film later, he also had to deal with the murmurs around Hollywood that the film would be another big budget disaster like Howard the Duck. Of course, the film was actually something very special and Mr. Hoskins became a household name. It turned out he was perfect for the role of the hapless, drunken Eddie who needed the help of a special Toon to snap out of his funk and prove how valiant he really was.

Mr. Hoskins retired from acting in 2011 after he was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease and passed away yesterday at the age of 71.

The First Mickey Mouse Item

It is virtually impossible to walk into any store these days and not find something with Mickey Mouse or some other Disney character on it. The world's favorite mouse appears on billions of dollars worth of goods sold worldwide. Of course, this wasn't always the case. Believe it or not, but character licensing and merchandise wasn't always a big business. Many comic strip artists rarely licensed their characters to merchandisers and those who did never thought of the possible profits from the merchandise itself. They saw merchandise as just another way to promote their work. 

Walt Disney, however, saw merchandise as something that could make as much if not more money than the pictures themselves. These profits could be used to make more and better quality pictures. So Walt eagerly licensed his little mouse. The first item to be released was this simple notebook. It would be just the first of many fun items featuring Mickey Mouse.

Walt Disney's California Dreaming

Imagine a park themed to the state of California. It would feature restaurants serving fresh California vegetables cooked by California chefs. Unique shops and attractions would highlight the Golden State, in the hope that it would inspire its guests to explore more of California. Sound familiar? It describes DISNEY CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE, right? Actually, it describes DISNEY'S CALIFORNIA LIVING, a theme park idea dreamed up by Walt Disney in 1961, a full 40 years before DISNEY CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE opened in 2001.

In the map below, the proposed DCL park's location is highlighted in red. DCA's current boundaries are marked in gold. Other than its proposed location, little is known about DCL. Harrison Price, who helped Walt Disney locate a suitable location for DISNEYLAND and did the original feasibility studies for the park, says he didn't know many specifics about the park, only that Walt just got too busy and ran out of time to build it.

The official company story is that DISNEY CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE was devised completely independent of any plans for DISNEY'S CALIFORNIA LIVING and that the project team knew nothing about Walt Disney's original plans. That could be true. Maybe the idea was so good that it was an inevitability. At the very least, it shows how many of Mr. Disney's ideas were truly ahead of their time.

“Yesterday, a man walked up to me and said, ‘Isn’t it a shame that Walt Disney couldn’t be here to see this?’ and I said, He did see this, that’s why it’s here.”

-Art Linkletter July 17, 2005

ABC Marine World

When Walt Disney needed money for DISNEYLAND, The ABC Television Network was willing to provide some of the cash in exchange for the weekly DISNEYLAND TV Show, but had no real interest in the theme park itself. The network quickly cashed out its investment in the park, but eventually noticed he huge amounts of cash generated by DISNEYLAND. ABC owner Leonard Goldensen decided that ABC would diversify by getting into the theme park business. 

The network bought a parcel of land in Redwood City, California and announced plans to build an aquatic park- ABC Marine World. During an elaborate television special produced by future Disney CEO Michael Eisner, ABC introduced its new park to the world in 1968. ABC Marine World was a huge success, but ABC soon realized something that Mr. Disney had instinctually known years before; that a steady stream of new attractions and shows were needed to keep guests happy and coming back. ABC had hoped that the park wouldn't need further investment, so despite the project's success, it decided to sell the park. The buyer was a San Jose businessman who owned a struggling Safari themed park. He decided to move his animals up north to create Marine World Africa USA. ABC had left the theme park industry.

The combined park struggled for several years before it eventually became a non-profit enterprise, run by a group of conservationists. When the land the park sat on became too valuable, the park relocated to nearby Vallejo and continued to evolve, becoming The New Marine World Theme Park, Six Flags Marine World and now Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. The land it used to stand on is now the world headquarters of the Oracle Corporation and ABC became a division of The Walt Disney Company in 1995 in a mega-deal orchestrated by Disney CEO Michael Eisner.

Disney Quote Weekends

“With Tuppence for paper and strings- you can have your own set of wings. With your feet on the ground you're a bird in flight- with your fist holding tight to the strings of your kite.”

 

-Let's Go Fly A Kite! from Mary Poppins

Disney Quote Weekends

"His dedication was not just making people smile- he taught in his very special way respect for life and land the world over making people realize if you wish upon a star, fantasies really can come true. Many times I visited his Magic Kingdom and believe me when I say my dreams came true."

-Annette Funicello

Disney Villains: Pete

The first Disney Villain is Pete, a gruff cat who originally began life as a foil to Mickey in Steamboat Willie. Vicious and menacing, he often stood in the way of Mickey's goals. Eventually, Pete became more domesticated and was associated with Goofy. He has more or less lost his villainous persona, becoming more of an annoyance rather than evil.

Anaheim Vacationland: The Heidi Motel

When Walt Disney began planning DISNEYLAND, he bought all the land he could afford. He had faith in the success of his project and tried to get his wealthy Hollywood friends to buy some of the surrounding land. (Land that he could then buy from them at a later date.) None of them had the same faith in the project that Walt had and he helplessly saw the properties surrounding DISNEYLAND slip into the hands of people who wanted to profit off of his success. The city of Anaheim ignored Walt Disney's pleas to control the growth around the park and the area soon became what Walt described as a "second rate Las Vegas".

Many of the properties around DISNEYLAND tried to at least provide some semblance of theme and one motel in particular tried to take advantage of the excitement generated by the construction of the Matterhorn- the Heidi Motel. It holds a special place in our hearts as a memorable host to many fun trips to Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom.

Originally built by an outside investor, it was acquired by DISNEYLAND in the late 1960's and operated as a non-Disney Hotel until the mid 1990's when it was demolished to make way for DISNEY CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE. While much of the former property is now used as a back area for the new park, the northernmost section of the motel is currently the boarding area for Paradise Pier's California Screamin' roller coaster.

Mickey Rooney & Disney

Mickey Rooney had many ties to Disney- he starred in Pete's Dragon and The Muppets, and provided voices for characters in Fox and the Hound and Lady and The Tramp II. It's a very impressive resume, however there's one thing Mr. Rooney repeatedly claimed in interviews that just wasn't true- that Walt Disney named Mickey Mouse after him.

In fact, Mickey Mouse was named by Walt Disney's wife, Lillian Disney, and there is no evidence to indicate that she or Walt had ever heard of Mickey Rooney at the time. In fact, Mr. Rooney wouldn't become a well known star until ten years after Mickey Mouse had already made his grand debut.

The Guy Who Literally Called DISNEYLAND Home

After Walt Disney settled on a location for DISNEYLAND in the sleepy agricultural town of Anaheim, CA, he still needed to convince the people who owned the various properties to sell to him. One required parcel was owned by the Dominguez family, whose property comprised what would later become New Orleans Square, Critter Country and Frontierland. Mrs. Dominguez was a feisty woman, who initially resisted Disney's offers, but eventually caved in as long as Walt honored one request- to hire her youngest son. Walt agreed and Ronald Dominguez was hired on at DISNEYLAND, originally as a ticket taker.

Mr. Dominguez stayed on at DISNEYLAND, eventually becoming DISNEYLAND President, the highest position in the park. When Mr. Dominguez retired, he was honored with a window on Main Street. Located above the Market House, the slogan on the windows reads "We'll Care For Your Property As If It Were Our Own"- a clever reference to the fact that he literally lived and grew up on the property that would become DISNEYLAND.