Disney experts told inside stories about the company’s founder, his Anaheim theme park and the making of “Mary Poppins” at the Western Center for Archeology and Paleontology.
The occasion was a preview of “The Music Behind the Magic: Disney 1928-Today,” opening today.
The exhibit features Disney memorabilia from cartoons, live-action films, TV and Broadway, as well as several interactive features.
Museum officials say hosting a pop culture exhibit will help expose children to its scientific content as well.
Four Disney fans who became company staffers met with guests and engaged in an hour-long Q&A.
Panelists at the Thursday event included:
Disney records producer Randy Thornton
Disney artist and historian Stacia Martin
Historian and DVD producer Les Perkins
Artist and composer Alexander Rannie
All joined the company after Walt Disney’s death in 1966. But they have accumulated a wealth of knowledge about him and his company.
Among the tales they shared:
Walt Disney would rummage through his staff’s trash cans over the weekend to look for discarded ideas. One salvaged idea became “The Ballad of Davey Crockett.”
Working with Disney could be stressful to his staff.
“If Walt came into the studio in a bad mood, the security guard would call to the secretary and let people know. ‘He’s wearing the bear suit today,’ ” Thornton said. “Then they would know to kind of give Walt some room and let him go. … a page would run usually through the place going ‘Man is in the forest! Man is in the forest!’ ”
The Sherman brothers, who created the score for “Mary Poppins,” wrote twice as many songs as made it into the movie.
The song “A Spoonful of Sugar” was inspired by the Salk vaccine.
Glynnis Johns, who played Mrs. Banks, was convinced she was hired to play the title role. They had to come up with a number on the fly to compensate.
There isn’t a network of tunnels under Disneyland. Martin, who is based at the park, said there is one master throughway. She said Florida’s Walt Disney World has a huge underground of “utilidors.”
Fantasia ice cream is still available in an ice cream shop on the east side of Main Street. The treat had been popular at the now-closed Carnation Plaza Gardens.
The office building where Thornton works has a kitchenette called Kitch-Annette, in honor of Annette Funicello, who was as big a pop culture icon in the ’60s as Miley Cyrus is today.
The panelists say the Disney corporation has a growing respect for its heritage, an issue that has been in the news this week with today’s reopening of Disneyland’s “It’s a Small World.” The ride features revisions from its original concept, including tie-ins to Disney movies.
Thornton said the criticism is overblown.
“You hear people talk about, ‘I don’t think Walt would like this,’ or ‘I don’t think Walt would like that.’ You have no idea what Walt would want! No clue whatsoever! Because the people that worked with him day in and day out didn’t know what Walt wanted. Walt didn’t know what he wanted ’til he wanted it.”
