DISNEY HOPEFUL FILMS WILL LIVE
Creator of Mickey Mouse Grateful to the Kiddies And World at Large
Walt Disney, creator of Mickey Mouse and author of the Silly Symphonies, who now is thirty-four, sets his birthday aside to answer some questions which have accumulated in the past seven years during which he has risen from complete obscurity to a position where he yields worldwide influence.
For seven years Disney has let his characters do all the talking. He now comes from behind to express his own views.
Asked what he would do if the popularity of Mickey Mouse began to wane, Disney replies that he would continue to produce motion pictures: "The future of our industry," he says, "seems so unlimited to us that it is difficult to predict how we would replace Mickey Mouse; possibly we would confine ourselves to feature-length productions and Silly Symphonies, or, again, we might attempt to popularize a new character to take Mickey's place; or build up one of our present personalities such as Donald Duck."
Disney hopes that his first feature-length picture "Snow White" will be completed and ready for presentation in 1937. He frankly admits he does not know how much it will cost. "The final cost," he states, "will depend to a considerable extent on footage and the amount of trouble we run into, two factors which are unpredictable at this stage of the game."
To the question as to which country takes a greater interest in Mickey Mouse Disney replied: "I don't know if there is any particular country which takes a greater interest in Mickey than any other country. The little fellow seems to make friends regardless of race, color, or national boundaries."
Asked for a birthday "message" the youthful prodcer states no reason to make one.
"I have always been short on words that 'echo around the world,' so let's consider this an opportunity again to thank our friends the world over, especially the children, for standing by us like good friends through good pictures and bad, and for all that priceless encouragement, which helps so much in a business where there are so many discouragements."
There has been one question asked of Disney more frequently than any other single question: How does it feel to be a celebrity? To this he answers:
"It feels fine when being a celebrity helps get choice reservations for a football game. It doesn't feel so good when an autograph enthusiast picks you out in a crowd. Most of the time, I imagine, people just don't go around feeling that they are celebrities. It is safe to say that ninety-nine per cent of the time I go around feeling exactly as I would if nobody knew I was alive. As far as I can remember, being a celebrity has never helped me make a good picture, or a good shot at polo, or command the obedience of my daughter, or impress my wife. It doesn't even seem to help me keep fleas off our dogs, and if being a celebrity won't even give one the advantage over a couple of fleas, then I guess there can't be much in being a celebrity at all."
Creator of Mickey Mouse Grateful to the Kiddies And World at Large
Walt Disney, creator of Mickey Mouse and author of the Silly Symphonies, who now is thirty-four, sets his birthday aside to answer some questions which have accumulated in the past seven years during which he has risen from complete obscurity to a position where he yields worldwide influence.
For seven years Disney has let his characters do all the talking. He now comes from behind to express his own views.
Asked what he would do if the popularity of Mickey Mouse began to wane, Disney replies that he would continue to produce motion pictures: "The future of our industry," he says, "seems so unlimited to us that it is difficult to predict how we would replace Mickey Mouse; possibly we would confine ourselves to feature-length productions and Silly Symphonies, or, again, we might attempt to popularize a new character to take Mickey's place; or build up one of our present personalities such as Donald Duck."
Disney hopes that his first feature-length picture "Snow White" will be completed and ready for presentation in 1937. He frankly admits he does not know how much it will cost. "The final cost," he states, "will depend to a considerable extent on footage and the amount of trouble we run into, two factors which are unpredictable at this stage of the game."
To the question as to which country takes a greater interest in Mickey Mouse Disney replied: "I don't know if there is any particular country which takes a greater interest in Mickey than any other country. The little fellow seems to make friends regardless of race, color, or national boundaries."
Asked for a birthday "message" the youthful prodcer states no reason to make one.
"I have always been short on words that 'echo around the world,' so let's consider this an opportunity again to thank our friends the world over, especially the children, for standing by us like good friends through good pictures and bad, and for all that priceless encouragement, which helps so much in a business where there are so many discouragements."
There has been one question asked of Disney more frequently than any other single question: How does it feel to be a celebrity? To this he answers:
"It feels fine when being a celebrity helps get choice reservations for a football game. It doesn't feel so good when an autograph enthusiast picks you out in a crowd. Most of the time, I imagine, people just don't go around feeling that they are celebrities. It is safe to say that ninety-nine per cent of the time I go around feeling exactly as I would if nobody knew I was alive. As far as I can remember, being a celebrity has never helped me make a good picture, or a good shot at polo, or command the obedience of my daughter, or impress my wife. It doesn't even seem to help me keep fleas off our dogs, and if being a celebrity won't even give one the advantage over a couple of fleas, then I guess there can't be much in being a celebrity at all."
Here are images of celebrities Walt Disney either met or associated with in the 1930s:
...in 1933, at a Writer's Club dinner, with actor and social commentator Will Rogers.
...in 1935, in France, with famed French filmmaker Louis Lumiere.
...in 1935, with the 1934 Nobel Prize in Literature winner, Italian writer Luigi Pirandello.
...in 1938, at the polo field, with actor Spencer Tracy.
...in 1939, at the Santa Anita racetrack, with friend and fellow producer Charles Chaplin.
1 comments:
Happy Birthday Walt!
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