Walt Disney – A Magical Life

[donaldtoo]

I could be wrong, but weren’t we told for many years that a Walt AA show would never happen, and was out of the question, because it was looked upon as sacrilege.
What a bunch of turds, including any Disney family worms that are allowing this to happen with their, apparent, blessing. Just plain tasteless, IMO.

 

[eddie104]

This article confirms that even at D’Amaro's level that he is more involved in even the smallest details that many think are just pawned off to a lowly "cubicle drone" as some like to call them.

Avatar at Disneyland seems to be Bob’s personal pet project so that’s no surprise.

 

[BasiltheBatLord]

Here's a new article from Fortune, where the journalist went to view the Walt Audio-Animatronic in Glendale:

Inside Disney's $60 billion plan for theme parks and cruise upgrades

Josh D'Amaro leads the company's ultra-profitable 'experiences' division.

fortune.com

Worth highlighting that this article confirms that all of Walt's dialogue will be archival audio.

 

[D.Silentu]

On that point I'm really interested to see how well they clean up the seventy year old recordings, presumably done for television broadcasts, to make them sound more natural.

 

[PiratesMansion]

I get every objection to this project, including the fact that Walt himself and his family have made their feelings known on projects like this.

*BUT*

As much as the company is guilty about spinning myths about itself using Walt's quotes, it's also true that much of society, spurred on by the internet, has been spinning their own tales about Walt, who he is, and what he believed, and these tales have become informed fact for an unfortunate number of people. The knowledge of who Walt was has largely been lost to people who aren't already heavily invested in the company and the stories it tells. To see and hear Walt in an AA capacity may inspire more people to learn more about who he really was and what he really believed and work to counter a lot of those nonsense urban legends. Will it work 100%? No, of course not. But the company taking on the opportunity to set the record straight on some level, so long as it is done honestly and sincerely, is ultimately a net positive IMO.

If you take out the AA aspect out of it, this seems remarkably similar in content to Walt Disney Story, which itself used actual Walt audio to frame a story about the man and his legacy.

Part of the reason the family signed off on Partners was because at that time, knowledge of Walt was already starting to fade from public consciousness; it is undoubtedly worse now. A well-done Walt AA show could help fix that.

 

[chadwpalm]

I'm not a die-hard historian on all things Disney, so I don't read books about Walt or the parks histories aside from things I happen to read or hear online.

Are there actual documented factual quotes from Walt that he didn't want his likeness in the parks, or is most of this information from his friends and family, therefore, 3rd party?

I'd be curious if his sentiments leaned toward "I NEVER want my likeness in the parks" vs. "I'd be uncomfortable seeing my likeness in the parks while I'm alive" like most people would.

I know if I achieved something great, I would feel awkward seeing a statue or animatronic of myself while I'm still alive...mostly out of a sense of humbleness. I'd be okay if people wanted to tastefully memorialize me after I'm gone.

So, I mean, was Walt actually adamant about never being memorialized in that way, or is it just an interpretation passed around like the game telephone? At the end of the day, I'm not personally offended by it and will probably check the show out when I'm there.