The Founding Blog

October 2021 is a milestone month for the Disney Company. October 1st marks the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Walt Disney World (as well as the birthday of Disney Legend Dame Julie Andrews!). And yesterday, October 16th, 2021, marks 98 years since Walt and Roy Disney founded Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio (founded on October 16th, 1923). Of course, that small start-up ultimately free into the Walt Disney Company. Let’s look at their story…

Walt Disney created Laugh-O-Grams Incorporated in Kansas City, MO in 1921. The “Laugh-O-Gram,” shorts were cartoons that told versions of classic fairy tales and children stories. The studio was unfortunately forced to declare bankruptcy in 1923, but Walt decided to bring the last “Laugh-O-Gram,” to Hollywood, California. The short, called Alice’s Wonderland stared child actress Virginia Davis in the title role. “Alice’s Wonderland” was a groundbreaking cartoon as it was the first to put real-life actors in animated backgrounds, the special effect technique that would set the stage for Mary Poppins (1964) 31 years later. Walt decided to try Hollywood to see if he could gain anyone’s attention for distribution, and well as start over with a brand new art studio. Fortunately, he was able to do just that.

Margaret J. Winkler, who owned a distribution company in New York, saw “Alice’s Wonderland” and immediately saw its potential. She arranged a distribution deal with Walt and Roy Disney, and together the brothers formed the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio in their uncle, Robert Disney’s garage. They began producing the Alice Comedies series and by 1926, the studio name was changed to Walt Disney Studio. The following year the studio ended production on the “Alice,” series and began production on a new series of cartoons about a character called “Oswald the Lucky Rabbit,” a series that would be released under the Universal Studios label.

At this point, Winkler’s husband, Charles Mintz, had taken over the distribution company. In 1928, Disney had hoped to renew the Oswald contract with a larger payment than before, but to his shock, he discovered that Mintz had chosen to produce the “Oswald” series himself and was on the verge of starting his own studio by hiring away many of Disney’s staff. Sadly, there was nothing Walt could do, but he refused to give up, and knew that he needed to come up with a new character. Having befriended a mouse at the “Laugh-O-Gram,” studio, Walt came up with an idea for unrelentingly optimistic mouse named Mortimer. His wife, Lilly, thought the name Mickey would be nicer, and they produced the first ever Mickey Mouse short, Plane Crazy in 1928. It wasn’t long before Mickey Mouse outshined Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

Walt later changed the name of studio to Walt Disney Productions in 1929. Although that was the name of the studio, it never truthfully stopped being about both Disney brothers. While Walt would always be the one to come up with the creative ideas, Roy would always be there to oversee the financing as they continued producing Mickey Mouse cartoons, the “Silly Symphony” series (1929-1939), and ultimately feature-length animated movies: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Pinocchio (1940). When Walt passed away in December of 1966, Roy took over as CEO of the company and worked as hard as he could to keep his brother’s vision alive through the movie studio as well as the opening of Walt Disney World. Coincidentally, Roy passed away in the same month as his brother, though five years later in December of 1971. 

Today, the Walt Disney Company is one of the most respected (and largest) corporations in the universe, though it would have gone out of business a long time ago had not been for Walt’s creative vision and Roy’s tenacious effort to hold onto that vision.   

 

Review: "Muppets Haunted Mansion"

The beloved Disney Park Attraction “The Haunted Mansion,” first opened at Disneyland on August 9th, 1969. It was rebuilt for the Magic Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World, which opened on Disney World’s opening date, October 1st, 1971. A film based on the attraction, was produced by Disney and released to the public on November 26th, 2003, which starred Eddie Murphy and on October 8th, 2021, a “Muppets” themed special Muppets Haunted Mansion was released to Disney+. Here’s my review of the special:

Gonzo, or “The Great Gonzo,” as his friends call him, and his best pal, Pepe the Prawn, have been invited to a Halloween party at an unknown location. It is not till they arrive that they learn the party’s location is The Haunted Mansion. There they meet the “Ghost Host” (played by Will Arnett) who challenges the two of them to spend the night in the mansion, and if they can they are free to leave the mansion but if not, they are doomed to live the rest of their lives (and “afterlives”) there forever. Gonzo is totally up to the challenge, though Pepe is not; but both agree to take on the challenge. Their adventure includes encounters with celebrity cameos, as well as “easter eggs” that reference the beloved attraction: from the Hitchhiking Ghosts to Madame Leota (or since Miss Piggy plays her in the show, “Madame Pigota”).

“Muppets Haunted Mansion,” has a decent plot. Gonzo claims that he isn’t afraid of anything and loves to be scared, but doesn’t believe that he will be scared just by staying a single night in The Haunted Mansion. What makes the special inspiring is that it reminds us that we’re all afraid of something, and there is no is shame in that whatsoever. However, if we’re arrogant about that and never admit to being afraid, we often find ourselves in an unpredictable amount of trouble that we can’t get out of easily. That’s a unique message that hasn’t been depicted before in other “Muppet” shows.

“Muppets Haunted Mansion,” features celebrities John Stamos, Yvette Nicole Brown, Alfonso Ribeiro, and Taraji P. Henson, as well as one by the late-great Ed Asner, to whom the special is dedicated in his memory. There is also an appearance by Kim Irvine as the maid. Irvine’s mother, Leota Toombs was the model for the character of Madame Leota in the Haunted Mansion attraction. The special is directed by Kirk R. Thatcher, who also directed the Muppets in their made-for-television movie The Muppets Wizard of Oz (2005) and won an Emmy for his contributions to the series Muppets Tonight (1996-1998). Dave Goelz returns as the voice of Gonzo, along with Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and various other characters. (Goelz is the only original “Muppet Performer,” involved when Jim Henson first created The Muppets in the mid-1970’s.) Brian Henson, son of Jim Henson, also makes a special appearance as the voice of the character, Sal Minella.

Like most of the “Muppet” movies, “Muppets Haunted Mansion,” is a musical. It features songs with music by Ed Mitchell & Steve Morrell and lyrics by Bill Barretta (who also voices Pepe the Prawn), Kirk R. Thatcher, and Kelly Younger. The songs aren’t exactly as entertaining as the songs you might recall from the feature length “Muppet” movies (i.e. “The Rainbow Connection,” from The Muppet Movie (1979) or “Man or Muppet,” from The Muppets (2011)), but you can enjoy the show’s nostalgic nods to the songs “Dancing in the Moonlight,” by King Harvest as well as the Haunted Mansion theme song “Grim Grinning Ghosts,” with music by Buddy Baker and Lyrics by Xavier Atencio.

All in all, not a bad show, but personally, I believe the feature length “Muppet” films are a bit more entertaining than this particular show. While it does have an inspiring message, its sense of humor gives a bit more for kids to connect to rather than adults. But…we still love the Muppets…wonder what Disney might have in store for them next.