Editing Walt Disney (section)

===Theme parks, television and other interests: 1950–1966===
In early 1950, Disney produced ''[[Cinderella (1950 film)|Cinderella]]'', his studio's first animated feature in eight years. It was popular with critics and theater audiences. Costing $2.2&nbsp;million to produce, it earned nearly $8&nbsp;million in its first year.{{sfn|Barrier|2007|p=220}}{{efn|$2.2&nbsp;million in 1950 equates to ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|2200000|1950}}}} in {{CURRENTYEAR}}; $8&nbsp;million in 1950 equates to ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|8000000|1950}}}} in {{CURRENTYEAR}}, according to calculations based on the [[United States Consumer Price Index|Consumer Price Index]] measure of inflation.{{inflation-fn|US}}}} Disney was less involved than he had been with previous pictures because of his involvement in his first entirely live-action feature, ''[[Treasure Island (1950 film)|Treasure Island]]'' (1950), which was shot in Britain, as was ''[[The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men]]'' (1952).{{sfnm|1a1=Finch|1y=1999|1pp=126–27|2a1=Barrier|2y=2007|2pp=221–23}} Other all-live-action features followed, many of which had patriotic themes.{{sfn|Langer|2000}}{{efn|The patriotic films include ''[[Johnny Tremain (film)|Johnny Tremain]]'' (1957), ''[[Old Yeller (film)|Old Yeller]]'' (1957), ''[[Tonka (film)|Tonka]]'' (1958), ''[[Swiss Family Robinson (1960 film)|Swiss Family Robinson]]'' (1960), ''[[Pollyanna (1960 film)|Polyanna]]'' (1960).{{sfn|Langer|2000}}}} He continued to produce full-length animated features too, including ''[[Alice in Wonderland (1951 film)|Alice in Wonderland]]'' (1951) and ''[[Peter Pan (1953 film)|Peter Pan]]'' (1953). From the early to mid-1950s, Disney began to devote less attention to the animation department, entrusting most of its operations to his key animators, the [[Disney's Nine Old Men|Nine Old Men]],{{efn|The [[Disney's Nine Old Men|Nine Old Men]] consisted of [[Eric Larson]], [[Wolfgang Reitherman]], [[Les Clark]], [[Milt Kahl]], [[Ward Kimball]], [[Marc Davis (animator)|Marc Davis]], [[Ollie Johnston]], [[Frank Thomas (animator)|Frank Thomas]] and [[John Lounsbery]].{{sfn|Langer|2000}}}} although he was always present at story meetings. Instead, he started concentrating on other ventures.{{sfn|Canemaker|2001|p=110}} Around the same time, Disney  established his own film distribution division [[Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures|Buena Vista]], replacing his most recent distributor [[RKO Pictures]].{{sfn|Thomas|1994|pp=336–337}}

[[File:WaltDisneyplansDisneylandDec1954.jpg|thumb|Disney shows the plans of [[Disneyland]] to officials from [[Orange County, California|Orange County]] in December 1954]]
For several years Disney had been considering building a theme park. When he visited [[Griffith Park]] in Los Angeles with his daughters, he wanted to be in a clean, unspoiled park, where both children and their parents could have fun.<ref name="WDFM: Dreaming" /> He visited the [[Tivoli Gardens]] in Copenhagen, Denmark, and was heavily influenced by the cleanliness and layout of the park.<ref name="Disney Myth 2" /> In March 1952, he received zoning permission to build a theme park in Burbank, near the Disney studios.{{sfn|Barrier|2007|pp=233–34}} This site proved too small, and a larger plot in [[Anaheim, California|Anaheim]], {{convert|35|mi|km}} south of the studio, was purchased. To distance the project from the studio{{nsmdns}}which might attract the criticism of shareholders{{nsmdns}}Disney formed WED Enterprises (now [[Walt Disney Imagineering]]) and used his own money to fund a group of designers and animators to work on the plans;<ref name="WDFM: WED" /><ref name="WDFM: Genesis" /> those involved became known as "Imagineers".{{sfn|Finch|1999|p=139}} After obtaining bank funding he invited other stockholders, [[American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres]]{{nsmdns}}part of [[American Broadcasting Company]] (ABC){{nsmdns}}and [[Western Publishing|Western Printing and Lithographing Company]].{{sfn|Langer|2000}} In mid-1954, Disney sent his Imagineers to every amusement park in the U.S. to analyze what worked and what pitfalls or problems there were in the various locations and incorporated their findings into his design.{{sfn|Barrier|2007|p=246}} Construction work started in July 1954, and [[Disneyland]] opened in July 1955; the opening ceremony was broadcast on ABC, which reached 70&nbsp;million viewers.{{sfn|Gabler|2006|pp=524, 530–32}} The park was designed as a series of themed lands, linked by the central [[Main Street, U.S.A.]]{{nsmdns}}a replica of the main street in his hometown of Marceline. The connected themed areas were [[Adventureland (Disney)|Adventureland]], [[Frontierland]], [[Fantasyland]] and [[Tomorrowland (Disney Parks)|Tomorrowland]]. The park also contained the [[Narrow-gauge railway|narrow gauge]] [[Disneyland Railroad]] that linked the lands; around the outside of the park was a high [[berm]] to separate the park from the outside world.{{sfn|Eliot|1995|pp=225–26}}{{sfn|Gabler|2006|p=498}} An editorial in ''[[The New York Times]]'' considered that Disney had "tastefully combined some of the pleasant things of yesterday with fantasy and dreams of tomorrow".<ref name="NYT: Topics" /> Although there were early minor problems with the park, it was a success, and after a month's operation, Disneyland was receiving over 20,000 visitors a day; by the end of its first year, it attracted 3.6&nbsp;million guests.{{sfn|Gabler|2006|p=537}}
[[File:Walt Disney and Dr. Wernher von Braun - GPN-2000-000060.jpg|left|thumb|Disney in 1954 with [[Wernher von Braun]]]]
The money from ABC was contingent on Disney television programs.{{sfn|Gabler|2006|pp=508–09}} The studio had been involved in a successful television special on Christmas Day 1950 about the making of ''Alice in Wonderland''. Roy believed the program added millions to the box office takings. In a March 1951 letter to shareholders, he wrote that "television can be a most powerful selling aid for us, as well as a source of revenue. It will probably be on this premise that we enter television when we do".{{sfn|Langer|2000}} In 1954, after the Disneyland funding had been agreed, ABC broadcast ''[[Walt Disney anthology television series|Walt Disney's Disneyland]]'', an anthology consisting of animated cartoons, live-action features and other material from the studio's library. The show was successful in terms of ratings and profits, earning an audience share of over 50%.{{sfn|Gabler|2006|p=511}}{{efn|Even repeats of the program proved more popular than all other television shows—aside from [[Lucille Ball]]'s ''[[I Love Lucy]]''; no ABC program had ever been in the top 25 before ''Disneyland''.{{sfn|Gabler|2006|p=511}}}} In April 1955, ''[[Newsweek]]'' called the series an "American institution".<ref name="NW: Wonderful" /> ABC was pleased with the ratings, leading to Disney's first daily television program, ''[[The Mickey Mouse Club]]'', a variety show catering specifically to children.{{sfn|Gabler|2006|pp=520–21}} The program was accompanied by merchandising through various companies (Western Printing, for example, had been producing coloring books and comics for over 20 years, and produced several items connected to the show).{{sfn|Barrier|2007|p=245}} One of the segments of ''Disneyland'' consisted of the five-part [[miniseries]] ''[[Davy Crockett (miniseries)|Davy Crockett]]'' which, according to Disney biographer [[Neal Gabler]], "became an overnight sensation".{{sfn|Gabler|2006|p=514}} The show's theme song, "[[The Ballad of Davy Crockett]]", became internationally popular and ten million records were sold.{{sfn|Thomas|1994|p=257}} As a result, Disney formed his own record production and distribution entity, [[Walt Disney Records|Disneyland Records]].{{sfn|Hollis|Ehrbar|2006|pp=5–12, 20}}

As well as the construction of Disneyland, Disney worked on other projects away from the studio. He was consultant to the 1959 [[American National Exhibition]] in Moscow; Disney Studios' contribution was ''[[America the Beautiful (Disney)|America the Beautiful]]'', a 19-minute film in the 360-degree [[Circle-Vision 360°|Circarama theater]] that was one of the most popular attractions.{{sfn|Langer|2000}} The following year he acted as the chairman of the Pageantry Committee for the [[1960 Winter Olympics]] in [[Squaw Valley, Placer County, California|Squaw Valley, California]], where he designed the [[Olympic Games ceremony|opening, closing and medal ceremonies]].{{sfn|Gabler|2006|p=566}} He was one of twelve investors in the [[Celebrity Sports Center]], which opened in 1960 in [[Glendale, Colorado]]; he and Roy bought out the others in 1962, making the Disney company the sole owner.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://history.denverlibrary.org/news/celebrity-sports-center |title=Celebrity Sports Center: Bowling, video games, and your very first water slide|publisher=Denver Public Library|date=January 25, 2020}}</ref>

[[File: Walt disney portrait right.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Disney in 1954]]
Despite the demands wrought by non-studio projects, Disney continued to work on film and television projects. In 1955, he was involved in "[[Man in Space]]", an episode of the ''Disneyland'' series, which was made in collaboration with [[NASA]] rocket designer [[Wernher von Braun]].{{efn|The program, which was produced by [[Ward Kimball]], was nominated for an Academy Award for the [[Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject)|Best Documentary (Short Subject)]] at the [[29th Academy Awards|1957 Awards]].<ref name="AA:1957" />}} Disney also oversaw aspects of the full-length features ''[[Lady and the Tramp]]'' (the first animated film in [[CinemaScope]]) in 1955, ''[[Sleeping Beauty (1959 film)|Sleeping Beauty]]'' (the first animated film in [[Technirama]] [[70 mm film]]) in 1959, ''[[One Hundred and One Dalmatians]]'' (the first animated feature film to use [[Traditional animation#Xerography|Xerox cels]]) in 1961, and ''[[The Sword in the Stone (1963 film)|The Sword in the Stone]]'' in 1963.{{sfn|Finch|1999|pp=82–85}}

In 1964, Disney produced ''[[Mary Poppins (film)|Mary Poppins]]'', based on [[Mary Poppins (book series)|the book series]] by [[P. L. Travers]]; he had been trying to acquire the rights to the story since the 1940s.{{sfn|Finch|1999|p=130}} It became the most successful Disney film of the 1960s, although Travers disliked the film intensely and regretted having sold the rights.<ref name="DT: Travers dislike" /> The same year he also became involved in plans to expand the [[California Institute of the Arts]] (colloquially called CalArts), and had an architect draw up blueprints for a new building.{{sfn|Thomas|1994|p=298}}

Disney provided four exhibits for the [[1964 New York World's Fair]], for which he obtained funding from selected corporate sponsors. For [[PepsiCo]], who planned a tribute to [[UNICEF]], Disney developed [[It's a Small World]], a boat ride with audio-animatronic dolls depicting children of the world; [[Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln]] contained an animatronic [[Abraham Lincoln]] giving excerpts from his speeches; [[Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress|Carousel of Progress]] promoted the importance of electricity; and Ford's Magic Skyway portrayed the progress of mankind. Elements of all four exhibits{{nsmdns}}principally concepts and technology{{nsmdns}}were re-installed in Disneyland, although It's a Small World is the ride that most closely resembles the original.{{sfn|Barrier|2007|p=293}}<ref name="WDFM: Fair" />
[[File:Walt Disney with Company at Press Conference.jpg|thumb|244x244px|Disney (left) with his brother [[Roy O. Disney]] (right) and then Governor of Florida [[W. Haydon Burns]] (center) on November 15, 1965, publicly announcing the creation of Disney World]]
During the early to mid-1960s, Disney developed plans for a [[ski resort]] in [[Mineral King]], a glacial valley in California's [[Sierra Nevada]]. He hired experts such as the Olympic ski coach and ski-area designer [[Willy Schaeffler]].{{sfn|Gabler|2006|pp=621–23}}<ref name="Ski: Schaeffler" />{{efn|Disney's death in 1966, and opposition from conservationists, stopped the building of the resort.{{sfn|Gabler|2006|p=631}}}} With income from Disneyland accounting for an increasing proportion of the studio's income, Disney continued to look for venues for other attractions. In 1963, he presented a project to create a theme park in downtown [[St. Louis]], Missouri; he initially reached an agreement with the Civic Center Redevelopment Corp, which controlled the land, but the deal later collapsed over funding.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.stltoday.com/business/columns/david-nicklaus/no-disney-didn-t-spurn-st-louis-over-beer/article_8c800b33-b9da-51df-9049-70d448cd084b.html|title=No, Disney didn't spurn St. Louis over beer|first=David|last=Nicklaus|date=May 8, 2013|work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch|access-date=October 5, 2022|archive-date=December 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171216041938/https://www.stltoday.com/business/columns/david-nicklaus/no-disney-didn-t-spurn-st-louis-over-beer/article_8c800b33-b9da-51df-9049-70d448cd084b.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/attractions/the-daily-disney/os-walt-disney-world-almost-in-st-louis-20151207-story.html|title=Walt Disney World was almost in St. Louis|first=Jim|last=Salter|work=Orlando Sentinel|date=December 7, 2015|access-date=October 5, 2022|archive-date=December 22, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222155639/https://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/attractions/the-daily-disney/os-walt-disney-world-almost-in-st-louis-20151207-story.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> In late 1965, he announced plans to develop another theme park to be called "Disney World" (now [[Walt Disney World]]), a few miles southwest of [[Orlando, Florida]]. Disney World was to include the "Magic Kingdom"{{nsmdns}}a larger and more elaborate version of Disneyland{{nsmdns}}plus golf courses and resort hotels. The heart of Disney World was to be the "Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow" ([[EPCOT (concept)|EPCOT]]),{{sfn|Gabler|2006|pp=606–08}} which he described as:

<blockquote>an experimental prototype community of tomorrow that will take its cue from the new ideas and new technologies that are now emerging from the creative centers of American industry. It will be a community of tomorrow that will never be completed, but will always be introducing and testing and demonstrating new materials and systems. And EPCOT will always be a showcase to the world for the ingenuity and imagination of American free enterprise.{{sfn|Beard|1982|p=11}}</blockquote>

During 1966, Disney cultivated businesses willing to sponsor EPCOT.{{sfn|Thomas|1994|p=307}} He received a story credit in the 1966 film ''[[Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N.]]'' as {{anchor|Retlaw Yensid}}Retlaw Yensid, his name spelt backwards.{{sfn|Broggie|2006|pp=28}} He increased his involvement in the studio's films, and was heavily involved in the story development of ''[[The Jungle Book (1967 film)|The Jungle Book]]'', the live-action musical feature ''[[The Happiest Millionaire]]'' (both 1967) and the animated short ''[[Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day]]'' (1968).{{sfnm|1a1=Thomas|1y=1994|1p=343|2a1=Barrier|2y=2007|2p=276}}