Bawled out by Uncle Walt

[Cowboy]

I found this article on SFGate.com, and figured I'd share it with you all...

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/05/01/TRG0MCGDO81.DTL

[MiceMan]

Uncle Walt Sounds Like An !

[MickeyJCA]

Sounds a little made up to me... :confused:

[Druggas]

Sounds a little made up to me... :confused:

Ditto............
What's the odds of ever running into Walt? But 3 times! That's like the time I won the lottery and got voted in as King and..............................

[Alan]

Sounds like a normal man of the fifties. We have all conjured up these ideas of what Walt was like. I guess it is hard to believe that a personal hero can be hman too.

[Wendy_Bird]

It wouldnt suprise me to have met Walt in the park back then... I mean it was his dream... we already know that he walked the park before it opened... so why not while it was pen and people were there... wasnt it him who overheard guest talking about how they didnt need to go on the jungle cruise because they had already been on so Walt had them tell jokes and such...

It seems to me that the guys got what he deserved..

[Goin2DL]

My guess is that if these accounts are true that Walt may have not have been quite as mean as it seemed to a young boy.
Think about it, you see Walt, know his kindly personality from TV, he is firm with you (deservingly so), to a child it would seem like he yelled and got very angry. As time past the memory became the same as the impression.

Does that make any sense?

[Giant Panda]

I don't have a problem with Walt's alleged reactions, even if they were entirely true. The author sounds like a prototypical "uncontrolled child" like those that are frequently the source of criticism here at MiceChat.

[Gothemi]

I don't have a problem with Walt's alleged reactions, even if they were entirely true. The author sounds like a prototypical "uncontrolled child" like those that are frequently the source of criticism here at MiceChat.

Bingo. I probably would have said, and did the same thing as Walt.

[travelmom]

Well, I was not surprised at Walt's reaction at all for a man of those times.
Jumping out of the car was alarming in more ways than one. Could you imagine if it caused a chain reaction? I bet he could be cranky, he was a workaholic, an alcoholic, and not well during those years. Doesn't change my admiration for him a bit. You should see me on a bad day... its called being human.

[Disneylandrocks55]

Boy oh boy, he blames Walt for what he chose to do.

"Three encounters with Disney, on his own turf. Three catastrophes. No wonder things failed to work out and I wound up in the newspaper racket. "

Walt got made at people that didn't obey rules. Wouldn't anyone do that!?

[BugsBunny]

Walt was extraordinary, but still human. I don't take the complete recounting of these stories as 100% true. After all, the first of this authors stories happened in 1959, when he was 7, and the exact details of that encounter have probably long since blurred. That said, it would not surprise me if Disney could be caught in a bad mood.

[MickeyMania]

Doesn't suprise me, plus it has a photograph by the author, too.

I've also heard stories of Walt chewing out early Autopia employees for taking the cars out before the park opened to drive around Main Street.

[Gregmh48]

While I think this definietly sounds like the hidden Walt Disney, I doubt the accuracy of this story. The writer claims to have been at Disneyland opening day when it was an invitational only event. His father would have needed to be important in the media or some other sort to be invited...unless he was one of the many who snuck into Disneyland that day in which Walt had enough reason to yell at him the other three times. Furthermore, his father supposedly said the classic complaints of the opening day which could easily have been researched to put into this article.

[pjdonnell]

Boy oh boy, he blames Walt for what he chose to do.

I'm fairly certain that line was said in good fun.

[Tinkerbell]

Not sure if I buy this. I've read so many accounts of Walt from the people who knew him for decades. The consensus of opinion was simply that when Walt would lose his temper it was over business, limitations, and his ideas not going as well as he might have liked. I have also only read how wonderful Walt was to all children, even if they happened upon him in less than perfect timing. The same has applied to those I have met or worked with that knew Walt personally.
On the flipside, that kid was rude! Obviously going around thinking everyone was living in his world. I'd have probably "bawled him out" too.
I don't know, I just have a problem with anyone jumping on the "Disney was a total jerk" bandwagon. I'm not down with people who didn't know him calling him an anti-semite or racist, etc. etc. Too many people are too apt to join that club of negativity, the very thing Walt fought against. I'll stick to believing the opinions expressed by those who knew him well.

[SilentBob66]

Sounds like typical Walt to me.

The first time he yelled at the guy and his sister it was because the kids were doing something stupid and potentially dangerous to them, so they deserved to be yelled at (and it wasn't like he called them names or anything, he just wanted them out of harm's way).

The second time.....well, pretty much the same thing. It wasn't personal, Walt just wanted the kid out of the way because he was blocking the path. He could have easily just had Nehru gun the motor and squash the kid, but how would that have played in the press?

The third time, Walt's being offered the hand of a kid with chocolate ice cream all over his fingers. Oh yeah, good ol' Uncle Walt, who probably just woke up from a nap, is really going to want to gladhand some sticky-fingered kid just to be nice. I don't think so.

My older brother met Walt once in the Park, chatted with him a moment, and got his autograph. You don't mess with greatness when you encounter it.

At least this guy can look back on his encounters with Walt with a sense of humor about it.

[Circarama]

Sounds like a normal man of the fifties. We have all conjured up these ideas of what Walt was like. I guess it is hard to believe that a personal hero can be hman too.

I agree. Walt got hounded alot at the Park when he was trying to get some work done. I don't think that he really expected to become such a popular celebrity when he started doing the "Disneyland" television show in 1954.
I'm not trying to justify being a jerk to the kids, but like KoH said, sounds like a normal man of the 1950's. What's the problem? :botox:

[mickhyperion]

I have no doubt that Walt's temperament was a little harsh from all the stories his own staff tells, but this story sounds like a big piece of embellished trash. A few too many coincidences all happening on historic occasions if you ask me. The likelihood of the Autopia incident alone is preposterous. Total crap in my opinion.

[IndyJn511]

I cant decide whether I belive it or not. If so, yes, the kid deserved what he got. If not, the guy wrote it to piss people off and makes it sound real with well known DL facts (matterhorn opening/ antique car/ feet stuck in asphalt).