And Did You Once See Disney Plain?
Where does the Walt Disney Company figure in this? Well, not at all except for the loan of Mickey and Minnie from Disneyland. Since Marceline means nothing financially to the current regime, it is ignored. The importance of the town, its independence and continuing nurture of the memory of its famous son, is of no import to a corporation concerned with milking as many dollars out of the public as it can, while it can. It boasts at its parks of "100 years of magic," cashing in on the anniversary of its founder's birth, but the magic did not begin there until 27 years later with the arrival of Mickey Mouse.

This freedom from the Disney Company's embrace has, however, been of advantage to Marceline -- it has been able to proceed on its own way, to produce its own images, its own distinctive logos and merchandise. We never looked for good taste even from Walt -- well, there it is in Marceline today, alive and kicking and what a breath of fresh air this is -- to enjoy Disney and his legacy without the stultifying Company hand and brand.

Dennis Bradley, the architect who is consulting on the restoration of the Laugh-O-Gram Studio in Kansas City, points out structural damage to the building.

Where Now Marceline?
The organizers of the 100th anniversary celebrations are determined to continue to raise the profile of their town and its connection with Walt Disney. The depot museum will need financial support and a curatorship that will understand the parameters of its association with Disney. It will take a special interest in the history of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad company. Tragically, there is no Walt Disney Foundation, no Walt Disney Library, no Walt Disney Research Center, no Walt Disney Institute, or Museum, or Art Gallery. Isn't this simply extraordinary when you think of the importance of this man and his heritage not only for the United States but also for the world? Marceline is absolutely unique in promoting the first museum in the world to contain original material pertaining to Disney and his early life. May it continue to pioneer this enterprise for which our children and our children's children will be grateful for years, perhaps for centuries to come, long after the corporations of today and "the captains and the kings depart."

There is another reason for extolling the enterprise of this little Mid-West town. It lies some 125 miles north east of Kansas City where another group of devoted men and women are working to restore the Laugh-O-Gram Studio where Disney worked as a young man before he went to Hollywood (5). Marceline also lies more or less midway between Kansas City to the west and Hannibal, to the east, with its Mark Twain associations.

What more suitable figures from the 19th and 20th century heritage of the popular culture of the United States than these two story tellers — one choosing the written word and one choosing the animated image? There is already an established tourist association for Mark Twain; how enterprising it would be to see a tourist trail linked from Hannibal via Marceline to Kansas City. I am sure that this thought is not far from the minds of that nucleus of enthusiasts who, with little financial resource but with immense good will, have honored the boyhood son of Marceline. As George Mendoza wrote for Norman Rockwell's Americana ABC, "I am America. I begin with A and I end in a. I am America as long ago as I can remember and as far ahead as I can dream."

Robin Allan is a writer and art historian based in Derbyshire, England. He has written extensively on Disney and has lectured on the subject in Britain, Europe, Canada and the United States. His latest book, Walt Disney and Europe, was published by John Libbey to rave reviews.

Notes

5. The Laugh-O-Gram Studio, disgracefully neglected over the years, is at last being restored by the diligent "Thank You Walt Disney Inc.," of which Dennis Bradley, who supervised the restoration of the Marceline Depot Museum, is Building Committee Chairman. This is a building of immense importance to the American history of animation. Here the young Walt Disney made his first cartoons and worked with other young men who would later make distinguished careers of their own in Hollywood. I am grateful to Mr. Bradley for taking the trouble to show me all the extant Disney sites in Kansas City.