Walt Disney's Office, Burbank, CA
February 2, 1979
Walt's desk was in chaos. Disney was doing so much, had so many projects in development, that it seemed impossible to keep up some days. Attractions, movies, cartoons, animation, TV and a whole new theme park overseas left Walt's desk piled high with memos, legal documents, photographs, concept art, number crunching, box office and admissions profits. It was no wonder Walt hadn't left the studio in three days straight, preferring the tiny adjoining bedroom rather than a long drive home and back every night and morning.
While a multitude of things weighed on his mind, first and foremost was getting the Disney Channel up and running. It was set to begin broadcasting in late March, and animation was working around the clock to get done on
Star Wars and the rest of the shows that would be coming to the network. Walt had had to pull
Walt Disney's Wonderful World from NBC, and he'd recorded the host segments for the new season, including the three-hour special that would air as the first broadcast, in between time spent on the set of
Hood and
Raiders of the Lost Ark.
"Walt, you wanted to see me?"
The animator looked up. "Oh, yeah. Tony. I totally forgot you were coming up here today."
Tony Baxter shrugged. "No big deal. What's up?"
"Well, I'm
supposed to go to Rome in a couple days, but I just don't have the time for it. So someone's gotta go in my spot."
"Who are you sending?" asked Baxter, fiddling with a Mickey doll on one of Walt's filing cabinets.
"You, Tony. EuroDisney's got a lot of your style in it. You could say it's your baby, too."
"Me? Really? What... what do I have to do over there?"
"I've got a checklist for you somewhere, lists a whole bunch of criteria. Just fill it out and bring it back with you, and it'll be good," ordered Walt.
Baxter playfully saluted his boss. "Of course, sir! To Italy we go!"
--------------------------------
"
Black Hole will probably be out by June or July, Walt. It's coming along just fine."
--Rolly Crump
"
After twenty-five great years, I'm afraid our time here working with our partner, NBC, has ended. If you'd like to see more episodes of Walt Disney's Wonderful World, though, you can tune in to the Disney Channel at 5:00 pm Eastern Time on March 23. Be sure to catch the premier of Star Wars: The Animated Series during the show! You won't want to miss it."
--Walt Disney, from the final episode of
Walt Disney's Wonderful World to air on NBC, "NBC Salutes the 25th Anniversary of
The Wonderful World of Disney" on September 13, 1978
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Letters to Walt
(Jan/Feb 1979)
Question: Do you like Star Wars?
--From Billy H., St. Paul, MN
Answer: Yes I do, Billy! When I first met George Lucas, he showed me the story of what would become
Star Wars. It was good then, but it's even better in the movie theater!
Question: Will Mickey get a sequel? I really liked the first one!
--From Kassie L., Kansas City, MO
Answer: Sadly,
Mickey Mousecapade will not be getting a sequel. But, our next animated movie will be featuring mice as the main characters! And don't worry, you can always find Mickey in the cartoon before our next feature!
Question: When are you gonna make a video game console? All my friends have Atari but I wanna play something from you guys.
--From Alexa J., Toronto, Canada
Answer: Us here at Disney are hard at work on our next video game for the arcades. But we aren't currently looking to make a console at the moment.
Question: What's your favorite ride at Disney World?
--From William V., Miami, FL
Answer: Wow, William, that's a difficult choice! I love them all, but if I had to choose, I'd say I like the Western River Expedition best at Disney World. I've always loved cowboys and Indians and the great outdoors, so it's a perfect fit for me.
--------------------------------
(The idea for this segment was suggested by reader
@RyuDrago!)
February 16, 1979
Tony Baxter was back in Aprilia. For the first time, Walt was entrusting him with overseeing a major addition to the company's lineup. While he wasn't exactly the leader of the whole initiative, he
was in charge of Discoveryland, the Ancient Forum, and Fantasyland, about half of the park in sheer size.
Plans were finalized on how the park's layout would be, and while the Imagineers back home were still toiling away on art and mock-ups for the interiors of attractions, the exteriors were completely finished. So construction was just starting up, to get a jump on things, and Walt had sent Baxter here to check out how things were doing.
Baxter's interpreter, a Rome native, hadn't followed him far into the construction site. Maybe he didn't like hard hats, or maybe he didn't want any spoilers on what the park would look like, but it was a bit annoying, considering Tony Baxter didn't speak a word of Italian and there were a hell of a lot of workers who spoke only just that.
"Work on the park behind schedule... guys here said a big thunderstorm delayed progress," mused Baxter, scribbling down notes on his clipboard.
He stopped in front of Snow White Castle, and glanced up at the massive, half-finished fortress. Unlike the United States and Japan, European audiences were used to seeing medieval castles. They didn't quite have that "wow" factor. So, the Imagineers had taken some liberties with its design and made it more fantastical. Scaffolding climbed the towering spires, metal platforms lined the graceful archways and a shower of welding sparks flew from the ramparts. It was a strange sight to behold, especially the back, which was entirely open and unfinished, a mere skeleton.
Just as Tony turned on his heel to leave, he heard a noise.
beep.
He stopped. It had come from under the archway and portcullis, along the guest walkway. Concerned, he moved in to investigate.
beepbeep.
Tony Baxter bushed past the plastic sheet that separated the path through the castle from the outside elements. The walls were covered with beautiful mosaics, depicting scenes from 1937's
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs that put the Magic Kingdom's own
Cinderella art to shame. It had been one of the first parts of the park finished, mostly for the morale boosting that building a Disney Park needed.
BEEPBEEP.
The noise was louder, faster. Worrying.
BEEPBEEPBEEP.
Baxter noticed a blinking red light at the foot of a pillar. He knelt down to investigate, and found what looked like a digital clock. On its screen was the time 31:57:09. And it was going down.
"Holy shit!" screamed the Imagineer. "That's a fucking BOMB!"
Tony Baxter turned and ran faster than any other time in his life.
