On this day, in 1966, Walt Disney passed away, shocking the world. To millions of people, a world without Walt was simply unimaginable. A couple of months earlier, even Walt’s family didn’t know they were foing to lose him so soon. In the beginning of that year, Walt was the Grand Marshal of the Tournament of Roses Parade, and the following months were jam packed with activity. In late October, the Miller family declined an invitation to go to Williamsburg with Walt, Lilly, and Sharon. They said that they wouldn’t miss Halloween, because the children loved it so, not even for a trip with Grandpa.
Walt was going to have surgery on the back of his neck to fix an old polo injury. When doctors did the routine pre-surgery X-rays, they found something on his lung, a lump about the size of a walnut. The implications were clear. Before his surgery, Walt drove to Diane’s house and visited for a while, and Diane recalls that when he left, he drove down the driveway, then stopped at the bottom of the hill, and just sat for a time, watching. On the day of surgery, the surgeon came to the family and told them that the tumor had metastasized, and that Walt had about six months to a year to live. He had cobalt treatments for about a week, and then became too weak for them.
Walt took his last visit to the Studio the day before leaving for Palm Springs (after that short trip, he went straight back to the hospital, and never came out). He went around the parking lot, seeing the place he’d built, that housed amazing people, doing amazing things. Walt celebrated his birthday (December 5th) in the hospital. One morning, the family got a call that Walt had taken a turn for the worse. When his family got to the hospital, Walt was gone. Roy, Walt’s brother, was with him, and talking to him. Walt’s daughter said in that moment, she saw [Roy’s] love as she’d never seen it before.
Even all these years later, his close associates tear up when they talk about losing Walt. Buddy Ebsen said “I was driving to work…and the radio was going. They announced Walt’s passing. Then they cut-in Julie London’s voice and she sang the Mickey Mouse Club song…I had to pull off the road because my tears were blinding…”
Robert Sherman, a songwriter said that “He was up in the third floor of the animation building …” after discussing a run through of “The Happiest Millionaire Walt turned to his team afterwards with a big smile and said “Keep up the good work, boys” and walked into his office. That was the last they saw of him.
An Artist at the Studio, Peter Ellenshaw, was hit hard by Walt’s passing. He had seen Walt coming down a long corridor, limping, and he said to Walt “Gosh, you look as though you’re in pain.” Walt replied that it was just an old polo injury, and that he was going to have surgery. Later, Peter heard that Walt was in the hospital, and asked Walt’s secretary if he could go see him, but she said that no one was allowed. So Peter painted a smoke tree, which Walt loved, and asked for it to be brought to him. He says that was his farewell gift to Walt. He said that months later he would wake up crying and thinking “I’ve lost Walt.”
Take a moment to remember this great man, who brought us so very much.