2007 Disney Legend Ceremony
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The 2007 Disney Legend Awards
by
Scarlett Stahl
For pictures from this year's event, click here for LP Lotion
This year's annual Disney Legend Awards was also it�s 20
th anniversary. Former legends and 2007 honorees were accompanied by family and friends to gather in the Legend Plaza at Walt Disney Studios in the late afternoon of October 10, 2007 for the Award Ceremony. This yearly recognized program honors the best of the best that have made the Disney Company such a great success over the last eight decades. The Legend Plaza is directly across from the Team Disney Building (aka The Dwarf Building) and the columns that line the Plaza are covered with bronze plaques that have the bronze cast imprints of the hands and signatures of the Disney Legends. There is a large statue replicating the Award itself at the side of the Plaza that is closest to the Team Disney Building, while another statue of Walt and Mickey (the same one as seen in the Plaza of Disneyland) is at the opposite end of the Plaza. In the middle is the statue of Roy with Minnie (which is the same one as seen at Walt Disney World.) The Walt and Mickey statues along with Roy and Minnie statues were created by Disney Legend Blaine Gibson, who was present at the Ceremony with his son, Wes, and good friend and fellow Legend, Harriet Burns.The scene is more like that of a group of friends, but these are the people, who are recognized as the greats in their fields. Among the guests were Legends such as Alice Davis, Dick Jones with wife Betty, Tony Baxter, Kathryn Beaumont Levine with husband Al, Richard Sherman with wife Elizabeth, Ruthie Thompson, Buzz Price, Bob Gurr and Orlando Ferrante, to name only a few. Also among guests were Disney VP Howard Green, Michael Broggie and Matt and Brian McKim. Presenters included Disney President and CEO Bob Iger, Chairman of the Walt Disney Company Dick Cook, Disney Director Emeritus Roy Disney, and Executive VP and Walt Disney Imagineering Ambassador Marty Sklar. Also part of the program were character escorts such as Snow White, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Chip and Dale along with Buzz Lightyear and Woody.
The honorees were drawn from various fields such as television, animation, Imagineering, parks and resorts, administration, music, film production and archives. The presenters were at a podium with a microphone at one end of the Plaza while the characters took turns escorting the honorees to the podium to receive their awards and make their acceptance speeches accompanied by familiar Disney tunes. Many of the honorees are not readily recognizable names but their achievements are recognizable to all.
A surprise honoree was Art Babbitt (Animation), who was honored posthumously. He worked on Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo and Fantasia to name a few of his films but he was also a director and a teacher. However he was also an activist, who resigned as head of the Disney Company Union to join the Screen Cartoonist Guild. He led the strike that forever changed the culture of the Disney Studio and led to a permanent estrangement between Art and Walt Disney. Stephen Worth of ASIFA said on the Animation Nation web site �When Fantasia came out on home video, Roy E. Disney sent Art a copy with a short note that said I want to give you long overdue thanks for your contribution to making Fantasia the classic film that it is. Art was very proud of that note and said that simple act of kindness cleared up any animosity he had held over the years.�
Floyd Norman (Animation) was an animator and story artist on such films as Sleeping Beauty, The Jungle Book, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Muland and Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc. to name a few of the films. He continues to work as a consultant on various projects for the Walt Disney Company. Floyd says� �I�m sort of a Disney �kind of a ..troublemaker. A story artist. Animator..tried to be an animator. But mainly writer, artist and a guy who�s trying to learn his craft. Been doing it now for a bout 40 years and, just beginning to get the hang of it.�
In his acceptance speech Dave Smith (Archives) said �When I came to Disney in 1970, I was wondering what would job security be here? I went over and talked to head of personnel and asked am I getting a contact. He was told no, we don�t do contracts here. Either you�re gone within a year or you�re here forever. �
Randy Newman (Music) said �First and foremost I want to thank
John Lasseter for thinking of me to do the pictures. The word genius is thrown around but how many people in the history of motion pictures have 5, 6, 7 good pictures in a row that were successful that John Lasseter did. � He also joked to Buzz Lightyear and Woody, who were standing near him �I�m sorry they cut your love scene but you can�t have everything.� The ceremony ended with Randy playing �You�ve Got a Friend in Me.� This was followed by photos, the hand print and signature ceremony and then the reception and dinner at the Commissary.
The honorees include the following:
- Roone Arledge, Former President of ABC News and ABC Sports
- Art Babbitt, Animator and leader of the strike in 1941 of Disney Studios
- Carl Bongirno. Former President of Disney Imagineering
- Marge Champion, Actress, Dancer and live reference model for Snow White, the Blue Fairy amongst others
- Dick Huemer, Animator writer and director on shorts as well as Fantasia, and Dumbo, to name a few
- Ron Logan, Producer of Broadway�s Beauty and the Beast as well as many shows at the theme parks
- Lucille Martin, Executive secretary to Walt Disney, Ron Miller, Michael Eisner and was promoted to Vice President and Special Assistant to the Board of Directors in 1995
- Thomas Murphy, CEO of ABC before the purchase by Disney
- Randy Newman, Oscar winning music composer
- Floyd Norman, Animator and story artist
- Bob Schiffer, Famous Hollywood makeup artist
- Dave Smith, Disney archivist and author
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-- Article and Pictures by
Scarlett Stahl
-- Posted October 29, 2007