Disney�s New Buena Vista Street: Looking Forward by Looking Back,

Disney�s New Buena Vista Street: Looking Forward by Looking Back
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Two businesses are listed without addresses. The first is Mortimer�s Market. According to the official studio legend, Mickey Mouse was almost named Mortimer Mouse, until Lillian Disney determined that Mortimer was too stuffy a name for a mischievous little rodent. There was a mouse named Mortimer, though. He debuted in the 1936 short Mickey�s Rival. According to the notice, if the fruit at Mortimer�s Market were any fresher, they�d have to slap them! And fresh is the word for Mortimer, who nonetheless failed to permanently steal Minnie�s affections from Mickey.

The other business without an address is the Kingswell Camera Shop. Kingswell Street is where it all began for Walt Disney Productions. When Walt arrived in Los Angeles in 1923, he rented a room from his Uncle Robert at 4406 Kingswell, and for a few weeks that fall used the garage as a makeshift studio. Later, Walt and Roy rented their first commercial property at 4651 Kingswell, and then expanded to 4649 before locating to the Hyperion Studio in January, 1926. It was also at the Kingswell property that Roy Disney operated the camera that photographed the early Alice Comedies. (The notice for Kingswell Camera notes it is located in the �Elysian Arcade.� Elysian Park, located just north of the original Disney Studio, was the first public park established in Los Angeles.)


Click here for a larger version of this picture


Walt and Roy Disney pose in front of the Kingswell Studio with their wives and a friend

Three businesses are listed with Carthay Circle addresses. The first is Clarabelle�s Ice Cream Parlor at 926 Carthay Circle. Clarabelle Cow was one of Walt�s earliest stars. Along with Horace Horsecollar and Clara Cluck, she proved a reliable supporting player for Mickey and Minnie. As Disney�s stars moved beyond the barnyard, Clarabelle�s popularity was eclipsed by what would eventually become the �Fab Five� of the Disney Studio stable: Mickey, Minnie, Donald Duck, Goofy and Pluto.