Paris' Walt Disney Studios - Animation Inauguration and Legend Ceremony
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Disney Legends
The theatre was barely one-quarter full with only the front three rows fully occupied by the inductees, their families, Roy E’s wife Patti and their son, Roy Patrick, Bob Iger and Chris Montan, the executive producer for Walt Disney Records (due to the fact that two of the inductees were songwriters and lyricists). I placed myself between Roy P. and Andreas Deja, who had joined us for the ceremony. Lindsay took up his place at the back of the theatre with a host of photographers and camera operators.
The ceremony began with Michael Eisner explained the legacy of the Disney Legends programme. The first statutes were handed out in 1987 in response to a meeting held between Roy E., Michael and the late Frank Wells where they wanted to honour those individuals who had helped make the Disney Legacy. Inductees are not only animators, imagineers and executives but include those whose influence and legacy had helped shape their division. Every year, Legends had been inducted into the selected group. In 1997, at the Fifth Birthday celebrations of Disneyland Paris, Roy had unveiled a huge sculpture in Fantasia Gardens dedicated to the European members of this elite group. The Favilli brothers from their famed studio designed the sculpture and smaller replicas are handed out to inductees.
This year, each inductee was of European origin, with the majority being British. Walt had been keen to tap British film-making talent in the 1950s as he set out on his new venture, the live action movie.
Michael then handed over the proceedings to Roy E., who explained “we established the Disney Legends in 1987 as a way of recognising many men and women who have contributed their creative talents to make Disney the unique creative company it is. Of course, Disney is a company that is based in the United States, but over the years - and almost from the very beginning - it has been enriched by the skills of people from around the world. Today, we honour some of the most noteworthy of them.�? Roy then, in turn, introduced each of the inductees with a short speech explaining their contribution to the Disney legacy.
John Mills
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A 93 year old Sir John Mills had navigated the English Channel to be inducted into the Legends Hall of Fame. Sir John joined his daughter, Hayley (1998 alumni) in the elite group to become the first father-daughter pairing to be inducted. Although Sir John looks particularly frail, cannot walk without a cane in one hand and his nurse in the other, his memories of Walt and his time at the Studios was lucid and particularly tender. He spoke fondly of his memories of Walt and working with him on such Disney classics as Swiss Family Robinson. In his book, The Disney Films, noted critic and Disney enthusiast, Leonard Maltin observed that Sir John “strikes the right note of adventurism, tempered with humor and a genuine feeling of enjoying the whole escapade.�?