By Rick Banas of BMA Management, Ltd.
Last week, I went with my wife and our daughter, Jessica, to the Museum of Science & Industry in Chicago.
Having grown up in the 1950a and 60s, the Treasures of Walt Disney Archives exhibit that is at the museum through May 4 was of particular interest.
The exhibit covers nine decades of the history of the Walt Disney Company and features many artifacts, including a Davey Crockett coonskin cap and the books used to introduce Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
I have wonderful memories of watching Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color, Zorro and the Mickey Mouse Club with Jimmie, Roy and, of course, Annette, on TV and of going to the movies to see Bambi and Mary Poppins, which was released 50 years ago.
I learned that Walt was born in Chicago; his parents lived on N. Tripp St. less than 2½ miles from where I spent the first eight years of my life. I also learned that Walt lived most of his childhood in Marceline, Missouri. When I was in college at the University of Detroit, I served as Managing Editor of the yearbook. The company we used to print the yearbook was located in Marceline, and several of us took a road trip to the plant to do a press okay.
Walt died in his mid-60s, a year before construction started on Walt Disney World in Florida.
Here are some of the things I found most fascinating about his life:
Walt was passionate about combining technology with creativity. His studio, for instance, developed a multi-plane camera to make cartoons more realistic and enjoyable by creating a three-dimensional effect. Walt explains in the video below.
He was highly attentive to the small details. To be sure the facial expressions and body movements of characters in his movies were accurately portrayed, animators in the Disney studio would study actors going through the motions.
Unlike so many others involved in the film industry, he embraced the emerging media of television.
During our visit to the museum, we also visited the YOU! The Experience exhibit, where you can learn about four locations in the world where people tend to live the longest and healthiest. The locations are Sardinia, Italy; Okinawa, Japan; Loma Linda California; and the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica.
You can also hear from scientists who study aging and listen to what centenarians have to say about life. Among the things they stressed as important are having the right attitude, spirituality, social interaction, having a sense of purpose and maintaining strong family ties. They also stressed the importance of regular, moderate exercise.
It was a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious kind of day.
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