Q : I worked for Disney attractions for nine years and 16 years for Publix Super Markets. Publix has a picture of its founder George Jenkins and Walt Disney standing next to each other in front of pictures of landscaping. I contacted Publix, and they are not aware of when and where this picture was taken. They believe it was before the Florida Project. Walt Disney is indeed young looking before he was involved with that. The Jenkins family said that George Jenkins visited Walt Disney at the studios. Did the Disney Company back then keep track of the visitors. This would be George W. Jenkins, founder of Publix Super Markets.  I have a copy of this picture for I worked for both of their companies. Unique to have.
Douglas, Lakeland, Florida
A: Is there a negative number on the verso of the photograph? That would help us identify it if it’s indeed a photo shot by a Disney staff photographer. You might want to send your question and a copy of the photo to the Walt Disney Archives.
Q : Was wondering: Is there anyone still left at The Walt Disney Company who Walt Disney hired, or anyone who remembers working with Walt Disney who’s still working for The Walt Disney Company?
Larry, Tampa, Florida
A: Sadly with the passage of the years (45-plus), there are only two people left at the Disney Studios who were hired during Walt Disney’s lifetime: animation director Burny Mattinson and publicist Arlene Ludwig (as of July 2012). There are still several people at Disneyland who were hired pre-1966.
Q : May I ask as to where Walt Disney learned art. I have heard that he studied at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. Do you know when he went there and what classes he took?
Richard, Council Bluffs, Iowa
A: When Walt was 14 years old, he enrolled in children’s art classes three nights a week at the Kansas City Art Institute. The next year, when he was 15, the Disney family moved to Chicago, and besides enrolling in high school, Walt attended night classes at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. There he studied pen technique, anatomy, and cartooning, but he learned the most from professional newspaper cartoonists teaching there, such as Carey Orr of the Chicago Tribune and Leroy Gossett of the Chicago Herald.
Q : Is it true that there was once a walk-thru miniature “ride” at Disneyland? I was told that it was so popular that people would stay and gaze at the dollhouses for so long that it had to be shut down since it proved impractical. If there was, are there any photos? I’m a 30-plus year miniaturist, and I would love to see pictures.
Toni, Los Angeles, California
A: Walt Disney was a collector of miniatures, and he originally envisioned a series of settings in which miniatures could be displayed. He even built Granny’s Cabin, a pioneer farm home filled with miniature furniture and other pieces, which was exhibited at a 1952 “Festival of California Living” show in Los Angeles. But he soon realized that capacity per hour would be extremely low for such an attraction, so one was never built at Disneyland.
Q : The first-day issue of the Walt Disney stamp(s), as I believe there were multiple designs, was issued on September 11, 1968; that happens to be the day I was born. Was there a reason for that date? How many designs were released?
Stamp, Vancouver, Washington
A: There was just a single stamp design, featuring a portrait of Walt, with a stream of children coming out of a castle, though first-day cover envelopes were issued by various companies with a variety of cachets. The release date of the 6¢ stamp was selected by the U.S. Postal Service; it does not have any particular significance to anything else in Disney history. The First Day of Issue ceremony was held in Marceline, Missouri, Walt’s boyhood hometown, with Disney family members in attendance.
Q : I am a longtime Disney fan and have developed a particular interest in Walt Disney’s personal “work flow” or “work process.” I have looked at several photographs of his office and am interested in a description of what some of the things are that you see in his office and how he used the space. For example, in a picture of his office from the 1950s, there is a credenza with a two-level “in-box” behind his desk. There are a total of 10 individual boxes that appear to have scripts in them. How did he use this, and is there a description or diagram of his overall office deign?
Brad, Madison, Mississippi
A: One of my first jobs in 1970 was to inventory Walt’s offices. Not only did we do the inventory, but we photographed the offices from all angles. The working office, to which you are referring, is currently on display in the One Man’s Dream attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The formal office is reproduced in the current Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives exhibit at the Ronald Reagan Library. The shelves you mention, in the working office, were indeed for scripts, the ones for current projects he was working on.
Q : I’m noticing the re-creation of Walt’s office at the Reagan Library. Is it the same as the office from The Walt Disney Family Museum? Also, what is the little statue in the back corner above Walt’s desk?
Martin, Akron, Ohio
A: The re-creation of Walt’s office is the original, with all of the furniture and furnishings as I inventoried them in 1970. It was on display at Disneyland for three decades. There is no similar office at The Walt Disney Family Museum. The 13-inch figure of a man has no history behind it; I assume that it was a gift to Walt. It is wooden, with the man holding a clock under his arm, having the ability to turn his head and whistle.
Q : In reading the first book of the Disney series, Kingdom Keepers, I noticed that it describes a newspaper cartoon that came out after Walt had passed. The next time I went to One Man’s Dream at Hollywood Studios after that, I noticed that the drawing was not there. The description in the book says, “The poster was a sketch of the earth with Mickey Mouse ears. The earth was crying.” I’m just wondering is there such a poster, and is it still around?
Chris, Delray Beach, Florida
A: The editorial cartoon of the earth, with Mickey Mouse ears, crying, was drawn by artist Karl Hubenthal for the now-defunct Los Angeles Herald-Examiner on December 16, 1966.