After the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Walt Disney likely whistled while he worked at the Hyperion Studio where the film was made, but also realized that more space was needed to increase production. With the profits from the film’s success, and perhaps with a Heigh Ho, on this day in 1938, Walt and his brother Roy made a $10,000 deposit for the land which would become home to a new state-of-the-art studio and support facility. The $100,000, 51-acre tract was owned by the Burbank Dept. of Water and Power, and had previously served as a polo field for the Black Fox Military Academy. Construction on the Buena Vista Street studio began in 1939 and was completed the following year. Some of the buildings from the Hyperion Studio were relocated to the new facility, and newly designed buildings were constructed as well, and Walt was involved with all elements of the studio. Nothing was left to chance, from the layout of the studio down to the design and contour of the animator’s chairs. Like the second Disney animated feature, Pinocchio, Walt must have felt like he wished upon a star and had his dreams come true.
