SHORT TAKES : Reagan Kicks Off Disney Party
Thirty-five years later, the trio of men who helped launch the “Greatest Fantasy of the 20th Century” were back at Disneyland today to re-dedicate the Anaheim theme park once derided as “Disney’s Folly.”
Moments after a replay of an ABC-TV live telecast of the July 17, 1955, event, Art Linkletter, Bob Cummings and former President Ronald Reagan descended from a replica of the Fantasyland castle to lead the celebration.
“It is said that one man and a vision can change the whole world,” Reagan said. “Maybe Walt Disney didn’t change the globe, but he made his own small corner of the world a perfect place.”
Moments later, Reagan--who served as the grand marshal today of Disneyland’s first “Party Gras” parade--tugged on a rope that pulled a door from the Fantasyland castle, releasing doves and touching off the 35th anniversary fireworks extravaganza.
Disney Chairman Michael Eisner recalled growing up in New York City in 1955 and trying to persuade his mother to take him to that faraway fantasy.
“I still wish I could have been here on that (opening) day,” Eisner said. “Walt understood the power of imagination.”
Eisner has scheduled a news conference Friday to discuss plans for a 10-year park expansion.
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