A Look Back at Life of Disney

For a generation of a certain age, Walt Disney was as much myth as man, with elements of kindly, wise grandfather thrown in. He beamed into our living rooms and movie theaters, retooling folk tales and triggering a nostalgia for an Americana that we didn’t even know firsthand. He also excited imaginations globally with the small world, the happy kingdom of Disneyland and turned Anaheim into a big-time tourist destination.

In short, Walt Disney had a firm but gentle grip on a segment of American consciousness that continues to this day. So when we visit the Reagan library’s current exhibition, “Walt Disney: The Man and his Magic,” it’s like rummaging through the attic of a beloved relative.

Rather than a critical or thorough look at the man and his work, the show is a leisurely, highly selective stroll through Disneyana. Included are countless photographs, a background from the 1939 cartoon “The Autograph Hound,” actual cars from the Autopia and Mad Hatter rides at Disneyland and, by ironic juxtaposition, a vintage ambulance from the period when Disney was an ambulance driver in WWI France.

We also see sketches and plans for Disneyland, an epic outgrowth of his fascination with model railroading and a love of fantasy.

An exhibition at Montreal’s Canadian Center for Architecture in 1998 did take a critical look at the architectural sentiments embodied in Disneyland. Along with questioning its general kitsch-generating effects on public architectural tastes, it examined the utopian inclinations of his Epcot concept.

This show is more a warm appreciation of the man and his work. For all the glitzier artifacts and images scattered through the show, one of the most intriguing items is an actual wooden school desk circa 1908. It is, after all, out of a yearning toward the innocence and wonder of childhood that the Disney aesthetic grew. To see a desk where the young Disney did fledgling work gives us some authentic link to his psyche.

It’s often said that, through his later work, Disney sought to revisit and celebrate the untrammeled landscape of his youth and of pre-WWI American life. As we learn from the exhibition, he saw enough of wartime grit. Back in Kansas City after the war, his career started in earnest, as he set up shop as an artist and advertising man for hire, fascinated with the new technology of the movies.

His inventive “Laugh-o-Grams” mixed animation and live action, and a healthy ambition took him to Hollywood. “Steamboat Willie” introduced the world to Mickey Mouse, and 1937’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” the first feature-length animated film, propelled the name Disney into the pop cultural stratosphere.

Disney was an unapologetic nostalgia merchant, and this show is, more than anything, a confirmation of his heroic gentility. It’s also a reminder of the ever-present allure of Disneyland, just down the freeway a stretch.* “Walt Disney: The Man and His Magic,” through Sept. 4 at Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, 40 Presidential Drive, near Simi Valley. $5, general; $3, seniors; free, 15 and under; 522-8444. Daily, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. *

Music al Fresco: Speaking of summertime allure, music heard in outdoor settings is an annual part of the Ventura County scene, and this Friday night brings the next performance in the series of free shows in Oxnard’s Heritage Square (which, come to think of it, has plenty of the nostalgic architectural leanings that Walt Disney savored). Disney would also enjoy the musical fare this week, with the traditional jazz sound of the Ulysses jazz band. This band takes its name from its weekly haunt, the James Joyce bar in Santa Barbara, where they tear it up, trad-style, every Saturday night.

On Saturday night, the Tatters, Ventura’s beloved dispensers of folk, country, swing and three-part female harmonies, will perform in the al fresco splendor of the Olivas Adobe. It’s part of the “Music Under the Stars” series there, which offers a plethora of music in the rustic, early California setting of the historic adobe. Bring an appetite for tasty Americana sounds.* The Tatters, 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Olivas Adobe, 4200 Olivas Park Drive, Ventura. Tickets are $15 for adults, $13 for children 12 and under and seniors 65 and up; 658-4726. Ulysses jazz band, 6 p.m. Friday at Heritage Square, 715 S. A St. in Oxnard; free; 483-7960 . Social Scene: Social Distortion, those Los Angeles punk veterans and now godfathers of the post-punk scene, will hit the Ventura Theatre for two shows, tonight and Friday. Since the band was formed in 1978, they’ve had a trail strewn with troubles, including Mike Ness’ struggle with heroin and the death last year of guitarist Dennis Dannell, but the group keeps pumping out sonic fury. * Social Distortion, 8:30 p.m. today and Friday at the Majestic Ventura Theatre, 26 S. Chestnut in Ventura. Tickets are $25; 653-0118.