BILL DAVISON fulfilled a lifelong ambition when he visited the Disney Studios at Burbank, California. Here he tells you what he found […]
As a child, I adored the Disney cartoons. Twenty-five years later, nothing has changed — I admire them even more today! I recall, when I had reached the grand old age of seven, waiting anxiously for the latest feature, Alice in Wonderland, to appear at our local cinema. The posters went up, the film opened on Monday — and I caught chickenpox! Try as I might, my parents would not let me out of the house and I had to wait for a re-run before I caught up with Alice.
My fascination was not confined to the story content, however; I fancied myself as a Disney artist from a very early age. I drew and redrew the famous characters — sure that a great omen for the future was the fact that I bore the same initials as the famous Mr Disney!
Well, fate did not follow up those early signs and my cartoonist aspirations are long gone. Gradually, I replaced these ‘pipe-dreams' with a more feasible one: thadt some day I would visit the Disney Studios where life had been given to Pinocchio, Bambi and so many other memorable characters. These famous studios are, however, not open to visitors as are others in Hollywood. You can imagine my delight, therefore, when as a result of my Bootlace Cinema column, I received an invitation from the Disney Organisation to visit their Buena Vista Studios!
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