Walt, having grown disinterested in film because he couldn’t produce animated features the way he wanted to, left filmmaking to his company and turned his focus toward another venue for creating an illusion of life: human robots.

Having successfully captured the American imagination with the Disneyland park that he designed and developed, Walt pitched to various corporations the idea of developing World’s Fair attractions for them. He did this with an eye toward forging relationships that he could then parlay into having these corporations lease space at his theme park… an infusion of cash that would allow him to expand the park.

It’s A Small World was done for…. I think General Electric, but I might be wrong. He actually recruited the famous Sherman Brothers songwriting team (known for many Disney songs, perhaps most famously those from MARY POPPINS) and told them to come up with something since, as he casually mentioned, “it’s a small world after all.”

He barely got it finished in time but didn’t have the time or money to develop the building that housed it. He was later delighted to move the attraction to his park and give it a proper “packaging”.

The Hall of Presidents grew out of his first animatronic experiment: a robotic Abraham Lincoln. He built this and, despite embarrassing, severely flawed demos convinced the World’s Fair people it needed to be shown. The Fair organizers then pressured the State of Illinois to feature it at their booth (which I believe was going to tie-in to the centennial celebration of the Gettysburg Address).

Critics at the time described the robotic Lincoln as macabre and disturbing. But Walt loved it enough to want to expand on the idea. The further development of the Hall of Presidents happened after Walt’s death (December 1964), but was certainly within the realm of what Walt’s wishes would have been.

I’d also really like to see THE JUNGLE BOOK characters in an attraction somewhere in the parks. I’ve always felt like it was one of the most accessible and enjoyable of the Disney animated classics and I would think it would be a great fit for either Adventureland or Animal Kingdom.

Lou