Wally and Walt

Wally Boag, who originated and played the role of Pecos Bill in nearly 40,000 live performances of The Golden Horseshoe Revue at Disneyland, passed away on Friday. He was 90 years old. 

“I first ‘met’ Wally at my parents’ glorious 30th anniversary party, July 13, 1955, when he strode on stage at The Golden Horseshoe Saloon with his carpet bag full of gags. It was love at first sight.  Like millions of others, including my dad, I never tired of his routine because he was always fresh. Dad loved The Golden Horseshoe Revue. He took all his guests from all over the world to see it, and they loved it. My dad really loved Wally, and those millions of others did too.  He had a comic genius, and a wonderful stage presence that many younger comedians studied and emulated.  He had a beautiful talent that he shared with all of us, and he was a kind, unpretentious man.  We will never forget him.”

—Diane Disney Miller

Walt and Wally Boag on the Riverboat Landing. © Disney

Wally began his Disney career with the opening of The Golden Horseshoe Revue in July 1955, and retired in 1982. After his retirement, he continued to assist The Walt Disney Company with special shows and events. Here’s his Disney story, in his own words, excerpted from an interview published in the Spring, 1993 issue of The E Ticket magazine.

 “…in 1955, [Irish tenor Donald Novis, with whom Wally had worked in Australia] called me up. He said he was talking to Walt Disney who was going to open up a ‘little park’ out in Anaheim and there was going to be a ‘soda pop show’ …and he was looking for a comic. I went to the Studio and they sent me out to this empty set with just a piano player and a chair. Walt was sitting on the chair and he said: ‘Donald says you’re pretty funny … let’s see what you’ve got.’ So I had this bag, with a ventriloquist’s doll, and I did the balloon routine, and the bagpipes (a routine I picked up in Edinburgh in 1947).

“I finished with my dancing, and in those days (at the age of 34) I could do a flip-flop and a back flip and end with a bow. That’s how I got the job. On July 4, I signed a two-week contract, and we opened on the 17th. Walt booked Donald Novis (who already knew every song an Irish tenor could sing) and myself with ten solid minutes of vaudeville, already proven. He signed a girl singer who looked the part, and four Can-Can girls for the two dancing numbers. That was the show, with no extra writing except the special material for the girl. Walt was right there and he auditioned everybody. Walt’s idea was to have this 1871 Wild West vaudeville show with the Traveling Salesman comic and Pecos Bill, an Irish tenor and the dancing girls. 

“The first show we did in The Golden Horseshoe…I think it was two days before the Park opened…was for Walt’s wedding anniversary. That was our premiere show, and there were quite a few important people in the audience. Hedda Hopper and Irene Dunne were there. It was mostly a dress rehearsal, but it was our first show as far as I’m concerned.

“…After my two week contract, I stayed on for about six months and they gave me a five year contract. When my second five-year contract came up, I hadn’t even realized it. Walt was in the box and he was with the Indian Chief and some of the Indians from the Indian Village. I had saved my ‘hair gag’ so that I could say, ‘All right…put down your hatchet…I’ll save you the trouble.’ I threw my hair down there in front of them…and Walt just fell about, laughing so hard. After the show was over, I went over and talked to him and he said, ‘By the way, you’re up for a new contract…don’t forget to ask for more money.’ You know, that was great." 

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"Growing Up with Mary" by Gregg Sherman

What makes Mary Poppins Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious? 

I was literally born at the epicenter of Mary Poppins’s cinematic inception, and I believe I know why the world’s favorite nanny can magically transcend from generation to generation. My father, Richard M. Sherman, and uncle, Robert B. Sherman, wrote the Oscar^®-winning score to Disney’s masterpiece. To me, Mary Poppins was Walt’s “practically perfect” storm. Like a sumptuous soufflé, every ingredient of his Studio’s spectacular genius – from animation to special effects to storytelling to music – was meticulously poured, mixed, and baked until it rose to delicious, motion picture perfection.  But few are aware that the movie almost never happened.

Walt Disney’s love affair with author P.L. Travers’s stories began in the 1930s.  My cousin, Jeff Sherman (Bob’s son) and I recently completed a documentary on our dads’ legacy, the boys: the sherman brothers’ story. We were privileged to interview Roy E. Disney, who discussed the making of Mary Poppins.  “Walt knew that book and made a trip to England before World War II to speak to Mrs. Travers. She wasn’t interested.” Roy flashed a sly smile, “I think my uncle started making the movie without her permission.”

In 1960, the Sherman Brothers were busily writing pop songs for teen sensation, Annette Funicello, when Walt handed “the boys” (how Walt affectionately referred to our dads) a copy of Mary Poppins, saying simply, “Tell me what you think.”  For two weeks, Bob and Dick Sherman immersed themselves in Mrs. Travers’s colorful characters, realizing her collection of delightful short stories had no beginning, middle, or end.  Along with writing several song sketches, Bob and Dick crafted their own story, moving the setting from what my dad called, “drab, depressing 1930s England,” back in time to turn-of-the-century, music hall London.  On a fateful September morning, the boys spent hours in Walt’s office demonstrating the songs and walking Walt through their original storyline.  When they were through, Walt said, “Play me that bird lady song again.”  As my dad sang what would later become, “Feed the Birds,” Walt looked out his north window, saying softly, “That’s what it’s all about…” That same day, as they left his office, Walt handed our dads a contract to become the first—and only—staff songwriters in the history of Walt Disney Studios.

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"Happy Birthday, Mother" by Diane Disney Miller

The building that houses our Museum, 104 Montgomery Street, was built in 1899.  Earlier that year, on February 15, a daughter was born in Spalding, Idaho, to Willard and Jeanette Bounds.  Lillian Marie, my mother, was their tenth and last child.  She grew up in Lapwai, Idaho, where the headquarters of the Nez Perce Tribal Reservation was located.  Her father was at various times during his life an Indian scout for General Crook (this I learned from my Aunt Grace, her oldest sister), a blacksmith, and a Deputy U.S. Marshall, who once drove a wagon from Lewiston to Spalding to deliver a $626,000 payment in twenty dollar gold pieces that the U.S. government paid the Nez Perce Indians to acquire their land. (This last bit I learned from Dick Riggs in an article he wrote for the Nez Perce County Historical Society.)

My mother spoke often, and fondly, of her childhood on the Reservation.  Spalding as a town no longer exists, but is marked with a sign, "Site of the former town of Spalding."  She attended grade school there, then high school in Lapwai, where she played basketball.  Many years ago my husband's parents were on a driving trip in that part of the country, and, in conversation with a pleasant couple they'd met, Ron's mother mentioned that her son was married to Walt Disney's daughter, whose mother had come from that area.  The man volunteered that he'd gone to school with mother and her siblings and shared, "Those Bounds girls were good basketball players!"  That was something I hadn't heard, and I am still impressed.  

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"Memories of Christmas Past" by Diane Disney Miller

Christmas is the most exciting time of the year, and not just because of Santa Claus. It is a wonderful time of celebration, of expectation, filled with glorious music. In our home, the excitement began with the Nativity set, which had been carefully packed away just after New Year's Day. It was brought out and all the figures carefully removed from the cotton in which they'd been wrapped... Mary and Joseph, two shepherds (one kneeling with a lamb in his arms), the Three Wise Men (or Kings, if you will), several sheep, a cow, a donkey, and the baby Jesus, placed last in his manger bed. 

We would drive down to Wilshire Boulevard to see the Christmas windows in the May Company department store. When I first saw the Christmas windows in the Emporium on Main Street in Disneyland, I was reminded of Dad's fascination with those other windows so long ago. 

Our living room in the home of Woking Way was two stories high. A balcony from the upstairs hall, just outside my bedroom, looked down on it. This was the site of my first view of Christmas mornings. Then I'd rush downstairs for a closer look.

On the first Christmas, the tree was enormously tall. It was hung with assorted glass ornaments, colored lights, and a liberal amount of tinsel icicles. Of course I don't recall this, but dad's camera recorded it, panning from the top of the tree down to one-year-old me at the bottom, a bit baffled by it all, but curious, sitting amidst an array of wind-up toys.

The trees became less tall over the years, probably to facilitate the decorating process, which was done primarily by our mother who was barely five feet tall. Her sister, our Aunt Hazel, was married to Bill Cottrell, and they, with her daughter Marjorie and her family, always came to our home for Christmas dinner. For several years, Dad would take Sharon and me for a Christmas morning visit to Uncle Robert and Aunt Charlotte, then on to visit his oldest brother, Herb, and his wife, Louise. 

My mother's sister, our Aunt Grace, lived with us for many years. She made the beautiful ballet tutus that hung on our tree one Christmas morning. When I spied them from above, I naturally thought that Santa had brought them, but Auntie Grace deserves all the credit for them. We put them on immediately, and wore them all day. 

On Christmas morning 1939, something really amazing appeared in our back yard... a beautiful playhouse that looked like it belonged in a Snow White background! While we were inside, the phone rang, and it was Santa, inquiring how we liked the house. I thanked him a lot and assured him that we couldn't be more pleased. 

The following Christmas, Santa brought the piano I'd asked for, and the velvet dress. The watch came from Dad, inscribed "To Diane from Daddy, 1940." It was a tiny watch, gold numbers on a black face. Years later, Mother had it mounted in a gold bracelet for my birthday. Sadly, it was among some other precious things taken in a burglary of our home in Encino. But I still have the piano, and Aunt Grace's gift from Christmas of 1942: A beautifully illustrated book of Christmas Carols. The music of Christmas has always been important to me. 

Christmas traditions change as the family changes, but the excitement, the beauty of the music, the glitter and glory, and the real feelings of Good Will to men of all faiths, all nations, always inspire and keep our spirits up while we get on with the challenge of... Christmas shopping. 

Happy Holidays!

   

   Diane Disney Miller
   Co-Founder, The Walt Disney Family Museum

Memories of Walt: A Conversation with Legends - Recap!

On December 5^th, what would have been Walt Disney’s 109^th birthday, the museum hosted “Memories of Walt: A Conversation with Legends, Featuring Alice Davis and Marge Champion.”  Diane Disney Miller joined the lady Legends and moderator Charles Solomon on stage in celebration of her father’s birthday. 

The discussion commenced with introductions of each woman, following an enthusiastic round of applause for Diane Disney Miller.  Alice Davis was a successful designer of ladies’ undergarments before marrying Disney animator, Marc Davis.  She is most famous for creating the costumes for Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean and the Carousel of Progress.  Marge Champion is a stage and film actress, as well as a dancer and choreographer.  She was the model for the animated Snow White, as well as the model dancer for Fantasia’s dancing hippo and ostriches, and several other animated films.  Solomon went on to introduce Diane Disney Miller as the hostess, patroness and “all around nice lady!”

After the introductions the moderator asked each of the ladies to recount the first time she met Walt Disney. Alice described meeting him right after she married Marc Davis.  She had been remodeling their house, doing much of the work herself, so one evening she called Marc and said, “You’re taking me to dinner because I’m too tired to cook!” While they were dining out, a hand appeared on Marc’s shoulder.  When she turned around it was Walt Disney.  “I about swallowed my glass,” she recalled, laughing. Walt greeted Marc, asking, “Is this your new bride?” He then turned to Alice to ask what she did before she got married.  Alice responded, “I supported myself,” matter-of-factly.  She described the conversation the two proceeded to have about women’s clothing and elastic (her expertise), and as Walt left he said, “You’re going to work for me one day.”  Alice remembered thanking him but thinking, “Yeah, sure.”  Shortly after, she was astounded when Walt’s secretary contacted her about doing the costumes for Small World. 

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