Monday, October 7, 2013

The Small Worlds of Walt

The Small Worlds of Walt


After seeing Marty Sklar at Walt Disney’s Carolwood Barn yesterday I decided to take time to look around. It is always a joy to wonder around the Carolwood Barn and see what is new on display. Today there was something I’d not seen before!!




On display was a piece of the original “French “Village” from the Storybook Land Canal Boats at Disneyland. This tower is in a glass case and in very very poor condition unlike much of the rest of the items on display at the Carolwood Barn.




A young man by the name of Ron saw me looking at the tower through the glass and came over to tell me all about it. He shared his excitement at being part of the team working to restore this beautiful piece of miniature artwork to its original glory. I was personally impressed with his knowledge and desire to save a part of Disney history.

After I spoke with Ron I saw him standing next to Marty Sklar. He pulled out his iPad and started showing Marty pictures of Storybook Land being built in the 1950’s. I listened as Marty told Ron who was in the picture working on the miniatures Ron is now planning on restoring to the beauty the men in the pictures created.

This is what is on a flyer next to the “Stair Tower” inside the Carolwood Barn.


In 1956, almost a year after Disneyland opened, Storybook Land began taking visitors through its gateway to enchantment and past miniature scenes from many classic Disney films. In 1981, after years of being exposed to the elements, many of the original buildings were replaced with exact duplicates, but constructed with more modern and durable materials. One particular set of buildings, the “French Village” that sat just below Cinderella’s pink and gold castle, was saved and eventually donated to the Carolwood foundation. At 57 years old, the village today is nearly unsalvageable, but it still retains so much amazing detail that it begs to be restored as a piece of Walt Disney’s history and a tribute to his love of miniatures.

The Carolwood Foundation is now embarking on this careful restoration, preserving as much of the wood structure as possible and rebuilding new sections that have been destroyed or have gone missing altogether. Once completed, the village will become an entirely new exhibit at Walt’s Barn in Griffith Park, entitled “The Small Worlds of Walt.” The exhibit will educate visitors about scale models and explore the different miniatures, large and small, that Walt wanted to put into his park. Weather its Main Street, Sleeping Beauty Castle, The Disneyland Railroad, Storybook Land or the Carolwood Barn, they are all The Small Worlds of Walt.

The Carolwood Foundation needs your help to bring these beloved miniature back to life. Our hope is that the Disney fan community can come together to fund the restoration and the construction of the exhibit so that these priceless pieces of history can be enjoyed up close for generations to come.

Please visit www.SmallWorldsOfWalt.com to see the progress of the restoration and find out how you can help become a part of this important endeavor

Walt’s Barn is located at:
5202 Zoo Drive
Los Angeles, Ca. 90027

The Carolwood foundation
P.O. Box 2208
Toluca Lake, Ca. 91610

Check out their site and if you can help out! Every little bit is welcome.




My Christmas book, “An Angel Remembers 25 Voices of Christmas” is available!!
This is a collection of 26 short Christmas stories that together bring the amazing events of Christ’s birth alive. It is my hope that this will help encourage families to spend 10-15 minutes a day together during the busy holiday season remembering the true reason for the season.
You can find it for ALL eReader formats and PDF at:

For your Nook the link is:

It is also available at the iTunes book store and many other ebook seller sites.
The only big site not carrying my book is Amazon.
You can download a Kindle version from Smashwords.com



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