The Small Worlds of Walt
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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