Happy Hour: Kansas City: Home of Disney’s Original Animation Studio

Walter Elias Disney (1901-1966) was born in Chicago, IL. The Disney family moved to Kansas City in 1911 where nine-year old Walt delivered newspapers with his brother, Roy. Six years later, Walt attended classes at the Kansas City Art Institute. Founded in 1885, the Kansas City Art Institute is one of the oldest and most respected art and design colleges in the U.S. In 1918, during World War I, Walt served in France with the Red Cross.

In May, 1922, Disney founded his first professional film studio in Kansas City, Missouri. He named it Laugh-O-gram Films. He rented an office suite on the second floor of the then-new building on 1127 E. 31st Street in Kansas City, a building designed by noted Kansas City architect Nelle Peters. Walt and his young crew made inventive cartoons, including several loosely based on classic fairy tales such as Cinderella and his first Alice comedy, Alice’s Wonderland.

Despite the short life of Laugh-O-gram Films, it was the foundation of Walt Disney’s remarkable career and of The Walt Disney Company of today. Laugh-O-Gram was “the cradle of Hollywood animation.” Although animation has been produced for nearly 20 years on the east coast, Walt Disney and the Kansas City animators who followed him to Hollywood were the first to produce animation there.

The Laugh-O-gram Films office is where Disney first met and befriended a real-life mouse scampering on the office floor. Before Walt moved to Los Angeles, he made a point of taking his mouse companion into the countryside so he would not fall victim to the cats which lived in the restaurant on the first floor of the Laugh-O-gram building. It is said by some that this provided Disney with the inspiration for his most well-known creation: Mickey Mouse.

Decades have passed since Disney moved to Los Angeles in 1923. The old building on 31st Street in Kansas City fell into decay. Then, when the building was facing demolition, local real estate developer, Butch Rigby, joined with Columbia, Missouri, attorney Dan Viets and others to form a non-profit corporation, Thank You Walt Disney, Inc. Through years of perseverance and fundraising efforts, the old “Laugh-O-gram” building on 31st Street is now undergoing a massive, multi-million-dollar renovation dedicated to the legacy of Walt Disney.

Our guest speaker for this ESU Happy Hour is Dan Viets, President of Thank You Walt Disney, Inc. With photos and other images, Dan will share his vast knowledge of Walt Disney, the history of the Laugh-O-gram building and describe the services and activities planned for the building. The ESU Kansas City Branch sponsors this ESU Happy Hour. ESU Happy Hour programs are online, free, and open to all members and the public. Registration is required.

Register Here

About Dan Viets

Dan Viets is President of Thank You Walt Disney, Inc. He joined Thank You Walt Disney shortly after it was formed in the mid-1990s. He has served on the TYWD Board for more than 25 years.
Dan is co-author of the book, Walt Disney’s Missouri: The Roots of a Creative Genius, published by The Kansas City Star. He has also authored articles about Walt Disney’s Missouri history published by the University of Missouri School of Journalism, Truman State University, the Missouri Historical Society, the Jackson County Historical Society, and others.

Dan has lectured for many years about Walt Disney’s Missouri history on behalf of the Missouri Humanities Council/State Historical Society of Missouri. He has made presentations at the Walt Disney Boyhood Hometown Museum in Marceline, Missouri, the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco, as well as to Disney employees at Disneyland in California, Walt Disney World in Florida, Walt Disney/Pixar Animators, and at the national convention of Disneyana Fan Club in Anaheim, California. Dan has a degree in Philosophy and Psychology and a Juris Doctorate in Law from the University of Missouri at Columbia.

Cocktail:
Scotch Mist was Walt’s favorite drink for a reason. It’s complex yet refreshing, the perfect cocktail to sip slowly on the patio at the end of a warm day.
 
2 ounces of Scotch whiskey
1 ounce of freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 ounce of simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water, dissolved)
Soda water
Crushed ice
Lemon twist