Orange County Voices : COMMENTARY ON DISNEYLAND : Fond Wishes 40 Years Later for Dream of a Man with a Mouse : Walt Disney thought sometimes it is fun to do the impossible. He got the world to believe in his Magic Kingdom.

“Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow and fantasy.”

--Plaque at the entrance to Disneyland

Once upon a time in the land of Orange County in the state of California, the natives lived a primitive existence.

There were no freeways, shopping malls or high-rise buildings.

The natives survived by growing agricultural products; oranges, lemons, walnuts and beans. Tourists drove through the county on their way to Tijuana, Mexico.

But it came to pass that 40 years ago, on July 17, 1955 to be exact, a mouse named Mickey and his partner named Walt would change--forever--this county.

Walter Elias Disney was a farm boy from the Midwest who had become famous around the world as a pioneer in animation and movies. He had a dream about a place of entertainment that could bring families together in the outdoors, rather than in a movie theater. He explained his dream in this way:

“It came about when my daughters were very young, and Saturdays were always “Daddy’s day.” I’d take them to the merry-go-round and different places and I’d sit on a bench eating peanuts while they were doing these things. I felt there should be something built where parents and children could have fun together. So that’s how Disneyland started.”

Unfortunately, to make his dream come true would take money, and he couldn’t find the financial backers. Owners of traditional amusement parks warned that it would be a spectacular failure. Banks wouldn’t lend any money on the crazy idea. After all, as he would explain “there is no collateral in dreams.”

Even his wife was not enthused. “Why do you want to build a dirty amusement park?” she asked. He explained that he had something different in mind, which would be both clean and friendly. He believed that “sometimes it is fun to do the impossible.”

Forty years ago, the massive TV we know today was a mere infant. Other studio executives feared it would cut into movie attendance. Walt Disney visualized its future and embraced this new and revolutionary form of communications. And it proved to be the key that would open the door to his crazy dream.

Even with $100,000 Walt borrowed against his life insurance policy, plus $150,000 from his personal bank account, the dream was out of reach.

His brother and partner, Roy O. Disney, was the financial genius who found the way. The American Broadcasting Co. was running a poor third among the three major television networks. They needed a show and wanted Walt to produce it.

In return for a weekly prime-time show titled “Disneyland,” ABC invested $500,000 and guaranteed a $4.5-million loan for Walt’s risky dream. The show immediately became the most popular weekly event in the homes of American families. And, as one critic pointed out, it was an hourlong commercial for his Disneyland dream.

Now he could organize a team which was unique in entertainment history. He recruited architects, designers, engineers, sculptors, craftsmen, artists and storytellers from his studio and around the world.

He retained the Stanford Research Institute to find a location in Southern California. He needed lots of flat land where he could build his own mountains, rivers, waterfalls and a rocket ship to reach the moon before the Russian Sputnik.

Anaheim was selected. The city’s leaders became true believers in Disney, Mickey Mouse and the Disneyland dream. Through ongoing progress reports on the television show, he enthused a national audience, which became involved in this dream place in the midst of orange groves.

His enthusiasm was contagious. Conservative officials in the county and neighboring communities became dreamers along with Walt Disney.

Ground was broken in July, 1954. A date for the grand opening was scheduled for one year later. It was a miracle of construction, and Walt Disney was the leader, regularly walking over every foot of the stage for his spectacular show.

Regardless of rain, strikes and other obstacles, the Disneyland dream opened before an estimated TV audience of 100 million people and a live audience of celebrities, dignitaries and other invited guests on July 17, 1955.

Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Assn., would call it “the eighth wonder of the world.”

But the problems were just beginning.

The Disneyland spectacular show was not like any other in entertainment history. A movie or animated feature is turned over to a theater manager who exhibits it as often as he chooses. He would sell the tickets and popcorn and worry about gum on the seats.

Disneyland, on the other hand, was a show where the very live guests and cast members would meet on the same stage, day after day, 365 days of the year. And, Walt insisted that “the streets be so clean I can eat off them.”

To produce this new dimension in entertainment, Walt created a unique organization of men and women. He selected young people without experience in conventional amusement parks who could share his dream, and develop new ways of entertaining his family audience.

I belong to a very exclusive club. There are no qualifying restrictions based on money, race, creed, gender or ethnic background. The only restriction is that one must have worked at Disneyland 40 years ago, on opening day. The group is named “Club 55.” Today, there are only two members still working at Disneyland. Others are retired or have left for other careers.

Like war veterans, some of us will get together to share old stories, and there are many of them. We’ll talk about the hippos on the Jungle Cruise that wouldn’t hop, about the guests who complained about the long lines, the absence of drinking fountains, or that the 95-cent admission price was too high.

Now, as I pause to reminisce about those 40-year-old days, I feel like Rip van Winkle. Who can believe that a mouse and a man and a dream would be a catalyst for the dramatic changes I’ve observed in quiet, peaceful Orange County? I can only count some of the ways:

* Where once there were only orange groves and ranching homes, there are now high-rise buildings and interlocking freeways from every direction.

* A dream would attract more than 350 million people to a Magic Kingdom--about 100 million more than the total population of the United States--including presidents, kings and celebrities of all kinds. Where did that extra 100 million come from? The total includes those who have pixie dust in their veins, and come back many times a year.

* And who can believe that a dream that was doomed to fail would become a national treasure, known and recognized throughout the world. “The only people trap ever built by a mouse,” as one observer described it.

Anaheim, where this all started, has grown from about 20,000 to more than 200,000 people. But would anyone believe that there were no major cities such as Irvine, Mission Viejo, Laguna Niguel, Fountain Valley, Villa Park or Garden Grove?

Now what about this “birthday” in July? Birthdays are for people and Hallmark cards. Some people don’t realize that dreams don’t get older--particularly impossible dreams. Who are these observers who, 20 years ago, described Disneyland as “The granddaddy of theme parks,” (whoever heard of a 20-year-old grandfather?), or others who have referred to “the aging theme park,” or the fact that “Disneyland is middle-aged”?

“How silly,” as Alice might say to Humpty Dumpty in her “Adventures in Wonderland.” Disneyland, the place, is 40 years old in human terms. But Disneyland, the dream, will never age--or die.

It is now part of the world culture. It is defined in the dictionary: “a place or condition of unreality or fantasy.” It is used to compare anything that is spectacular, wondrous, sprinkled with pixie dust. It is for the young-at-heart of all ages.

Forty years ago, on opening day, Walt Disney promised that “Disneyland will never be completed as long as there is imagination left in the world.” There will always be new attractions--Indiana Jones has been added for this year’s celebration.

On Monday, there will be one more candle on Disneyland’s birthday cake. In 40 years, there have been many changes in the world and in Orange County. It seems there is a new crisis every day.

And aren’t we all lucky that there is a magical place where we can wish upon a star and find that dreams can come true, where dreams never get older for the young at heart?