The Partners Statue
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The Partners Statue

Post by MickeyMouse71   /  

The dedication for the original Partners Statue in Disneyland occurred on November 18th, 1993, Mickey Mouse’s birthday 65 years after the premiere of Steamboat Willie.  The plaque under this statue reads “I think most of all what I want Disneyland to be is a happy place…where parents and children have fun…together.”  Since then replicas stand at Walt Disney World Resort (1995), Tokyo Disney Resort, Disneyland Paris – Walt Disney Studios Park (2002) and Hong Kong Disneyland (2005).

All of the statues were designed and created by the legendary Imagineer, animator and sculptor, Blaine Gibson.  Gibson worked for Disney from 1939-1983 and worked on many of Disney’s most famous projects including the Haunted Mansion ghosts, bathing elephants, Indian chiefs, mermaids and the audio-animatronic President Lincoln.   After he retired he continued to sculpt a new president every four years for Disney World’s Hall of Presidents.  This continued up until President Obama which he did not sculpt but did consult on the creation of the head.  As you can see Blaine Gibson sculpted and created many famous artifacts around Disney, but his most famous is the Partners Statue where Walt Disney is holding Mickey’s hand.

When Gibson began sculpting this statue he was faced with many decisions on how Walt would look.  He decided to depict Walt as he was in 1954.  He felt that was when Walt was in his prime and how the public knew him and viewed him.  He also made Walt larger than life, actually making him 6’5″ in the statue when in reality Walt was only 5’10”.  Which then brings us to the height of Mickey.  It was hard for Gibson to decide how tall to make Mickey since there really had been no reference to how tall Mickey was.  So he went back to a brief moment in the animated short, The Pointer (1939) when Walt was recording the voice for Mickey.  He made a gesture with his hand to show how tall Mickey was (which was about 3′ tall).  This is the only time which Walt gave Mickey a height, which is why Mickey is about 3′ tall in the statue.  Gibson then had to decide how Walt and Mickey would hold hands, since Walt had 5 fingers and Mickey only had 4.  For this part of the statue he went back to a scene in Fantasia (1940) where Mickey shakes the hand of conductor Leopold Stokowski.  This was the best representation that he could replicate since this was a live person shaking the hand of Mickey.  There are also some fine details on the statue including the wedding ring that Walt wore along with a ring that he wore on his right hand.  The ring he wore on his right hand matched the ring that Lillian wore on her right hand.  Walt bought these Irish Claddagh wedding rings in 1948 on a trip to Ireland where is ancestors once lived.  There is also the “STR” logo on Walt’s tie which refers to the Smoky Tree Ranch, Walt and Lillian’s vacation home in Palm Springs.

Often the biggest question is what is Walt pointing towards?  Rumors have swirled around that he is pointing to the future, or possibly to EPCOT and where it will be located.  Others say that he is pointing towards Roy symbolizing that he must carry on Walt’s dream.  It has even been said that he is pointing towards the trains because of his love of trains.  Yet like most rumors, they are just that, rumors.  However in an interview with Gibson in 1993 he says that Walt is actually pointing down Main Street and saying to Mickey at his side, “Look at all the happy people who have come to visit us today”.  The plaque on this statue reads, “We believe in our idea: a family park where parents and children could have fun…together.”

As you can see this is no ordinary statue, nor is anything ordinary in Disney.  Disney Imagineers really see things differently and want to make things come to life and always have a reason behind what they are creating.  This statute shows the dedication and love that Walt had not only for creating a theme park, but to create something where families could enjoy time together.

To Infinity and Beyond Travel – Traci

 

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