Biographies

(1925-2012) John Kelsey was an architect and partner of the firm Ladd & Kelsey. He and Thornton Ladd drew up the plans for the Mineral King resort.

(living) Robert Jackson was Publicity Manager for WED Enterprises, Inc. He joined the company in 1963, and moved to Disneyland in 1968 to serve as Information Coordinator. In May, 1971, he became the Park’s Publicity Manager. He left in 1972 and became Director of Information Services, United States Travel Service, with the Department of Commerce in Washington, D.C.

(1911-2019) Robert B. Hicks was the Mineral King Project manager for Walt Disney Productions. He attended Stanford University, and became assistant chemist at the Lindsay Ripe Olive Company. He then served as a pilot for four years for Pan-American Airways in the Pacific and Latin America Divisions before returning to school to receive his B.S. Degree in Engineering and a Master in Business Administration from Stanford Graduate School of Business. In 1963, he started the acquisition of private property at Mineral King for Disney, and served on the project until its termination in 1978. He helped establish the Disney Wilderness

(living) Imagineer who specialized in vehicle design, first being retained by Disney in 1954 to consult on the design of the Autopia cars. At WED Enterprises, he worked on designs for such attractions as the Monorail, Matterhorn Bobsleds, Flying Saucers, and the antique cars and double-decker buses utilized on Main Street, U.S.A. He retired in 1981. He was named a Disney Legend in 2004.

(1902-1966) Founder of the Disney empire, Walt Disney was born on December 5, 1901, in Chicago, Illinois, son of Elias and Flora Call Disney. Elias decided a few years later to move his family to a farm at Marceline, Missouri, and it was here that young Walt grew up and got his first love for animals and the rural life that would be so evident in his films. The family moved to Kansas City in 1910, and Walt delivered newspapers for his father, who had purchased a newspaper distribution business. Walt attended Benton School, and occasionally surprised his teachers with

(1893-1971) Older brother of Walt Disney, who founded the Disney company in partnership with Walt in 1923. Born June 24, 1893; died December 20, 1971. Served as president of Walt Disney Productions from 1954 to 1968 and chairman of the board from 1964 until 1971. Roy was recuperating in Los Angeles from tuberculosis in 1923 when Walt persuaded him to join in the new venture making animated cartoons. Roy was the financial genius of the two brothers; Walt was the creative genius, and the two of them made a great pair. Modest and unassuming, Roy generally stayed in the background,

(1930- ) Son of Roy O. Disney and nephew of Walt Disney; born in 1930. Roy began working for the company in 1954 as an assistant film editor on the True-Life Adventure films. He helped write narration for animal-related television shows fro 1957 to 1971, and also directed (1973 to 1978) and produced (1968 to 1977) many of the same type of shows. He was first elected to the board of directors in 1967. He left the company for a few years, but returned in 1984 as vice chairman of the board, and head of the animation department. He was

(19??-1983) Wilfred S. “Slim” Davis worked for the United States Forest Service as a ski-sport prommoter from 1933-1973.  He was instrumental in developing modern concepts of ski area design, slope layout, avalanche control, and safety. He was responsible for developing the special use permits that allowed private ski developments on public lands, intendedd to provide year-round recreational opportunities in National Forests. He was involved in the Mineral King resort development plans.

(1910-1998) Designer; joined WED Enterprises in 1953 to help in the conceptualization and architectural design of Disneyland. He was later an art director on such films as Zorro, The Swamp Fox, Moon Pilot, Babes in Toyland, and Big Red, and in 1964 won an Emmy for the art direction and scenic design for Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color. In 1965, he returned to WED to work as a project designer on the concept for Walt Disney World. In addition to the master plan for the resort, he concentrated on the design of the hotels. He retired in 1975, and

(1906-1995) William Dennis “Uncle Bill” Cottrell was President of Retlaw Enterprises, the Walt Disney family corporation, from 1964 until his retirement in 1982. He joined Disney in 1929 as a cameraman, then worked as a cutter and animation director before moving into the story department. He was a sequence director on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and worked on story on Pinocchio, Saludos Amigos, Victory Through Air Power, The Three Caballeros, Melody Time, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan. Bill went on the 1941 Disney trip to South America. In 1952, he became vice president and later president of