by Ray Keating
News/Analysis
DisneyBizJournal.com
February 5, 2020
President Ronald Reagan’s birthday is February 6th. Reagan and Walt Disney were friends, so we thought it would be fun to highlight this relationship with some links to assorted Reagan and Disney moments.
First, D23 celebrated the relationship Reagan had with Walt Disney in a short film. As noted by D23:
On July 17, 1955, Ronald Reagan was one of the co-hosts of ABC-TV’s live coverage of the opening of Disneyland, and as Governor of California, starting a lifelong association between the future president and Disney parks. After leaving the Oval Office, one of his first public events was a return to Disneyland, where he officiated at the park’s January 1990 35th-anniversary celebration, proclaiming it “one of America’s national treasures.”
And here’s a “Monday Minute” from the President Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Foundation about Reagan and Disney:
And this clip offers President Reagan’s remarks at Epcot on March 8, 1983:
And check out Chris Lucas’ column for DisneyBizJournal about Reagan’s March 1983 remarks. Lucas noted:
On this day in 1983, President Ronald Reagan officially dedicated Epcot Center, which had been already open to the public for five months. This would mark the first time a sitting President was on hand for such an occasion at a Disney park.
Ronald Reagan was a friend of and shared a lot of personality traits with Walt Disney. One of those was their eternal optimism and belief that tomorrow would bring a better day...
Reagan's remarks that day dealt mostly with the promise of Epcot and what it meant to his friend, Walt Disney, and to the world. He noted that the Disney Corporation had set up a fellowship program which would allow exchange students from countries featured in the World Showcase to come there and learn about America while also teaching visitors about their home and culture.
The technical side of Epcot was covered when Reagan spoke presciently about the speed of modern computers and how we were soaring into the 21st Century.
And how about President Reagan’s May 27, 1985, remarks at the President's Inaugural Bands Parade at Walt Disney's EPCOT Center:
D23 made a point about what Reagan and Walt shared: “Reagan instinctively understood Walt’s unique gifts—his homespun values, his confidence, his inspirational leadership, his celebration of the best of American virtues and values.”
Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com, and author of The Disney Planner 2020: The TO DO List Solution and the Pastor Stephen Grant novels. He can be contacted at raykeating@keatingreports.com.
By the way...
February 6th is President Ronald Reagan’s birthday, and we’re celebrating all month with REAGAN COUNTRY being the Pastor Stephen Grant Book of the Month. The Kindle price has been slashed from $7.99 to $2.99. Go to https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07C6J8RB6
Signed books and sets are on sale at https://raykeatingonline.com/t/book-of-the-month
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