Walt Disney's Laugh-o-Gram studios was a heartbreaking, dismal and, seemingly, final failure.
The beginning...
Where an empire began, despite the fact that, when Walt Disney and his rather pioneering group went belly up, the building had been repossessed and all the equipment inside was seized to pay off creditors.
Disney was bathing at Union Station and eating out of garbage cans after that failure. His fellow employees, like Friz Freling, Ub Iwerks and others were not faring much better.
Out of sheer desperation, Disney broke into his studio, stole a camera, sold it and bought a one way train ticket to Hollywood.
Not even a century later, his company practically owns Hollywood.
This building needs some serious love and remodeling. Also, it's not in the best neighborhood. The longer it stays neglected, the greater the chance it'll be wrecked by vandalism or something else.
It deserves preservation. Does someone want to...
Read moreThe all-volunteer, not-for-profit group which has preserved this important piece of KC film history has kept this building from being demolished. The Walt Disney family has been our biggest contributor until this year when, thanks to Emanuel Cleaver, the US Congress granted $2 million to the project. The next week, the state of Missouri kicked in another $1 million in the form of tax credits. Reconstruction is now underway. The north facade has been repaired. New windows are being installed. Major reconstruction is likely to begin by early 2024. Check out the 3-D "Walk Thru" on our web site to see...
Read moreThe building features doodles done by Walt Disney during his time at Laugh-O-Gram studios. There currently has been a several decades long initiative to restore the studio space and make it a museum to commemorate the birthplace of Mickey Mouse. However, things appear to be going very slowly in this project and I suspect is the lack of funding. Perhaps there is some way we can get more eyes on this project so it can someday be the educational space the Thank You Walt Disney group has strived for all...
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