Walt Disney: Exploring The Wonderful World Of Disney

...Rolex Super-Coolness...



Walt Disney

Exploring The Wonderful World Of Disney

[Yellow-Gold Rolex Datejust]

Walt Disney had an amazing impact on shaping American culture, whether is was with his cartoons, movies, or Disneyland. You might expect to find Walt Disney wearing a Mickey Mouse watch, but instead, he wore a yellow gold Rolex Datejust as seen below. Even to this day, the current CEO of Disney, Bog Iger wears a Rolex.

Rolex introduced the Rolex Datejust in 1945, which at the time was a revolutionary watch, since it was the very first watch to have a date window complication. The photo below is of the first yellow gold Datejust model Rolex introduced in 1945. Although the watch pictured below is not Walt Disney's Rolex, I believe it is extremely similar in appearance.

In trying to contextualize what it meant to wear a yellow gold Rolex Datejust in the 1950s and 1960s, we can look to then acting U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who also famously wore a yellow gold Rolex Datejust as seen in the photo below.

As a matter of fact, the original Rolex brochure for the Datejust appears below, along with care instruction and it appears courtesy of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library.

Walt Disney's career and imagination was one of incredible achievement, and it all started with Walt Disney's creating of Mickey Mouse.

Walt Disney is pictured below posing with Mickey Mouse who started the whole Disney Revolution in animated films.

Walt Disney took his world of fantasy and imagination far beyond movies and became a Television Pioneer and also built Disneyland, which brought many of his characters to life for many generations of children around the world.

This magical world included characters like Alice In Wonderland, Donald Duck, Goofy, Dumbo, Pinocchio, Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella & Sleeping Beauty.

"When a man has a world in his hands, you expect to find a Rolex on his wrist." –Rolex (1965)

In the next 3 photos Walt Disney is pictured below wearing his yellow gold Rolex Datejust on a Jubilee bracelet. 

The Disneyland Story

The next six videos tell the story of the beginning of Disneyland and this "Disneyland Story" was first aired on October 27, 1954. Of course, former American General, Dwight Eisenhower was the U.S. President in the White House, and he wore the same model of yellow gold Rolex Datejust that Walt Disney wore.

This first series was known as The Disney Anthology Series and it premiered in 1954 on The ABC Television Network. The series name ended up changing to "Disneyland, Walt Disney Presents," which would later evolve into "The Wonderful World Of Disney."

When we look back in retrospect at the wonderful world that Walt Disney built, we realize how truly remarkable it was and still is. In many ways, the wonderful world of Rolex is very similar to the wonderful world of Disney. The characters that appear in this series bring back so many memories of my childhood, like Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy, not to mention Davy Crockett–King Of The Wild Frontier.

I could not help but notice how similar Ronald Reagan was to Walt Disney in the way Ronald Reagan's suits were tailored and their hairstyle as well as the way they communicate. They also seem, at least in my own mind, to have the same 1950s American, can-do attitude and optimism.


Fantasy Can Be More Powerful Than Reality
In many ways, Walt Disney was to entertainment what Hans Wilsdorf, the founder of Rolex, was to the wristwatch. Walt Disney and Disneyland took you to different worlds, like The World Of Tomorrow, The Pirates Of The Caribbean, The Matterhorn, etc., each a fantasy world in-and-of-itself.
Hans Wilsdorf, based on the different Rolex sport/tool watches took you to different worlds where you could be and airline pilot or test-pilot with a GMT, or an adventurer SCUBA diver like Jacques-Yves Cousteau with a Submariner; or a mountain climbing explorer and conquerer like Sir Edmund Hillary or Tenzing Norgay, if you wore a Rolex Explorer. You could also be a mad-scientist with a Rolex Milgauss, or a race-car driver and entrepreneur like Paul Newman with a Rolex Daytona.
It is extremely profound when you think about the just how amazing the wonderful world of Disney was and what he brought the world. The impact he had on little girls all over the world with Cinderella, Snow White & The 7 Dwarves, Sleeping Beauty and Alice In Wonderland, not to mention in later years, Ariel from The Little Mermaid or Beauty & The Beast.
The one thing all these young, female-centric movies had which impacted young American girls in particular, as well as girls all over the world is it taught them how to all be princesses ;-)

The most important thing that Walt Disney left behind as part of his amazing legacy, was the to make people dream and fantasize about what was possible through the power of imagination. In the United States we call this Yankee Ingenuity, and in the final analysis it really does simply boil down to inspiring people to dream and turn their dreams into reality.

As another Classic Walt Disney movie Pinocchio sings

When you wish upon a star

Makes no difference who you are

Anything your heart desires

Will come to you

If your heart is in your dream

No request is too extreme

When you wish upon a star

As dreamers do

Fate is kind

She brings to those who love

The sweet fulfillment of

Their secret longing

Like a bolt out of the blue

Fate steps in and sees you through

When you wish upon a star

Your dreams come true!!!

Walt Disney Shares His Vision For Disneyworld

"Technology extends the purview of the story-teller." 

—Walt Disney

Bob Iger: CEO Of Disney

...Rolex Super Coolness...

The King Of Hollywood

Bob Iger

CEO Of Disney

Rolex Cosmograph Daytona

Bob Iger is a man who is hard to describe. He is kind of like a Hollywood Superman. Not only is he CEO of Disney, which is the worlds largest media company, but he has put together a portfolio of businesses that would make your head spin, including Pixar, ESPN and Lucasfilm. Bob Iger is also a highly respected and trusted board member of Apple.

The photo below of Bob Iger wearing his new Rolex Daytona  appears courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter, which recently wrote an amazing article about his career achievements.

Rolex Cosmograph Daytona

40MM Reference 116500LN: Monobloc Cerachrom Bezel

Rolex introduced the new white dial Rolex Cosmograph Daytona with a black ceramic bezel, which Bob Iger is wearing in the photo above, earlier this year at BaselWorld 2016. From what I understand, this model is still in short supply and hard to find.

STAR WARS

THE RETURN OF THE FRANCHISE

The Star Wars Empire was built by George Lucas, which made 6 major films. It appears, that as time went by, George Lucas lost interest in making more Star Wars movies. This is where Bob Iger and Disney saw a brilliant opportunity, as Disney acquired LucasFilm along with the entire Star Wars Franchise for $4.05 Billion in 2012.

Purchasing LucasFilm has proven to one of the wisest investments Disney could make, as the Star Wars: The Force Awakens made close to a billion dollars in domestic box office alone in the United States and Canada, which makes it the highest grossing movie ever made. The Force Awakens set many other box office records, including being the fastest film to gross $1 Billion, which only took 12 days. It also set the record for being the biggest worldwide opening weekend, and single weekend gross at $529 Million.

Bob Iger is pictured above wearing a Rolex Oyster model. I have noticed him wearing many different Rolex models over the years.

Bob Iger is not the first CEO of Disney to wear a Rolex! Walt Disney himself wore a yellow gold Rolex Datejust, as you can see in the photos below. If you think about it, Walt Disney had much in common with Rolex founder, Hans Wilsdorf, in the sense they both left behind amazingly timeless and successful companies that people love!!!

"Think beyond your lifetime if you want to do something truly great." 

—Walt Disney

"Technology extends the purview of the story-teller." 

—Walt Disney

Memories Are Made Of This Donald Duck as Scrooge McDuck with Huey, Duey and Louie

Memories Are Made Of This

Donald Duck and Scrooge McDuck

with Huey, Duey and Louie

I have such fond memories from my childhood of all the magical Disney characters including Donald Duck with his three nephews, Huey, Duey and Louie, so these magnificent Carl Barks Disney paintings from 1974 that are up for auction from Heritage Auctions in August turn the nostalgia volume way up in my mind.

Since these oil paintings were completed in 1974, it is kind of interesting (T.Walker Lloydism) to realize they kind of have a black light poster color palette ;-))))