Missouri

This historic drive-in movie theater on the famed Route 66 first opened in 1949. It inspired a scene at the Radiator Springs Drive-In Theatre during the credits of Pixar’s 2006 film, Cars. Here we see the characters watching car versions of previous Pixar movies, including Toy Car Story, Monster Trucks, Inc., and A Bug’s Life. The drive-in is seen again briefly at the beginning of 2011’s Cars 2, this time showing The Incredimobiles, a play on the 2004 Pixar film, The Incredibles. Address: 17231 Old 66 Blvd, Carthage, MO 64836 Visitor Information: 66 Drive-In Theatre

Although the original barn on this site no longer exists, volunteers re-built an exact replica of it in September 2001 in honor of Walt’s 100th birthday. This barn in Walt’s hometown of Marceline, MO was where he first delved into the entertainment world. He would spend hours under his dreaming tree, teaching himself to draw and dream. He would dress up farm animals and charge local kids to see the “Disney Circus”. His audience left unimpressed and Walt’s mother taught him a valuable lesson: if you deliver more than your audience expects – they will never be disappointed. In 1948, Disney produced a movie called So Dear To My Heart about growing up on a small farm in the American Midwest in the early 20th century. A personal favorite of Walt’s, the film featured a barn which was based on Walt’s recollection of the one he grew up with here in Marceline. In the 1950s Walt built a barn in the backyard of his Hombly Hills home that was modeled after this one to house his “Carolwood Pacific Railroad” – this barn is currently on display at the Los Angeles Live Steamers Railroad Museum. Today, the barn here in Marceline is open to the […]

Wanting a simpler life, the Disney family moved from their house in Chicago to a forty-acre farm they had purchased in the rural town of Marceline, MO. This is where Walt spent his formative years: his days spent on the farm grew his love of animals and his time spent performing for local children in the barn sparked his interest in entertainment. Walt first learned to draw, write and dream underneath a nearby tree, known affectionately as his dreaming tree. After only about five years here, Walt’s father became ill and the family was forced to sell their farm. In 1911 the Disney family moved once again, this time to Kansas City. In 1948, Disney produced a movie called So Dear To My Heart about growing up on a small farm in the American Midwest in the early 20th century. A personal favorite of Walt’s, the film featured a farm and barn which was based on Walt’s recollection of the one he grew up with here in Marceline. Check out more of Walt’s homes in our blog posts: Living with Walt: Part I and Part II Address: 275 W Broadway St, Marceline, MO 64658 Visitor Information: Walt Disney Hometown Museum

After five years of living on a farm in Marceline, Walt’s father became ill and in 1911 the Disney family moved to a rented house in Kansas City. It was here that Walt and his brother Roy would wake up at 3:30 AM every day to help his father fold and deliver newspapers for two hours before school. The family lived here until they moved again in 1914, only a few blocks away, to 3028 Bellefontaine Ave. Today, no trace remains of the Disney family’s original Kansas City home. Check out more of Walt’s homes in our blog posts: Living with Walt: Part I and Part II Address: 2706 E 31st St, Kansas City, MO 64128 Visitor Information: Private residence, not open to the public

In 1914, the Disney family moved from their first Kansas City home to this one at 3028 Bellefontaine Avenue. On Saturday mornings, Walt would take classes at the Kansas City Art Institute. To earn extra money, he would sell snacks and newspapers on the Missouri Pacific, Kansas City Southern, and Missouri-Kansas-Texas railroads. This experience solidified his love of trains and with an interest in cartoons and animation. Walt would dream about taking a train out west, to Hollywood. I didn’t have enough money to get my ticket… I used to go down and stand there with tears in my eyes and look at those trains heading out to Union Station in Los Angeles. – Walt Disney In 1917, the Disneys moved back to Chicago, but this house would remain with the family (Walt’s older brothers Herbert and Roy continued living there, renting the house from their father, Elias) until 1921. Walt left home to volunteer with the Red Cross Ambulance Corps in 1918 and returned from overseas in 1919. After a brief stop in Chicago, Walt moved back to this home in Kansas City where he would sleep on a couch in the parlor as Herbert’s family now occupied the previously empty bedrooms – […]

While living in Kansas City, Walt created a company called Laugh-O-Grams Films to create animated cartoons for local clients. In May of 1922 the company was incorporated and the new studio resided on the upper floor of the McConahy Building, here at 1127 East 31st Street. Walt worked tirelessly on this venture, often spending nights at the office when money was too low to afford housing. He would eat beans from a can, shave in the public restroom down the hall, and pay ten cents for a shower at Union Station. This studio was just starting production of their first Alice comedy, Alice’s Wonderland (which can be seen as a bonus feature in the 2010 DVD release of Alice in Wonderland). The company only lasted one year at this location before going bankrupt in June of 1923. The Laugh-O-Gram studio was featured in two different unauthorized biopics about Walt: As Dreamers Do (2014) and Walt Before Mickey (2015). Today, a grassroots non-profit called Thank You Walt Disney saved the building from demolition and is currently working on restoring it as an animation museum and co-working space for new media start-ups. Address: 1127 E 31st St, Kansas City, MO 64109 Visitor Information: Thank You Walt Disney, […]