Walt's Nine Old Men: Wolfgang Reitherman - Part 1
Connecting with Walt - A look into the history of the man behind Mickey Mouse, Disneyland and Walt Disney World
DIS Unlimited
4.7 • 820 Ratings
🗓️ 20 February 2026
⏱️ 59 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode, Michael continues his series on Walt Disney's Nine Old Men as he and Tom discuss animator, director, and producer Woolie Reitherman and his contributions to the Walt Disney Studio.
Links:
- Michael’s Disneyland History Segments
- Important DIS links and more information!
- Connecting with Walt on Twitter
- Dreams Unlimited Travel
Sources:
Books:
- Walt Disney's Nine Old Men & The Art of Animation by John Canemaker
- Walt Disney's Nine Old Men: Masters of Animation by Don Hahn
- The Nine Old Men: Lessons, Techniques, and Inspiration from Disney's Great Animators by Andreas Dejas
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | From west to east and kingdom the kingdom, you're listening to the Connecting with Walt is brought to you by Dreams Unlimited Travel, experts at helping you plan the perfect Disney vacation. |
| 0:34.7 | The best way to support the show is by booking a Disneyland, Walt Disney World Disney Cruise Line, or Adventures by Disney Vacation. The best way to support the show is by booking a Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, or Adventures by Disney Vacation, with Dreams Unlimited Travel. Get a free, no-obligation quote today for your next dream vacation, that Dreams andLimited Travel.com. Hey there, hi, there, and there. And welcome to episode 356 of connecting with Walt, |
| 0:57.5 | celebrating our Tincennial year. I am your host and is historian Michael Bowling, and I am joined by |
| 1:03.2 | my co-host, producer, and good friend Tom Bell. Tom, how are you today? |
| 1:09.6 | Hey, Michael. I am doing good. I'm rested, you know, back from vacation, mostly unpacked. |
| 1:17.6 | So it's, I mean, travel is always, travel is always a little stressful, but it's, it's, it's the in-between fun stuff that kind of relaxes and makes the raxes you and makes the |
| 1:29.5 | vacation worthwhile so yeah yeah and then it's the sliding back into the routine it's tough |
| 1:37.1 | and unpacking and putting things away and doing laundry and all that. That's the drag. |
| 1:45.0 | And it takes me forever to do that part of it. |
| 1:48.8 | Like taking down my Christmas decorations. |
| 1:51.1 | It takes me forever and doing all that. |
| 1:56.3 | Anyway, but good. |
| 1:57.4 | I'm glad you had a good time and welcome back. |
| 2:00.5 | Thank you. |
| 2:02.3 | This week we are continuing our ongoing series in Walt's Nine Old Men. |
| 2:07.1 | In previous installments, we explored the lives and careers of Eric Larson, Ward Kimball, Les Clark, and Milt Call. |
| 2:15.4 | Today we are talking about Willie Rutherman and his contributions to the Walt Disney Studio. |
| 2:20.3 | There are mornings and history that feel heavier than others. December 16th, 1966 was one of them. |
| 2:29.3 | At the Walt Disney Studio in Burbank, the halls were quieter than usual. |
| 2:35.1 | The animators walked past familiar walls, familiar artwork, familiar desks. |
| 2:41.2 | But something was gone. |
| 2:43.3 | Walt Disney was gone. |
... |
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