Walt's Nine Old Men: Wolfgang Reitherman - Part 2
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
🗓️ 27 February 2026
⏱️ 68 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode, Michael continues his look at Woolie Reitherman as he and Tom discuss how one of Walt's Nine Old Men stepped into a leadership role during a transitional period at The Walt Disney Studios.
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 to Kingdom, you're listening to the Connecting with Walt is brought to you by dreams and limited travel. |
| 0:31.2 | Experts at helping you plan the perfect Disney vacation. |
| 0:35.0 | 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, |
| 0:39.1 | Disney Cruise Line, or Adventures by Disney Vacation with Dreams and Limited Travel. Get a free, |
| 0:44.4 | no obligation quote today for your next dream vacation at dreams unlimited travel.com. |
| 0:51.2 | Hey there, hi, there, and welcome to episode 357 of connecting with Walt, celebrating our 10thennial year. I am your host and is historian Michael Bowling, and I am joined by my co-host, producer, and good friend Tom Bell. Tom, how are you today? Hey, Michael, I'm well, still unpacking and doing laundry, but I'm good. |
| 1:12.4 | Good, good. |
| 1:13.7 | So I know it always takes me a while to recover from a trip and get things back into shape. |
| 1:22.8 | If I would stay less busy, I could do that, but just life is, life is crazy. |
| 1:29.7 | Yes, yes, you're talking about that before the show. |
| 1:33.1 | There's not enough free time. |
| 1:35.3 | The calendar is cluttered. |
| 1:36.9 | It is. |
| 1:38.6 | Keeps us young and sharp, I suppose. |
| 1:40.9 | Out of trouble. |
| 1:42.2 | Yes, definitely that's true. A little bit. |
| 1:45.0 | Well, this week we are continuing our ongoing series in Walt's nine old men. |
| 1:51.0 | In previous installments, we explored the lives and careers of Eric Larson, Ward Kimball, Les Clark, and Milt Kahl. |
| 1:59.0 | In our last episode, we explored the early life of Wolfgang Rutherman, |
| 2:03.0 | from Munich to Southern California, from Fantasia to the skies over Europe, from animator to war |
| 2:09.3 | pilot, and back again. In this episode, we continue Willie's story. This episode is different. |
| 2:16.5 | This is the story of how a gifted animator became the steady |
... |
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