WDW Radio # 755 - Disney Legend Dave Smith Interview - From the WDW Radio Archives
WDW Radio - Your Walt Disney World Information Station
Lou Mongello - Disney Expert
4.8 • 3.2K Ratings
🗓️ 9 November 2023
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
WDW Radio # 755 - Disney Legend Dave Smith Interview - From the WDW Radio Archives
As part of our celebration of the Disney 100 year anniversary, it's only appropriate that this week I go way back into the Archives for an interview with Disney Legend Dave Smith, the founder of the Walt Disney Archives. 13 years ago, I was at work and literally had to lock myself in a closet at my office to interview Dave, who I had known for some time. His name is, and always will be, synonymous with Disney history. From founding the Walt Disney Archives in 1970, to authoring numerous books, Dave Smith’s 40 year career with the company afforded him the opportunity to help preserve the magic that began with Walt himself. Dave and I discuss his career, including not just his role in the creation and legacy of the Archives, but its challenges, personal highlights, changes and his future, as he prepares to retire from this “temporary” job that lasted four decades. It’s a fascinating conversation not just about the Archives, but the person who made it a reality, and was the guardian of Disney's most treasured memories. Dave sadly passed away in 2019 leaving behind a treasure trove of Disney lore for generations to come.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | What we're going to do right here is go back, way back, back into time. |
| 0:07.9 | Hello my friend and welcome to another episode from the W. W. W. W. |
| 0:12.1 | Archives. I am Lou Manjello and this is to another episode from the W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. |
| 0:13.0 | I am Lou Manjello, and this is show number 755. |
| 0:17.2 | And this and every week, I'm going to select an evergreen episode |
| 0:20.6 | from the past to share that maybe you haven't heard before or one that you haven't |
| 0:24.9 | heard in a long time. |
| 0:26.5 | Whether it's an interview, a top 10, a review, a guide, a way back machine and more, it's a great |
| 0:31.4 | way to visit or revisit some of our favorite |
| 0:34.0 | episodes including some of the ones that you have suggested that I share from |
| 0:38.7 | the archives and as part of our celebration of the Disney 100 year anniversary, I think it's only appropriate |
| 0:46.5 | that this week I go back into our archives for an interview with Disney legend, Dave Smith, |
| 0:53.0 | the founder of the Walt Disney Archives. |
| 0:55.7 | And I did this interview about 13 years ago, |
| 0:58.4 | and I was at work and literally had |
| 1:01.0 | to lock myself in a closet at my office to interview Dave over the phone |
| 1:06.8 | who I had known for some time. And his name is, and I think always will and should be, synonymous with Disney History. |
| 1:15.4 | From founding the Archives in 1970 to being the author of numerous books, Dave's |
| 1:20.6 | 40-year career with the company really afforded him the opportunity to help preserve the magic that began with Walt himself and in our conversation Dave and I discuss his career, not just his role in the creation and the legacy of the archives, |
| 1:37.7 | but some of the challenges in creating it and his own personal highlights, as well as the changes that were coming in his future as he was preparing to retire from what was supposed to be a temporary job that lasted for decades. |
| 1:51.0 | I think this is a fascinating conversation not just about the archives themselves, but the person |
| 1:56.9 | who made the archives a reality and really was the guardian of some of Disney's most treasured memories. |
... |
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