Send a Card To Roy Disney!

Tuesday, November 18, 2003
By: Rita Street

This week Animation Magazine is celebrating the 75^th Birthday of the most famous animated character ever–Mickey Mouse. Because we all owe so much to this special little guy we thought you might want to send him–via Roy Disney of course!– a little greeting of your own.

Please tell Roy exactly how you feel about Walt's world famous creation–how Mickey influenced your career, how he brought you together (or continues to bring you together) with friends and family, and basically makes your world a happier place.

All messages will be printed out, specially bound in a unique leather book and hand delivered to Roy Disney at his offices on the Disney campus in Burbank, California!

Check back here to read messages from other Animation Magazine subscribers.

Reader Comments

• Anonymous :

  Tuesday, November 18, 2003

  Roy:
  
  You son of a gun! It was always my pleasure to work with you. I believe you have been and continue to be one of the true champions of our art form. Perhaps it was Walt and your dad and Mickey who created the studio, but it was you who paved the way for folks like me to work there during the "second golden age" of feature animation. I will always be beholden to you and wish you only the very best.
  
  Frank Gladstone

• Anonymous :

  Tuesday, November 18, 2003

  As a past long time employee of Walt Disney animation who has had to watch while the best animation studios in the world, (in Burbank and Florida) were torn down, disrespected and decimated by corporate thugs, it is far too sad a day for Walt Disney Animation to be sending happy happy stories to Roy. ....the beautiful Disney product, the fine art of so many dedicated animators and artists, has been so brutally compromised and mismanaged, while poor Roy watches, powerless, repeating the corporate mantra that believes that "2D is dead" Sorry Roy, it is a tragic and terribly sad day for animation.......

• Anonymous :

  Tuesday, November 18, 2003

  Mr. Disney
  I was at one of your Disney institute Animation Seminars, I grew up with the love which became yours. Traditionaly drawn animation, this is something that to this day drives me. What Walt started has been inspiration to millions, thank you for fighting for it, thank you for keeping the dream alive as much as you could. It has been a wonderfull 15 years
  HUGS

• Anonymous :

  Tuesday, November 18, 2003

  Hello Mr. Disney. I remember walking into Disney World in Florida and meeting a huge Micky Mouse and shaking his hand. That was amazing. Micky Mouse is a good hearted soul. Seperatly, as a person who draws pictures I am always amazed at how far he has been abstracted from a real world mouse and he still reads as a mouse! I think of that sometimes when I want to get outside my habbits.

• Anonymous :

  Wednesday, November 19, 2003

  Dear Roy: I am glad to have worked at Walt Disney Animation Florida, when the Studio facility was opened in 1989, and we did "The Little Mermaid", "Rollercoaster Rabbit", and "Prince and the Pauper". I will always wonder what further mischief we could have caused for "Roger Rabbit" , "Baby Herman", and what else we could have had "Jessica Rabbit" wear as clothes.
  Later on, I went on to FOX Animation Studios in Phoenix, AZ. We continued the proud 2D traditional style, doing "Anastasia" "Bartok", and "Titan AE".
  As far as Disney venturing into CGI, I thought "Dinosaur" was very well done, and the Disney Burbank studio, should have kept on going, with its CGI animation ventures.
  If we had stopped after "Oliver and Company", none of the great 2D traditional stuff , would ever have come to pass.
  Disney Animation deserves better than to have the bitter quarrel between Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg, cause a chasm that interrupted and split off the studio's creative energies. Everybody was doing great, and then the equation was upset. Let's do what we can, to get the potential back. Thank you for your unwaivering leadership, in the spirit of Disney Animation, since 1985.

• Anonymous :

  Wednesday, November 19, 2003

  What can I say! Because of that little mouse, a big world was opened up to me! I look back at my experience with Disney from Disneyland to the Studio, and It has all been the best fertile training ground I have ever known. I have always looked upon Disney as the model to fallow in my own endeavorers in the entertainment industry. My experience from Disney has helped me expand my horizons to the prosperity that I enjoy today. And I can't help but to echo the words that Walt once said so many years ago:
  And to think it all started with a mouse!
  
  I behalf of myself and the whole staff that make up D Glenn Entertainment LLC.
  I'm proud to say Happy Birthday Micky!
  Your the inspiration that drives all of us here, even if we don't have our Mouse Ears or work at the Mouse House! Mikey, your still the one we look up to!

• Anonymous :

  Wednesday, November 19, 2003

  Dear Roy Disney, thank you for all the years you've spent helping to ensure that the Disney company name still means quality entertainment for everyone. The first film that I ever saw was Bambi. I still love animation. So do my children and grandchildren. They will never forget their magical trips to Disneyland with Dick Kennon. Thank you for keeping Walt Disney's dream alive for the world today.

• Anonymous :

  Wednesday, November 19, 2003

  Pat Brady
  Animation Voice Over Agent
  Cunningham-Escott-Dipene
  
  Thank you for all you and "The Mouse" have done !
  Happy Birthday,Mickey !!!

• Anonymous :

  Wednesday, November 19, 2003

  Dear Roy-
  Happy Birthday Mickey. I was able to gain valuable animation experience working on Fantasia 2000 and I now am helping the next generation of animators at Montebello High School.

• Anonymous :

  Wednesday, November 19, 2003

  Happy Birthday Mickey!
  You and Walt started it all for me. When ever I see you I see Walt also, you and he just go together. I grew up with Walt as one of my heros, and I alwas wanted to work at the Disney studios. But when Walt died, I was crushed and went into other areas of art ( illustration and cartooning ) but I never lost my love for Mickey and other Disney characters. In the mid 1990's I did get into animation in a couple of small independant studios. I am now working as a freelancer and it looks like I will never fulfill a dream of working for Disney animation.
  Thank you Roy for standing in for 2D animation at Disney Studios. It will never die with people like you
  
  Animatedly,
  Gene Vandervoort

• Anonymous :

  Wednesday, November 19, 2003

  Mr. disney
  
  As far as i can remeber Mickey Mouse made me laugh out loud he made my day that much better thanks.
  as a up and coming cartoonist i look at how Mickey was draw from than and now which help me in my bringing of my characters thanks again .
  
  yuri

• Anonymous :

  Wednesday, November 19, 2003

  Dear Roy,
  What an honor and a privilege to be a part of Mickey Mouseworks and House of Mouse. You are a true gentleman and a mentor to many. Thank you for the opportunity to help continue the Mickey tradition. They are memories I will cherish forever.
  Sincerely,
  Melinda Rediger

• Anonymous :

  Wednesday, November 19, 2003

  Dear Mr. Disney, congratulations on keeping Mickey alive for so long and continuing what your uncle and your family started. I grew up in little country on the sunny side of the Alps called Slovenia (part of former Yugoslavia at that time) and I moved to Finland couple of years ago. At 28 I still remember and cherish all the Disney animated movies as well as comic books, which I was enjoying every week. One of my passions was always drawing and animation, but it turns out I am better at writing than drawing, so today I freelance as a writer about animation, among other things. Like many others I am concerned about future of Mickey and traditional Disney animation in general, but nevertheless I will always be grateful for all the fun and amazement I got from Disney artists during my youth. Since I live now so far away from my birthplace, it is very important to me, that I can pop in one of my favorite Disney's DVD and instantly get into that warm feeling from my childhood. At least until the closing credits. Thank you for that. - Uros Setina, writer

• Anonymous :

  Wednesday, November 19, 2003

  Hello Mr. Disney, Thanks to you and your family for all the beautiful animation over the years. Disney animation has been such of source of inspiration to me and my students. It only seems to get better. I would have to say though that Pinocchio has always been my favorite. The characters, and artwork are wonderful.

• Anonymous :

  Thursday, November 20, 2003

  Dear Roy, Thank you for keeping the dream alive, all of us at Disney and outside owe our careers to that little mouse. They say that necessity is the mother of invention, well Mickey sure is the proof. I look on those dark days when Oswald was taken away, and how Walt and your father bet all on an untried mouse and won, as an inspiration in my aspirations for the future. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICKEY!!!!

• Anonymous :

  Thursday, November 20, 2003

  Mataiasi Lomu: Disneyland Cast Memeber: Walt Disney Company
  
  Hello Mr. Roy E. Disney I'm so glad about working for the Walt Disney Company and continue to making Walt's dream alive. I'm also glad to be working with the big cheese himself Mickey Mouse which I have to say Happy 75th Birthday to Mickey. Everytime I'm working at Disneyland I always see how smiles Mickey gives to all of the guess just by being in parades, shows, Fantasmic, or just meeting and greeting him at his house in ToonTown. But when I visit Disneyland park as a guess and every time I pass the Walt and Mickey partner statue thinking on how blessed I'm for working for the Disneyland Resort and pretty soon Disney Animation. So Happy 75th Birthday to the M-I-C see the mouse really soon K-E-Y why because I like and it's really fun working with him M-O-U-S-E.

• Anonymous :

  Thursday, November 20, 2003

  Happy 75th big guy! If there were never a you, there'd never be we. My hat is tipped to you and yours. Keep at it Roy!

• Anonymous :

  Friday, November 21, 2003

  Dear Roy,
  Continued success keeping true to Walt's vision.
  I'm sure Walt & Mickey would be very sad to know 2D traditional hand drawn animation is on it's way out at Disney. If the story is good, people will come to the theaters. Best wishes and thanks for trying to be true to your Uncle's dreams.

• Anonymous :

  Friday, November 21, 2003

  Roy & Mickey,
  Happy 75th. Thanks for a lifetime of great entertainment. Watching Peter Pan when I was a child affected my life in many ways, personally & in my career. The best thing is, I'm still waiting to grow up! The child in me has continued to thrive thanks to Walt & the great artists that created these wonderful films.
  PS. Please don't give up on 2D animation. It's one of the greatest art forms ever created.

• Anonymous :

  Friday, November 21, 2003

  To: Roy Disney & Mickey Mouse
  On behalf of children and adults around the world, I wish to say THANK YOU to the Disney family and Happy 75th Birthday Mickey!
  I am aspiring to become a computer animator and I would like to express my appreciation to you and your family for being my inspiration.
  My uncle was the first person to introduce me to a computer at the age of 5. After his passing, when I was 10, I vowed to carry on with his teachings by becoming a computer animator. As a child watching Disney movies, my passion for animation flourished and I used to sketch Disney characters in my spare time. My classmates were amused at my recreations of Disney characters. I used to draw them on the chalkboard before classes began, spreading a contageous smile throughout the class. Disney films help me to escape to a world of imagination, and allow me to feel closer to my friends, family, and in particular, both of my uncles (whom I know are watching over me). Each and every Disney film is an inspiration to me.
  As I continue to dream and try to reach my goals, I wish that I may some day work with a team that provides the same imaginative films for children, as Disney has.
  Mickey's 75th Birthday is a reminder that "the dreams that we wish will come true!"
  
  Thank you Mickey and Roy for continuing to create such timeless and classic films,
  
  Ellenora Ventura, BFA

• Anonymous :

  Tuesday, November 25, 2003

  Dear Mr. Disney,
  
  I was terribly pleased to have been included in the 75th birthday celebrations for everybody's favorite mouse (just ask any of my co-workers!) After all, as a small-town girl growing up in Michigan, who would have thought I would ever find myself working here at the company my childhood hero founded? But here I am!
  
  Thank you, Mr. Disney, for being a champion for animation in the tradition of your uncle and your father. You have helped make children, young and old, happier for it. It is with heartfelt joy that I say once again, Happy Birthday, Mickey!
  
  ~ Chenoa Topash Mitsui

• Anonymous :

  Wednesday, November 26, 2003

  Ray, Thanks for lifetime good family entertainment. Your family has given the best, we can only pray that you and I continue your great tradition of films.

• Anonymous :

  Wednesday, November 26, 2003

  Ray, Thanks for lifetime good family entertainment. Your family has given the best, we can only pray that you and I continue your great tradition of films.

• Anonymous :

  Wednesday, November 26, 2003

  Ray, Thanks for lifetime good family entertainment. Your family has given the best, we can only pray that you and I continue your great tradition of films.

• Anonymous :

  Thursday, November 27, 2003

  With all due respect, Roy has as much to do with the creation of Mickey Mouse as... just about anyone alive today!
  
  Meanwhile, as Animation Mag. reports almost everyday, the company Walt founded is a creatively floundering institution run by short-sighted bean-counters. For every good creative decision their are hundreds of bad ones, and it shows in the product... er, I mean, films.
  
  Also, let's face it, Mickey has been an out-of-touch bore for at least forty years. You can't flog these old characters back to life in the service of bottom lines... just try to watch that new Looney Tunes movie for additional proof. They were created in different times, under creative circumstances no corporation will permit to happen again.
  
  You want to salute the spirit of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse? I say, search out and support independent animation created by artists, like Walt.
  
  And pray that Roy might still have enough influence to change things at the old company a bit (though it certainly doesn't seem like he does.) Maybe we should be sending 'greetings' to that Eisner fellow.
  
  Roy might be a nice guy, but he ain't "Uncle"...
  
  -- Anonymous Ranter

• Anonymous :

  Wednesday, December 10, 2003

  Good Afternoon, Roy. I hope that you are doing well. I think you look just like your uncle Walt. Keep up the good work at the Disney Company and hopefully one day my art talents will contribute to one of your animated films one day! Thanks! Michele Haley

• n.srija reddy : student : pallavi model scool

  Friday, July 28, 2006

  i like micky mouse,twety and tom and jerry

• Anya Scheinman : Kid in training :

  Friday, September 08, 2006

  I was 4 years old when I proposed marriage to Mickey Mouse at Chef Mickey's in Walt Disneyworld. I asked Mickey if he would marry me and he got down on one knee, took my hand and nodded yes. I am now 10 years old and this past summer we went back to Chef Mickey's and you know what...Mickey came up to me and got down on his knee and took my hand and kissed it. I just can't believe he remembered me. I feel so special, I can't stop talking about Mickey Mouse. I don't know how he remembered me, being so busy and seeing so many people, but its the most wonderful thing that ever happened to me! I love you, Mickey Mouse.

• Courtney Wicks : Um, student. : School(?)

  Friday, February 09, 2007

  I cannot express the undying loveI have for both Walt and Mickey. I can\'t completely convey in words the impact the magic of Mickey has brought upon me. Every time I step through the gates of Disneyland I look foward to seeing the monument of Walt holding Mickey\'s hand; it\'s a beautiful thing. I\'ve not launched any certain career, but once I do, I am sure and without a doubt that the soft chuckle of mickey will sound in the back of mind, cheering me on. Disney is more than an amusement park and more than a company- to me, it and Mickey are family members, holding such importance.
  
  I am speechless when it comes to the magic and splendor one man and one mouse have given my life. In fact, I vowed today that one day I would marry into the Disney family, because that is my ultimate dream. I could never live a greater earthly dream than that.
  
  Dear Roy Disney, I thank you for upholding the integrity of Mickey that Walt spent so much time crafting into the splendid and beloved little mouse. It\'s inevitable that I cry every time I glimpse Disneyland, because it reminds me that there are fairytales and that dreams undoubtedly come true; Disney brings out such magic.
  
  I truly can\'t make you understand just how much Mickey and Disney and even you, Mr. Roy Disney, mean to my heart and my whole family.
  
  With the deepest love and prayers, I wish Disney the greatest luck and magic for making dreams come true to all the other people who hold Disneyland as dear as I.
  
  Love, Courtney Wicks.