Dreams can come true, but almost always in unexpected ways.
As far back as I can remember, through my broken memory, I have drawn.
As a child, my grandfather gave me shelve paper to draw on.
I would draw the characters I loved from Saturday morning TV and hang these drawings on my bedroom wall.
Each Sunday evening, there were two TV shows on back to back in Cleveland, Ohio.
First, there was Lassie.
The second is The Wonderful World of Color, hosted by Walt Disney.
Somewhere lost to me in time, as a child, I dreamed of working for Walt.
Time would take me on a journey to be the best artist I could be.
After getting married, having two children, and being a house husband, I went back to school and got my degree.
I came so close, but fate would wash away my lifelong dream.
Other people made decisions that ended 2D animation at Disney, leaving many artists out in the cold.
My dream was broken, and I pieced together the idea of pursuing work in Hollywood.
It was there I met an actor, a magician named Steve Valentine.
We became friends, worked together, ate together, laughed and cried.
Steve would have get-togethers with many of the people he would come in contact with.
One early get-together I attended, I was standing and talking with two older gentlemen.
We talked about this and that, and I asked what do you do?
They both said they were musicians.
“You either love us or hate us.”
I said what have you composed?
Richard said, “It’s a Small World.”
I laughed and said are you crazy? Really! You are loved. You are loved.
The two gentlemen were Richard and Robert Sherman.
They composed all the music we associate with Disney.
Chim Chim Cher-ee, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Feed the Birds, Heffalumps and Woozles, I Wanna Be Like You, Jolly Holiday, Let’s Go Fly A Kite, Little Black Rain Cloud, The Parent Trap, The Rain Rain Rain Came Down Down Down, A Spoonful of Sugar, Step In Time, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, There’s A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow, The Tiki Tiki Tiki Room, Winnie the Pooh, just to name the tip of the iceberg of their music.
This meeting wasn’t once or twice, but over the course of many years, we would stand and sit together, tell each other stories, and eat cake.
Today, as I walked down Main Street at Disneyland, I stopped by their window in the Music Shop window.
I thought about my dream of working for Disney…
I shook the hands that shook the hand of Walt.
I looked into the eyes that looked at Walt.
I laughed and ate cake with the brothers, who laughed and ate cake with Walt.
I was struck…
The universe has a strange way of making dreams come true.
Peace.
Toby aka Daniel J Frey
