Literally hundreds of thousands of cast members and celebrities have helped make a Disney theme park visit what it is today. Thanks to countless Imagineers, movie stars, and Uncle Walt himself, The Walt Disney Company is one of the most powerful and popular corporations in the entire world.
But here’s a good question.
Which people have meant the most to Disney over the years? It’s a fun thought exercise that requires a couple of choices in determining criteria. First of all, Mickey Mouse, Snow White, and Elsa can’t count. We’re only talking about real people. Similarly, allowing people with Disney in their name to qualify is too easy. So, Walt, the Roys, and Lilly aren’t eligible. We’re also ruling out Ub Iwerks, who was literally there from the beginning with Walt and anyone else who ever ran the company or was intimately involved with its daily operations. With those parameters in mind, here’s a list of some of the biggest Disney icons of all-time. Whether they’re celebrities, Imagineers, or musicians, they all had a hand in making Disney the company we adore.
Fred MacMurray
Image: DisneyPeople of a certain age automatically associate MacMurray with My Three Sons, while cinema buffs are quick to point out his seminal work in Double Indemnity. Besides the scandalous film and harmless television series, MacMurray worked tirelessly as a Disney player, starring in such unforgettable titles as The Shaggy Dog and The Absent-Minded Professor, the latter of which changed Professor John Frink’s life due to its invention of FLUBBER. MacMurray later starred in Son of Flubber, too. If you’re questioning MacMurray’s placement on this list, I have only one counterpoint. When the company chose their first Disney Legend, they honored Fred MacMurray before anyone else.
Tom Hanks
Image: DisneySure, he’s Woody, the world’s rootinest, tootinest cowboy, and that’s reason enough to put Tom Hanks on the shortlist for biggest Disney icons. What truly separates him, however, is something that his other Toy Story castmates, even Tim Allen, can’t claim. When The Walt Disney Company wanted to make a movie about their company founder, they specifically selected Tom Hanks to portray Walt Disney. It doesn’t get more Disney than that.
Buddy Ebsen and Fess Parker
Image: DisneyDuring the 1950s, Davy Crockett was THE moneymaker for Disney, and its continued presence in Disney theme parks is a tribute to that impact. Separating the two stars of Davy Crockett isn’t easy. Choosing which one deserves a spot on this list is that much harder. Fess Parker portrayed Davy Crockett and was a contract star for Disney, appearing in the legendary Old Yeller. He is also a Disney Legend, a recurring theme for many of these selections. Meanwhile, Ebsen played Georgie Russel in the series. More importantly, his soft shoe tap skills became the basis for Disney’s first audio-animatronic (AA), making Jed Clampett (fittingly) the grandfather of AAs.
Joe Rohde
Image: DisneyOne of the chronic complaints about the Disney of today as opposed to the one from the mid-20th century is the lack of famous Imagineers. Picking the most famous ones from the company’s early days is a brutal exercise. Conversely, only one Imagineer working today enjoys that sort of name recognition. It’s Rohde, who loves to describe his ascension within the company as being a byproduct of his willingness to speak up in meetings. Whether he’s understating his contributions or not, Rohde’s latest work might prove to be his masterpiece. As Vice President of Creative, he’s the man in charge of Pandora – The World of Avatar, the first entirely new themed land at a North American Disney park in 15 years.
Julie Andrews
Image: DisneyShe’s Mary Poppins. Enough said.
The Sherman Brothers
Image: DisneyMany of the earworms you’ve received over the years during your Disney theme park visits are the product of these brothers. Their impact on Disney’s film library is also incredible. The Shermans wrote classics such as The Tiki Tiki Tiki Room, There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow, Chim Chim Cher-ee (for which they won an Academy Award), A Spoonful of Sugar, and It’s a Small World aka the ultimate earworm. So many Disney projects would feel incomplete without music, and the Shermans were Uncle Walt’s go-to lyricists. They were so successful in this arena that they turned The Parent Trap’s Hayley Mills into an overnight pop star with a top ten hit thanks to their song, Let’s Get Together.
Kurt Russell
Image: DisneySure, he was a Disney movie star back when he was a teen. Russell starred in memorable, oddly descriptive roles such as The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, The Strongest Man in the World, and The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band. Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne described Russell as the company’s biggest star of the 1970s…but that’s still not the only reason why he makes this list. On his deathbed, Walt Disney’s final two words are among the strangest ever. He said, “Kurt Russell.” As I’ve joked before, even Goldie Hawn shouldn’t make those her final two words. Due to Disney’s odd closing statement to the world, Kurt Russell will always hold a special place in Disney folklore.
X Atencio
Image: DisneyDo you love The Haunted Mansion? He wrote the script. Does a certain song from Pirates of the Caribbean get in your head? You have X to thank for that as well. Walt Disney believed that his Imagineer was capable of more than he’d shown. One day at work, Disney told him to clear out his desk, for he was moving to a different job. There, Atencio wrote the lyrics to Yo Ho (A Pirate’s Life for Me) and Grim Grinning Ghosts, and he did this despite possessing no formal training in music or lyrics. In fact, he had no ambition in this field. He simply answered the call when his boss asked more of him. He’s the greatest living Legend at Disney, currently enjoying life at the commendable age of 97.
Johnny Depp
Image: DisneyAt the start of the new millennium, Disney started with The Country Bears, which a true box office disaster. The following year, they introduced The Haunted Mansion, an Eddie Murphy comedy that was technically a modest hit but realistically earned the least amount of money possible given the branding opportunity. Had Disney only attempted to turn two of their beloved theme park attractions into feature films, the entire premise would seem like a total failure.
Due to the charismatic turn of Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, history will remember the attempts differently. Starting with Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Depp fundamentally altered his perception from Hollywood curiosity to the number one movie star in the world, if only for a time. Depp is the $3.7 billion difference between the box office of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and what happened with The Haunted Mansion.
As a tribute to his impact, Disney even immortalized him in the ride. He somehow imprinted on a ride that had existed for 40 years prior to his star turn. In the annals of Disney box office history, Depp is unequivocally the biggest draw. For a company most famous for its movie catalog, that matters.
Mary Blair
Image: DisneyThe creator of those Little Golden Books that you loved as a child, Blair impacted your life as a theme park tourist in a very different way. First, she designed the art of many of the costumes that you know mimic when you DisneyBound. Blair illustrated concept art for classic characters such as Alice in Wonderland, Tinkerbell, and Cinderella (and Maleficent!). Then, she quit Disney to become a freelancer. Disney employees of the era swear it was one of the painful losses Uncle Walt ever suffered as a leader.
When the company’s leader strategized for the 1964 World’s Fair, a last-minute pavilion required talents he didn’t feel anyone in the building possessed. He asked Blair to return to the company, where she created the color schemes, building structures, and doll outfits that became intricately associated with It’s a Small World. With all due respect to Julie Andrews and the countless other women who have left a lasting imprint on the Disney legacy, Mary Blair is THE female Disney icon.
Narrowly missing selection on my list are Alan Menken (narrowly edged out by the Shermans), John Lasseter (seven of his Pixar films to date weren’t technically Disney), Dean Jones (the poor, older man’s Kurt Russell), and Annette Funicello (an original Mouseketeer, her most famous films weren’t Disney).
Any time someone compiles a list like this, the purpose is to foster discussion. So, who do you think I excluded that deserved a spot? Leave a note in the comments.
