Partners (statue)

Partners
Partners at Magic Kingdom, with Cinderella Castle in the background
Artist	Blaine Gibson
Dimensions	6 ft 5 in (196 cm)
Location	Disneyland Magic Kingdom Tokyo Disneyland Walt Disney Studios (Burbank) Walt Disney Studios Park
Owner	The Walt Disney Company

Partners is a 1993 copper statue by Blaine Gibson depicting Walt Disney holding the hand of the most popular character he created, Mickey Mouse. The statue is 6 feet 5 inches (196 cm), 7 inches (18 cm) taller than Disney himself. It is the central point of attention as guests enter some of the Disney parks. Gibson took a year to create the piece. He used a 1960 bust of Disney as his model for Disney's half. To sculpt Disney and Mickey's joined hands, he consulted the 1940 film Fantasia, where Mickey shook hands with conductor Leopold Stokowski.

There has been speculation regarding Disney's stance in the sculpture. Many believed his outstretched hand indicated he was showing Mickey what had come of his (Disney's) dream. Gibson said, “I chose to depict Walt as he was in 1954. I think that was when [he] was in his prime. It was tough trying to match the media image of Walt Disney, the one the public knows, to the real Walt, the one we knew. I think Walt is admiring the park and saying to Mickey, ‘Look what we’ve accomplished together,’ because truly they were very much a team through it all. ‘Look at all the happy people who have come to visit us today.’”

As revealed in "A Virtual Tour of Walt Disney Imagineering: Part 2", Mickey was initially going to be portrayed holding an ice cream cone, but it was decided it would make him appear too juvenile.

The plaque beneath the statues bear slightly different versions of words that Disney never actually uttered. His closest actual words to the inscriptions were, "I think what I want most of all is for Disneyland to be a happy place". Parts of sentences from an unrelated interview were added to this.

Locations

The original statue is in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland. It was unveiled there in 1993 on Mickey Mouse’s birthday, November 18. The plaque below it in Disneyland quotes Walt Disney as saying, "I think most of all what I want Disneyland to be is a happy place...where parents and children can have fun...together".

It was recreated for Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom and placed there on June 19, 1995. Its plaque has a slightly different quote: "We believe in our idea: a family park where parents and children could have fun — together".

There are now five versions of the Partners statue. The third was placed in the Tokyo Disney Resort in Tokyo Disneyland on April 15, 1998. The fourth was installed in Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California on December 5, 2001. The fifth was added to Walt Disney Studios Park at Disneyland Paris on March 16, 2002.

Location	Exact location	Dedication
Disneyland Resort	Disneyland	November 18, 1993
Walt Disney World	Magic Kingdom	June 19, 1995
Tokyo Disney Resort	Tokyo Disneyland	April 15, 1998
Walt Disney Studios	Burbank, California	December 5, 2001
Disneyland Paris	Walt Disney Studios Park	March 16, 2002

An award, Partners In Excellence, is awarded to less than 2% of cast members who work at Disney Parks around the world. It demonstrates characteristics of an excellent worker, who has the company in mind through all of their actions. Should someone be awarded this, they receive a pin of the statue to put on their name tag. In 1981, to honor the 200-millionth guest to enter the gates of Disneyland, Charles Boyer was instructed to create a lithograph of Mickey Mouse and Walt Disney holding hands. Only 2,500 were made to sell to cast members only. This image became very popular and is the basis for Partners. (Partners looks very different compared to the lithograph due to artistic differences). The letters “STR” on Walt’s tie represent Smoke Tree Ranch, a resort in Palm Springs where Disney owned a home.