Partners (statue) - Anaheim, CA
Posted by: 
Metro2
N 33° 48.723 W 117° 55.137
11S E 414949 N 3741696
This statue is located at the end of Main Street in Disneyland.
Waymark Code: WMXBVN
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 12/23/2017
Views: 3
Wikipedia (
visit link) informs us:
"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’ 5”, seven inches taller than Disney himself. It is the central point of attention as people walk past it to enter a few of the Disney parks. Gibson took a year to sculpt this piece. He used a bust of Walt Disney, created in 1960, as his model for Disney’s half of the sculpture. Gibson, however, had to be a little more creative when sculpting Disney and Mickey’s conjoined hands. He referred to the 1940 film Fantasia for an example of the popular mouse, who shook hands with the composer of the movie, Leopold Stokowski.
Disney and his companion are depicted quite happily in the statue. This exemplifies Walt Disney’s intent for the park (specifically Disneyland at the time). His wish was for the park to be the happiest place on Earth, a place where families come together to make memories that last a lifetime. There is speculation regarding Disney’s hand in the sculpture, which is raised outward. Many believe his arm is raised as if he is showing Mickey what has come of his dream. Gibson said, “I chose to depict Walt as he was in 1954. I think that was when Walt 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.’”"