December 22 - Bill Cottrell

On this day, in 1995, Willilam H.D. Cottrell Jr. passed away in Los Angeles, California. Born on November 19, 1906 in South Bend, Indiana, Bill would move to Southern California to attend Occidental College as an English and journalism major. Following graduation, he briefly worked for George Herriman as a story man on the Krazy Kat comic strip. Then, in 1929, he became a camera man at the Walt Disney Studio.

Image copyright Disney

It wasn't long before Bill transferred to the story department and began making major contributions to shorts like Who Killed Cock Robin? He was a trusted enough part of the company that when Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs came along, Bill became a sequence director. His touch can be seen whenever the Evil Queen can be seen.

At the same time, Bill was proving just how small a company the studio really was. He was courting, falling in love with and, in 1938, becoming the second husband of Hazel (Bounds) Sewell. Hazel had brought her sister, one Lillian Bounds, into the ink and paint department with her many years before. In 1925, Lillian had become Mrs. Walt Disney. With his marriage to Hazel, Bill became the brother in law of the Boss. Luckily, he also had the talent to back up his newfound connections.

Image copyright Disney

Bill and Hazel would join Walt on his goodwill tour of South America in 1941. He is credited with developing the story for the two films that resulted from that trip, Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros. He would continue to contribute to the stories of many of the studios projects throughout the Forties and into the Fifties, including Melody Time, Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan. More importantly, Bill was becoming one of Walt's most trusted advisers at a time when something entirely new was brewing.

As the Fifties began and Walt was turning his imagination towards a physical place in the world, he knew he needed a separate company to generate the ideas and technology he would require. When WED Enterprises (now known as Walt Disney Imagineering) was born, he also knew just who he wanted to lead it: Bill Cottrell. As the first president of Imagineering, Bill was responsible for bringing the plans for Disneyland to life. The genius of putting a story man in charge of those plans is fairly obvious in hindsight. Every trash can, lighting fixture and door would fit in with the story that had been created for each attraction, shop or restaurant it was near. The parks would never have the flow they do if it hadn't been for Bill's leadership from the beginning.

Image copyright Disney

In 1964, Bill became an even closer part of Walt's life when he became the president of Retlaw Enterprises, the private company that managed the Disney family's financial affairs. He would hold that position until his retirement in 1982. Which doesn't mean he didn't still make contributions to the entertainment side of things. He helped develop the Zorro television series and, as a fan of the Sherlock Holmes stories, inspired The Great Mouse Detective.

In 1994, Bill was made an official Disney Legend for his contributions to film, the theme parks and the Disney family in general over his 53 year career with the company.