February 6 - Marty Sklar

Image courtesy Walt Disney Imagineering

On this day, in 1934, Martin Adrian Sklar was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The son of a teacher and a Johnson and Johnson employee, he moved with his parents to Long Beach, California when he was twelve. After graduating from high school, Marty began attending the University of California, Los Angeles and working various odd jobs including ice cream scooper and USPS package deliverer. In his junior year, he became editor in chief of UCLA's student newspaper, The Daily Bruin. As that school year was winding down in May 1955, his phone rang with a message that he should call Card Walker, the head of Disney's publicity department, for an interview. Marty returned that call and began an incredible journey.

Disneyland was set to open in just a few weeks when Card hired Marty to produce The Disneyland News, a weekly newspaper all about the goings on at the new park. It took Card twenty minutes to decide Marty was the right guy for the job, but he still had to pass one more test: a presentation outlining his vision for the paper to Walt himself. Marty recalled being one of the most nervous 21-year-olds to ever exist, but whatever he said, it only took Walt ten minutes to approve. Walt was so impressed with Marty's work on the paper that, after graduating from UCLA in the spring of 1956, Marty was hired on full time to write marketing brochures for Disneyland.

Marty quickly became a close aide to Walt, writing many of the things that Walt would say in speeches or in print. He seemed to have a feel for how his boss would want to word things more than anyone else in the company. In the early Sixties, Walt brought Marty into WED Enterprises (now known as Walt Disney Imagineering) specifically to work on the Ford Pavilion for the 1964 World's Fair (he would write the script for Walt's narration of the Magic Skyway ride). He then went on to help develop The Enchanted Tiki Room and It's a Small World. He was instrumental in helping convince the Florida legislature that it would be a good idea to sign off on the Florida Project, first with a 20 minute film about the history of the company that piqued their interest and then a 25 minute film detailing Walt's plans for EPCOT, the Utopian city of the future, that sealed the deal.

When Walt died in December 1966, Marty admitted that it affected him more than when his father died. Not because he loved his father less, but because he'd spent a decade at that point getting inside Walt's head and virtually becoming him. Even though, as Marty later described it, it was obvious that Walt was dying, the company had failed to prepare a statement about his passing. Everyone seemed to turn to Marty, who honored his boss and friend, not for the first time and certainly not for the last, with a loving tribute that Roy O. Disney hastily signed and released.

Over the next several decades, Marty became increasingly important to Walt Disney Imagineering. As a touchstone to the past, he never said what Walt would or would not have liked or done, but everyone agrees that when Marty gave an opinion, it felt like it came straight from the founder. He helped shepherd the creation of Walt Disney World and, in 1974, became the Vice President of Concepts and Planning. At that point, he spent his days guiding the development of Epcot, turning it from a city in a bubble into a theme park showcasing technology and world cultures.

As the pages of the calendar turned, Marty moved up to Executive Vice President and then President of Imagineering. He supervised the construction of every Disney theme park from Tokyo Disneyland in the early Eighties to Hong Kong Disneyland in the early Aughts. In 2006, as he passed his 72nd birthday, he stepped down from his position as President to embark on an entirely new role: the first International Ambassador for Walt Disney Imagineering. For the next three years, Marty travelled the globe, giving seminars, recruiting new talent and representing the company at galas and openings. On June 17, 2009, the 54th anniversary of Disneyland, Marty Sklar, the keeper of the keys for over 53 years, retired. On that same day, he was honored with a window on Main Street USA in Disneyland that reads "Main Street College of Arts and Sciences - Martin A. Sklar, Dean - Inspiring the Dreamers and Doers of Tomorrow." He's also been honored with a window in Disneyland Paris that reads "Main Street Gazette - Since 1867 - We Print the News Before It Happens - Martin Sklar, Editor-in-Chief - Tony Baxter, Managing Editor." And he had been an obvious choice for the Disney Legend award in 2003.

Marty may have retired in 2009, but like so many of the old timers, he never really left. He frequently appeared in panel discussions at D23 (the official Disney fan club) events. He was also present for the opening day of Shanghai Disneyland in June 2016, making him the only cast member to be there in person for the opening of all twelve Disney theme parks in existence. A little over a year later, on July 27, 2017, Marty would quietly pass away at his home in Hollywood Hills, California. He was 83.