Operation Has Resumed!

3 Scanners, a new computer and a job ending...

We're Back!

Now where were we???
O' yeah...

Paul Castle... Before Mickey...
Here's Biography from the Ice Capades program of 1958
The Mighty Mite! Short but mighty, small but speedy. This in very few words describes the little man of the big show. Just a little over four feet in height, he is perfectly perportioned and his smooth, solid muscles stamp him as a miniature Hercules. Made a name for himself as the champion of the Silver Skates Derby. He actually jumps one foot higher than he is tall. Born in Cleveland he is now a resident of Long Island. Married, He has one daughter. She is as big as Paul - so is his wife.

That really sums it up...

Here's are just a few pictures,
from The Ice Capades Programs,
when he was a Headliner

Ice Capades 1951

The Program Cover from 1951

Inside

Close Up

1953

1959

1956

What a career...

Here's a picture that was at Paul's memorial service
that his family brought...

The inscription at the bottom, '
in Paul's own writing,
say's it all...

Paul Castle - Mickey Mouse

My Friend Paul,
The other day I heard Paul passed away,
You may have meet him if you visited Disneyland,
between 1961 and 1986...
Paul was Mickey Mouse!
I first meet him in 1964 in town square.
[I'm the one in the Duck hat]
and in the late 70s,
I got to know him when I joined the Character Dept.
I showed him this picture of us around that time
and he just laughed and said
"Well YOU grew up... look at me"
"Hee Hee, Hee Hee Hee"

I'd like to tell you a little about Paul's career at Disneyland...

Before becoming Mickey,
Paul, along with his wife Alma,
were Professional Ice Skaters, Paul a Headliner, with Ice Capades!...
[but I'll tell you more about that in my next post]
Paul was personally picked by Walt Disney himself
to fill the role of Mickey!
Walt knew of Paul's Costume work through the Ice Shows...
and in 1961, Disneyland was designing
a new float for the parade that was a huge Drum!
Walt wanted a smaller performer to make the drum look Bigger!!
and Paul was cast in a role that would be a dream!

At 4'6" Paul was the perfect choice!

Alma also got in on the act...
When Paul was traveling with Walt,
Alma would fill in for him at the park...
and she also spent 4 years as Pinocchio!
Here's a shot of them, in 1965, for Disneyland's 10th Anniversary
Televised Special

Paul had a lot of incredible moments as Mickey...
among them:
Flying in Walt's personal Jet
to attend the Worlds Fair with Walt,
When Walt was the Grand Marshall of the1966 Rose Parade,
Paul rode in the back seat with him...
Opening Anaheim Stadium with Walt...
just to name a few...
and yep, It's Paul in the last Picture of Walt and Mickey...

Christmas 1976, Disneyland did a Television special
with Art Carney, Sandy Duncan and Glen Campbell,
but the real thrill for Paul was, for the special,
they "Iced Over" Main St. and asked Paul to skate as Mickey!
[This was when Disney had arena shows"Disney On Parade"
but before "Disney On Ice"]
I remember watching Mickey skate down Main St.,
on my TV, and thinking "How Cool!!!"
I don't have a picture of Mickey skating
but here's a picture of the Penguins and Snow People skating... an article on the TV show and SNOW...
In 1980 Mickey got a Star on "Hollywood's Walk of Fame"
and Paul was there!
[That was the first Star given to an Animated character]

I can't begin to imagine how many times Paul lead
the Disneyland Band down Main Street...
a lot of times at the end of the day,
the guys in the band were off work after the parade...
so they would go to Mickey and say
"Let's make this a quick one"...
and you'd be surprised how fast Mickey
could skip with those short little legs!!!

Here's Mickey from the Dumbo Circus Parade 1979
It was this summer that we realized we had the same birthday!

Here's a shot of my friend in the 80's

I loved working with Paul,
he just liked to be with the kids,
but when I would come over to Mickey,
He'd give me a playful punch in the arm and shake my hand...
and I would be standing there, Taking pictures,
with the "Real" Mickey Mouse!
Good bye my friend...

and for those of you who remember...
"Where's your Mommy?"

Golfing with Goofy!

The year 1980

One day a friend told me her parents were coming to visit from back east
and her Dad was an avid Golfer...

She was performing in a show over on the west side of the park,
and had a parking space behind The Haunted Mansion...
Her dad's clubs where in her car,
so on my lunch break I got Goofy's Golf outfit and
we surprised her dad with a Golf lesson from Goofy!

To say the least, this made his day!!!

Sad, but I bet today I'd be in BIG trouble for doing this!
It's the little things that make people happy!

DUCKTALES Promotional Tour 1987

DUCKTALES!
Back on the road again in 87'
This time with Launchpad and Scrooge McDuck!
for the new series on T.V.

It was a Fun tour,
We traveled with the voice of Scrooge,
Alan Young,
and it was great listening to the the stories
of how he became involved with Disney
and wound up as Scrooge!
and I had to ask about when he played Wilber on "Mr. Ed"
Such a Great Guy!!!

Here's the stickers we gave out:

Target Market Tour 1987

The year was 1987
I supervised a tour to Canada,
Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and Winapeg,
with conjunction with the Hudson Bay Stores...
We took Stacia Martin doing her sketch show
and a small version of the Sword and the Stone show
[with Merlin and a court jester]
and of corse the fab 5.
We did Promos at local TV stations and Hospitals
and shows and Meet and Greets at the Malls...
here are some shots of a Hockey half time show
that Mickey, Minnie, Pluto and Goofy did...
This was totally unplanned...
at the last minute they asked if the characters could do something...

as we were leaving the hotel Goofy grabbed his pillows
off his bed and brought them with him to the rink...
Funny Stuff!!!

This just shows what talented characters we had back then!
they could do ANYTHING!!! at a moments notice!
I was very proud of them!!!
Those were the days!!!

Santa's Little Helper!

O.K.
The biggest laugh I got this Christmas
was with the help of Tinkerbell!
While shopping at Disneyland over the holidays
I ran across this Tink Christmas Ornament!
Made by Lenox
Titled: "Santa's Little Helper"
I couldn't believe no one caught this...

Hope you all had a great holiday...

we know Tink did!!!

The Small One

Here a Press Release from 1978

of the Disney Christmas movie

The Small One