There’s a little Craftsman bungalow at 4406 Kingswell Avenue that looks like a reasonably well-kept, but otherwise unremarkable home. That it might be destroyed and replaced by a McMansion by flippers would be tragic in any circumstance, but the fact that there is irreplaceable Disney history inside these walls makes the matter of this home, this demolition, just a little – all right, a LOT more important, much more urgent to me than the usual heartbreak I experience every time one of those beautiful old dames meets her end, to be replaced by a beige, concrete monstrosity.

uncle-roberts

When Walt Disney first came out to California in 1923, he joined his brother Roy and lived with his Uncle Robert Disney and aunt Charlotte in their home – 4406 Kingswell. When he couldn’t get a movie studio to hire him (even with his Universal distribution business cards) he set up shop in Uncle Robert’s garage, beginning with the Alice Comedies; the garage is now in Garden Grove at the Stanley Ranch Museum.

Walt-Disney-1st-studio-LA

The property sold two months ago, and its new owners are Sang Ho and Krystal S. Yoo, who have flipped similar properties in Studio City and Corona.  They requested a demolition permit for the 1914-built home, according to Los Angeles Magazine, Curbed, LAist and several other sites.

disneykingswell1

Roy and Edna Disney were married in the living room of the house. This house is Walt Disney’s first LA residence, it’s where Walt started his LA career, it’s Roy and Edna Disney’s wedding location and it’s an important piece of Disney history. I really, really hope we don’t lose it. We’ve already lost too much of Walt’s history.

The house was deemed eligible for the National Register of Historic Places in November, so there might be a chance to save it that way.

That’s not the only Disney history on Kingswell Avenue. There are two locations Walt once lived on the street as well as three locations he and Roy worked. It’s really a historic district and ground zero for the formation of the Disney Company.

Curbed.com
Curbed.com

The first Disney Studio is a commercial building.

4409 Kingswell Disney Apartment
Walt and Roy later lived upstairs at 4409 Kingswell Ave.

 

fabsaysThe good news is, the permit is on hold because the house might have historical importance. The folks at the Walt Disney Birthplace jumped into action the moment they heard the news that the house was in peril and contacted political figures, city departments, historians, writers and anyone else they could muster. They advise that we can’t sit back and wait. We also should not picket, make prank phone calls, do flash mobs at the local mall or start Change.org campaigns. Those….don’t really do much good.

So, what can we do?

LA Conservancy addresses this issue: Mansionization and Teardowns
We should let them know that Walt Disney’s first LA home and studio is in danger of teardown and mansionization/flipping. It’s what happened to his Carolwood home. We can’t let that happen again. They can let the appropriate “experts at saving important, little old houses” people know.

Whom else should we ask – politely – for advice and help?

These folks:

Fab News is sponsored by my Patreon Patrons and by DVCResaleMarket.com

Marvel Unlimited for a Dollar. Yes, a Dollar.

But just for the first month, and just for the next three days, which happen to be the time Comic-Con is happening. This is no coincidence. It’s to celebrate San Diego Comic-Con. So give it a try – it’s incredible.

 

From the mailbag:

MARVEL UNVEILS NEW DETAILS ON TRIBUTE STATUE CELEBRATING 75 YEARS OF CAPTAIN AMERICA

Captain-America-Statue

Heroic 13-Foot Statue Debuts at San Diego Comic Con Before Journeying to Steve Rogers’ Birthplace of Brooklyn, NY

 Marvel and Comicave Studios also issue new Custom Comic

Integrating the Statue into a new Captain America Story

 Glendale, Calif. (July 20, 2016) – Since his creation in 1941 by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon, Captain America has gone through numerous evolutions, but  always remains as one of the world’s most influential and inspiring Super Heroes. Kicking off a new phase of the year-long celebration of 75 years of Captain America, Marvel Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media have unveiled a slate of heroic activations taking place at San Diego Comic-Con and beyond to honor the First Avenger, along with a wide range of celebratory merchandise.

 Headlining the Captain America 75th anniversary celebration, Marvel has collaborated with high-end collectibles maker Comicave Studios to create a one-of-a-kind Captain America statue that will be displayed at the Marvel booth #2329 at Comic-Con International on July 20. Comicave Studios worked closely with Marvel artists in New York and a Brooklyn-based sculptor to design the bronze tribute, standing at over 13 feet and weighing 1 ton. The statue will continue to stand tall on the show floor throughout San Diego Comic-Con for photo ops with fans, and 1/12-scale bronze replicas of the statue will be available for purchase. Plus, a custom comic book was created by Marvel Publishing writers and artists to integrate the statue into new storytelling.  This one-of-a-kind comic will be available in limited quantities at San Diego Comic-Con and future Captain America events.

Following SDCC, the commemorative statue will journey via truck across the country to Brooklyn, NY – the hometown of Steve Rogers – for a limited engagement in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. Fans can follow the truck along its cross-country route through photos on social media sites like Marvel and StyledByMarvel Instagram. The statue will be on display in the Children’s Corner of Prospect Park for a two-week temporary installation, kicking off with a dedication ceremony and community event on August 10th from 1-3pm. In the evening, a special viewing of the recent blockbuster film, Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War, will take place in Prospect Park as part of the culmination of the Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams’ “A Summer Movie Under the Stars” program, which will be airing four Captain America-focused movies every Wednesday from July 20th to August 10th.

“To the rest of America and the world, he’s Captain America; to us, he’ll always be Steve Rogers, ‘just a kid from Brooklyn,’” said Borough President Adams. “Brooklyn is proud to be the base of celebrations for Cap’s 75th anniversary, which will be capped by a larger-than-life statue traveling around our borough — befitting of this larger-than-life character. Prospect Park is the place to be this summer to enjoy the Captain America!”

 captain-america-statue_612x380

After the half-month stop in Prospect Park, the Captain America statue will move to the plaza outside Barclays Center on Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues for September, during which several Marvel fan activations take place. From late October through the remainder of the year, the statue will adorn the soon-to-be-opened Bed Bath & Beyond® in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Fans of all ages will enjoy a specially re-designed statue base, for heightened interactivity and photo opportunities with Captain America, as well as see and shop for a variety of unique Marvel items, including limited quantities of scaled replicas of the bronze statue itself.

Thank you!

Thanks to my Patreon Patrons and DVCResaleMarket.com for supporting Fab News. I’m at San Diego Comic-Con this week, so it’s a little short, but I’ll have lots of interviews and stories coming up.

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, Kingswell Disney House in Peril

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FTC-Mandated Disclosure: Sponsorship for this edition of Fab News was provided by DVC Resale Market.

 

Shelly Valladolid
Shelly Valladolid, aka Fab, has been writing about Disney and theme parks for about two decades. She has written for various fan and pop culture sites, Disney Magazine and OCRegister.com and participated in several books, including Passporter's Disneyland and Southern California and Disney World Dreams. She was co-founder and president of the Orlando, Florida chapter of the NFFC (now Disneyana Fan Club). She taught a class on theme park history at a Southern California University. She is creator and co-owner of Jim Hill Media, one of the creators of MousePlanet and was a consultant on MSNBC, The Motley Fool and others about Disney and various media matters. She was a Heel wrestling manager on TV and a voice artist on the radio in Honolulu, HI, where she grew up. She has a blog and a podcast with her daughter, Mission:Breakout Obsessive Alice Hill. She and her husband, MiceChat columnist Noe Valladolid, live in Southern California with Alice.