One of the most distinguishing aspects of The Walt Disney Company is its rich history of quality entertainment. No other studio has relied so extensively on its past product while at the same time maintaining a strong present and keeping a constant focus on the future. Not an easy balancing act. Even though there hasn't been a lot of overwhelmingly positive news coming from the House of Mouse as of late, Disney is doing better overall than other prominent entertainment companies.

The past, the present and the future -- it all comes together to make up quite a heritage. Disney Heritage is always worth writing and talking about, sharing and celebrating. That is especially evident every fall when a special trivia competition is held for Walt Disney World cast members. The Disney Heritage Celebration Trivia Challenge is sponsored by the Centers of Excellence. These Centers are located in eight different locations throughout Walt Disney World property and can be utilized by cast members for a wide variety of issues pertaining to career development, leadership skills, enhancing computer knowledge, communication and overall life skills, and of course Disney Heritage. The Centers contain books, audio and video tapes, CD-ROMs, as well as presenting special lectures which are also known as Learning Activities.

All cast members are invited to participate in the annual Trivia Challenge. It begins with a Qualifying Round that can be taken once any time at any Center over the course of a few weeks. Any resource at the Centers of Excellence can be used while taking the 25 question written quiz. If you get 18 or more correct, you are then invited to the Semifinal Round. These one-hour sessions are intermittently scheduled over two weeks. On this 50 question written quiz the only resource you can rely on is the memory bank in your head. From there the top ten scorers are all invited to participate in the Final Round which is held before a live audience. This year’s ten finalists were Rick Burnley, Tommy Byerly, Brian Ernshaw, Steven Kittendorf, Joseph Linehan, Douglas Moore, Scott Otis, Christopher Stewart, 2001 Trivia Challenge Champion Carol Dobson, and Bill Griffiths.

Me?! Yes, to my complete amazement my name was among the ten finalists. I had honestly walked away from the Semifinal quiz thinking I had not done that well. In this instance it felt good to be wrong. The call went out and the invitation was accepted: I was to participate in the Final Round on December 5th, 2002 at the Disney-MGM Studio’s ABC Theater. This year’s Final was done as a game show-style competition with three rounds and a special "Name That Tune" segment. I was almost expecting the flashy lights, exciting dramatic music and a Botany 500-clad M.C.

It was decidedly more low key, which was great. Not so much pressure. On stage were two long tables, seating five with microphones for each finalist, and a pen and binder to write down our responses. Jim Korkis served as host. Jim is a Disney historian based at Walt Disney World and actually has some game show experience, appearing as a contestant on Family Feud when it was hosted by Ray Combs, and performing a winning act with his brothers on The Gong Show. He also served as narrator for Disney’s syndicated nature series Secrets of the Animal Kingdom.

Round 1 of the Final had five multiple choice questions worth ten points each, Round 2 had ten standard questions worth 10 points each-- this also included the musical questions. Fortunately they played long enough samples as I was wondering if it would be like the actual Name That Tune series with its legendary Bid-A-Note round. You know: "I can name that tune in four notes!"

Round 3 had ten standard questions also worth 10 points each. The difference here was that if you answered incorrectly, there was a 10 point penalty. To advance to the Final Round (of the Final Round ...), each contestant must have had at least 120 points. And it wasn't easy. Here are some of the questions they gave us (answers at the end of this essay):

* In 1938, Walt had four out of five nominated animated shorts competing for an Academy Award for Best Cartoon. Which of these was not nominated that year?
A. Mickey’s Trailer
B. Good Scouts
C. Mother Goose Goes Hollywood
D. Ferdinand the Bull

* What is the name of the mayor being dunked in a well at Pirates of the Caribbean?
A. Juan
B. Jose
C. Carlos
D. Casanova

* Marcia Strassman is to Gabe Kaplan as Marcia Strassman is to _______________

* Walt admired his brother Herbert’s relatively easygoing career. What was it?

* What is the name of the first cartoon to ever win an Academy Award?

Eight of the ten finalists advanced to the Final Round. I just made it with the required 120 points. Each question was now worth 20 points with any wrong answer resulting in automatic elimination and would continue until there were clear first, second, and third place finishers. This was the question asked:

What is the full name of Thomas O’Malley in The Aristocats?

A few came close, but nobody had it exactly correct (and spelling counted). The answer: Abraham deLacy Giuseppe Casey Thomas O’Malley Cat. We continued on:

Name one building for Disney designed by famed architect Michael Graves. There were five possible answers: Team Disney Building in Burbank, California; The Swan and Dolphin Hotels at Walt Disney World; The Hotel New York at Disneyland Paris Resort; and the post office at Celebration, Florida.

At least three people were correct. First place for this year’s Trivia Challenge went to Tommy Byerly, followed by Christopher Stewart and Carol Dobson. Tommy’s name might be familiar to some. Matt Walker informs me that Tommy won The Disney Store’s trivia competition in 1993 [Editor's Note: Carol Dobson also won The Disney Store's trivia competition in 1998]. It is a well-deserved win. He did a fantastic job and in fact, all ten of us did quite good. It was a lot of fun and something that I hope to attempt again. It was kind of nice to get the celebrity treatment around the office for a couple of days. Actually, I have to admit I was a bit surprised by how much I really knew. As one of my coworkers put it, "All of your cheerleaders in the audience were stumped by nearly all of the questions. Way to go!"

Were you stumped by the questions? Of those particular five, I got the latter two correct. Interestingly, it was the five musical questions where I made up lost ground. Well, music is such an integral part of Disney entertainment after all. Here are the answers:

* In 1938, Mickey’s Trailer was not nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cartoon. Ferdinand the Bull was the winner.

* Carlos is the name of the wet mayor in Pirates of the Caribbean.

* Marcia Strassman is to Gabe Kaplan as Marcia Strassman is to Rick Moranis. Strassman played Kaplan’s wife Julie on the 1975-79 sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter (which featured John Travolta) and played Moranis’s wife Diane Szalinski in the movies Honey, I Shrunk the Kids; Honey, I Blew Up the Kid and at Epcot’s 3-D show Honey, I Shrunk the Audience.

* Walt’s brother Herbert was a postman.

* Flowers and Trees (1932) was the first cartoon to win an Academy Award. It was also the first cartoon in color.

- Essay by Bill Griffiths
Posted

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