As you might suspect, I get dozens of requests every single week for help: People want to know the value of some item they discovered in their attic, information on some relative who worked at Disney, extensive help in writing their paper or book about Disney, or need a lengthy interview on some obscure aspect of Disney that would require extensive preparation.
Some people ask me for my help to get them a job at the Disney Archives or as an Imagineer. Many people simply ask casual questions that would require hours or days of research.
If I tried to accommodate even a small percentage of these pleas, I would have no time to research and write my articles and books.
If I can answer the question off the top of my head, or by quickly pulling a reference book off of one of my shelves, I do that immediately. However, those questions are very rare.
Yet, every now and then I get a request that piques my curiosity or tugs at my heart, and so I do my best to try and supply the answer.
In late May, I got such a request from Gary and Judy Berthiaume, the publicity directors for the California State Racing Pigeon Organization (CSRPO), who were trying to put together an article about Disney and pigeons for their August newsletter.
They had spent many frustrating weeks being shuffled around to different departments at Disney with no success. They were told that there was no connection between Walt Disney and pigeons.
Of course, they knew better because, for more than a half-century, every year, CSRPO has awarded the Walt Disney Trophy.
The Walt Disney Trophy is a perpetual award that can never be retired, as long as the CSRPO is in existence. Its stated purpose is “to enhance the sport of racing pigeons within the state of California and to commemorate the name of Mr. Walt Disney.”
It was originally sponsored by Walt himself.
In their research, the Berthiaumes had come across a MousePlanet article I had written about the pigeon release at the 1960 Winter Olympics.
They knew that the first trophy was given in 1960 by Walt personally, but had little other information to go on since as they wrote, “Our state records were lost in a fire in the mid-1990s, so we're traveling on hearsay and researching where leads take us. Your input is the most we have plus a picture of the actual trophy and Walt's signature on, what appears to be, CSRPO letterhead.”
Their contacts at the Disney Archives had no knowledge of the trophy whatsoever, or any other Walt Disney connections to pigeons, and neither did the Disney Family Museum.
So the Berthiaumes came to me in the hope that, since I am always intrigued by the nooks and crannies in Disney history, I might have something more to share. As it turned out, I did.
Readers of this column know that in the fall of 1995, I was a “friend” of Merlin the magician in the “Sword in the Stone” ceremony at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. As part of the routine, Merlin would pull a white pigeon from his gigantic carpet bag, and would release it to find “the new temporary ruler of Fantasyland” while good King Arthur was away on other business.
When to the amusement of the audience and the befuddlement of Merlin, the pigeon would fly away “to search somewhere else,” Merlin would then have to find someone able to pull the sword from the stone to be worthy of the honor.
As part of my training, I had to learn about pigeons, which were kept in lofts behind the Utilidor entrance and small parking lot at the back of the Magic Kingdom.
I spent an afternoon with Donald Brumfield, who had been in charge of the pigeons for many years, and raced pigeons on his own. He taught me how to grab them, how to tuck their head under their wing so they would fit in the compartment in the carpetbag and the proper way to release them.
Every morning, they would bring seven pigeons in a small cage and set them in the hallway outside of Merlin’s dressing room. There were only six shows, but there was always an extra bird “just in case.” Once released, they would fly up to Cinderella Castle and then curve back to the lofts behind the park.
Walt Disney's connection to pigeons in film stretches from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to these pigeons in Bolt.
White homing pigeons are about four times bigger than the smaller ring neck doves, and twice as large as the typical feral pigeons that people complain are “rats with wings” who delight in decorating statues and car roofs. Some exceptional homing pigeons can find their home from more than 1,000 miles away. Doves and feral pigeons only have a distance of less than five miles, and have a tendency to get confused or lost.
Besides Merlin’s show, several other events at the Walt Disney World Resort regularly used pigeons, including Beauty and the Beast-Live on Stage and special events, like weddings.
Walt Disney World stopped the use of pigeons in July 2002 because the birds literally became sitting ducks for a variety of hawks who figured out that at certain times of the day it was an easy meal. Interestingly, there were never any guest complaints about hawks snatching the birds from the sky, if the guests ever saw it happening.
An occasional hawk, owl or falcon had feasted on the show pigeons as early as the 1980s, but it did not become a frequent problem until the turn of the new century when hawks had been imported nearby to handle a mice problem. Once that problem was eradicated, they settled in around Walt Disney World.
By the time the pigeon release program ended, Walt Disney World sold off for a minimal amount roughly 260 surviving pigeons (cutting off their Disney bands) to local lofts, and re-assigned the five cast members who were managing the lofts, including Brumfield’s son Jonathan, to jobs in custodial, food and beverage, and parking.
Donald Brumfield retired in October 2002 and continued to manage his own lofts.
Walt Disney World was just carrying on a long tradition that had started at Disneyland on July 17, 1955. It was Disneyland’s Entertainment Director Tommy Walker who came up with the idea to release about a dozen white pigeons as part of the opening dedication ceremony for Disneyland. It was so well received, that pigeon releases continued to be utilized, primarily for special events and lofts were built off stage.
Pigeons, of course, have had significant presence in Disney films, starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) up to Bolt (2008) with New York wise guys Joey, Vinnie and Bobby.
Tramp refers to Lady as “Pidge,” a term of endearment, in the animated feature Lady and the Tramp (1955). Most notably, Mary Poppins herself sings about the value of feeding the pigeons for a mere tuppence a bag in the famous Sherman Brothers song that was one of Walt’s favorites.
As Richard Sherman has said, “We try to write with a broad spectrum of meaning. You can listen to ‘Feed the Birds’ and one person will say, ‘Oh, they’re making a pitch to buy breadcrumbs and feed pigeons who need to take care of their young.” Somebody else might say, ‘Maybe it’s more a song about being kind and giving a little love to people that need it.' There’s a double way of looking at it.”
As often happened with Walt Disney, once he got interested in something and started to study it and talk with other people about it, he usually found a way to make a film about it. That was the case with pigeons as well.
Walt got interested in racing pigeons and partnered with director Walter Perkins (of Perkins Films Incorporated) to produce a segment for his weekly television show.
Perkins Films Incorporated would supply more animal-related episodes for the Disney television series, including Chico, the Misunderstood Coyote (1961), Little Dog Lost (1963) and Pablo and the Dancing Chihuahua (1968). Perkins even pops up on camera as a bird fancier in Ward Kimball’s It’s Tough To Be a Bird (1970).
Perkins was a cinematographer for Disney’s live action film Perri (1957) and in 1958 formed his own company, which he later dissolved.
The Pigeon That Worked a Miracle aired on Friday, October 10, 1958 on ABC at 8 p.m., as an episode of the Walt Disney Presents television series. It was later released theatrically overseas in 1962. The television airing was in black and white, but clever Walt had filmed it in color, as he did most of his shows, so it had an extended life of re-releases. It was never issued on VHS or DVD/BluRay.
Writer Otto Englander very loosely adapted the story from the book Pigeon Fly Home by Thomas Liggett. Roughly, it is the story of a 12-year-old boy named Chad (played by Bradley Payne) who, after sustaining an injury during a baseball game, is confined to a wheelchair.
The doctors are convinced that this paralysis is psychosomatic triggered by fear. However, nothing seems to be able to get Chad to walk again. His attitude begins to change when he takes up a new hobby of raising and training pigeons. When one of the pigeons Chad has raised from a baby is placed in peril, Chad is forced from his wheelchair confinement for a happy ending.
It was filmed like a documentary with narration by George Fenneman.
It was the Santa Barbara-Ventura Racing Pigeon Combine that built the loft, supplied the pigeons and organized the massive pigeon release for the climatic race at the end of the movie.
It was this organization, that no longer exists, that presented a wood and gold plaque, The National Pigeon Association Wendell Levi Outstanding Service Award to Walt Disney in 1958 for “The greatest contribution ever made to the sport of racing pigeons.” The award was formally accepted by a representative of the film production on behalf of Walt and mailed to him in December 1958.
Also in 1958, Walt Disney was asked to be chairman of the Pageantry Committee for the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley. He appointed Tommy Walker as the Director of Pageantry. Walker immediately began making arrangements for a massive pigeon release at the games, since that was one of his signature touches.
For the “Walt Disney and Disneyland Salute the Angels” event held at Anaheim Stadium on Saturday, April 23, 1966, for the California Angels baseball team, Walker partnered with the Orange Belt Racing Pigeon Association for a massive pigeon release broadcast on NBC. Walker made sure they received complimentary tickets for a day at Disneyland as a thank you.
“Reports from NBC indicate that the pageantry of the pigeon release was warmly received by television audiences throughout the United States” stated the thank you letter from May 28, 1966.
Between 2,000 and 2,500 (the accounts vary) racing pigeons were released in Squaw Valley opening ceremonies of the 1960 Olympics from each side of the Olympic flag standards. They winged their way over the athletes and spectators in a breath taking display.
It was Thursday, February 18, 1960 and a heavy snowstorm and freezing winds had made the weather cold and unpleasant, but a blue sky appeared with the sun for the hour that encompassed the opening ceremonies.
The pigeons were to represent the doves of peace. Doves weren’t used because in the cold weather, they would not have flown away, but sought shelter in the rafters of Blyth Arena and would have eventually starved or froze to death.
Once released, the pigeons spread out in many different directions on their homeward journey. It was done with the cooperation of the California State Racing Pigeon Organization. A group of 12 officials, headed by executive secretary James Lewis of San Francisco, handled the transportation and care of the birds to the ceremonies.
All the Northern California pigeons returned safely home, but most of the Southern California pigeons didn’t make it home to their lofts until the following day. In fact, some of the Southern California pigeons decided to remain in Squaw Valley. “They were too fat to start off with. They’re not as well trained as our birds,” a Northern California pigeon owner told a San Francisco newspaper at the time.
Twenty-five trophies were awarded for each of the clubs participating in the ceremonies. A special large perpetual trophy also was established at that time to be raced for annually by the organization’s club owners.
The prize, to be known as the Walt Disney Trophy and originally sponsored by Walt, was to be awarded for the “best flier in California ” based on the bird’s fastest average times for long and short racing distances. These races range from 100 to 700 miles in distance,” said Lewis at the event. In 1960, the racing pigeon organization had 1,500 members in 60 affiliated clubs and raced some 10,000 pigeons throughout the state.
Lewis served as Secretary-Treasurer of CSRPO for almost 50 years, beginning when the organization was first established in 1946. He was instrumental in organizing the award.
Over the years, CSRPO Awards Committee has refined the rules for the award and owners must submit the appropriate application by the end of each year to be considered. The high level of achievement required of a loft’s birds and its owner over the entire year makes this award a very prestigious and prized honor.
As established in these games, the release of the pigeons signifying the doves of peace used to take place before the arrival of the Olympic flame. However, following the unfortunate demise of several pigeons sitting on the edge of the Olympic cauldron at the Opening Ceremony of the Seoul Games, this part of the protocol was modified, but not eliminated. Today, the symbolic release of pigeons follows the lighting of the Olympic cauldron.
Gary and Judy Berthiaume ended up writing a very nice article for the August newsletter and highlighted the latest Walt Disney Trophy winners: Joyce Stierlin and Matt Hans.
Disneyland continued doing pigeon releases for special events, along with balloon releases that were coordinated through Nat Lewis, who was the lessee in charge of helium balloons at the park.
On February 18, 1965, Ben Harris, who was a production coordinator under Tommy Walker and then taking over when Walker left, wrote to Neil McDermott, president of the California State Racing Pigeon Association, to ask him to resume the daily pigeon releases for the evening flag retreat ceremony at the flagpole in Disneyland’s Town Square beginning March 3, 1965.
McDermott was asked to do this as an added highlight throughout Disneyland’s celebration of its 10th anniversary Tencennial. In addition, Harris asked McDermott to develop a series of news articles about the pigeon loft at Disneyland, which I have been unable to track down so far.
For the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, McDermott set a new personal record of releasing more than 5,000 pigeons as the Olympic Torch was lit. At that time, McDermott was 75 years old.
Disney was involved with these Olympic Games, as well. Disney Company Chairman Card Walker was on the executive committee of the Los Angeles Organizing Committee, and drew up preliminary plans for the opening and closing ceremonies, so he recommended McDermott because of his work at Disneyland.
Mel and Margie Carpenter handled the white pigeon release for the Lion King Celebration parade at Disneyland in the 1990s, as well as for other events. The birds were kept cool with fans and placed in air-conditioned boxes in the floats. The Carpenters schooled the dancers on how to hold the birds.
Performers released the birds at the end of a dance number. They usually circled a couple of times to get their bearings and then winged their way home: About 10 1/2 miles as the pigeon flies. At speeds of more than 40 m.p.h., they usually arrived in just a few minutes. The Carpenters handled more than 300 birds for Disneyland at the time.
Are there still more stories to be uncovered about Walt Disney and pigeons? Yes, definitely, but at least for now, no one should ever be able to say again there was never any connection at all.
For those who are interested, it is possible to purchase descendants of Disney theme park homing pigeons. A pigeon’s lifespan is generally 15 years, but they can be known to live as long as 30.
