A decade after his passing, Robin Williams leaves behind an amazing Disney legacy!

Robin Williams left us ten years ago yet his connections to Disney are the reason the man remains such a beloved comedian!
Robin Williams, Betty White Recognized With Disney Awards
Robin Williams, Betty White Recognized With Disney Awards / Handout/GettyImages
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 5
Next

The theme parks

Overlooked in all this is Williams' great work at the Disney theme parks. When the Disney-MGM Studios opened, the Animation building was a highlight. The timing was interesting as this was just months before The Little Mermaid ignited a new era of Disney animation. The opening movie, "Back to Neverland" had veteran newsman Walter Cronkite at the Studios and enlisting Williams as a tourist to show how the animation process worked.

Williams clearly had a ball voicing a character in Peter Pan clashing with Captain Hook. The tour of the various art stations had more mini-films of Williams showing what each did and his humor on full display. The movie remained even as the animation department shifted over the years until finally closed in 2004. It's also a bit ironic that in 1991, Williams would star as the grown Peter Pan in Steven Spielberg's Hook

Williams also provided the voice work for the Timekeeper in the attraction of the same name that opened first in Euro Disney in 1992 and then the Magic Kingdom in Disney World in 1995. If some think the voice seems off, that's because it's not a real performance. Rather, it's recordings of Williams' first read-through of the script and after his falling out with Disney, they spliced it together. Still, even in a "stilted" form, Williams' voice is like no other.