Walt's Family & Friends Tim Considine While some of the most memorable work done by Walt Disney on television was found on his weekly Disneyland television show on ABC and the subsequent series, Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color on NBC. But that was really just the beginning. Of course, there was the inimitable Mickey Mouse Club. But young people -- and their parents – also tuned in, by the millions, to see other offerings from Walt, including “Zorro” and “Spin and Marty.” The latter was a serial on the Mickey Mouse Club during the 1955 to 1956 season, which Disney curator Dave Smith describes as a show “about a spoiled rich kid, Marty, who goes to a summer boys’ camp. Spin, who was the most popular kid from the previous summer, is back, and the two don’t get along because Marty so obviously hates the camp.” The following excerpt is from an interview with Tim Considine, who played the role of Spin in the program. As the following comments reveal, Considine saw a side of Walt that many adults would have given anything to enjoy. Q: Over the course of time, you've said that you were "awed" by Walt. Why? Q: What are your recollections of Bill Walsh? Q: Your original audition didn't lead where you expected, did it? Q: As Walt's presence was more felt, what did you call him? Q: You had the chance to talk to him about Disneyland, didn't you? Q: And when Walt wasn't on the set? Q: Over the course of time, you've said that you were "awed" by Walt. Why? Tim:    Well, you have to remember, I was, what? Fourteen or fifteen years old and the Disney presence on television was just really happening. Disney was a magic name to people my age. In fact, that's really the only reason I came out of one of my periodic retirements. My agent, who was also my uncle, said, "They're doing something at Walt Disney Studios" and I said, "Disney?" And he said, "Yes, and it's a whole different kind of thing. Maybe you ought to come out, just see what you think." And I went out and it was different. I played baseball, softball, the whole day. The producer, Bill Walsh, I think, was either the catcher or the umpire. I just had a terrific time. I barely remember the interview part of it. Mostly remember the baseball part of it. Q: What are your recollections of Bill Walsh? Tim:    He was a terrific guy. As I said, he was either the catcher or the umpire in this humongous softball game with zillions of kids. And I remember he wore his cap backwards and he smoked a cigar. I hated cigars but he was just a terrific guy. And I remember him scrunched over the plate with this cigar sticking out of his mouth. And then later, of course, I got to know him pretty well and he was producer, of the Mickey Mouse Club. Q: Your original audition didn't lead where you expected, did it? Tim:    No. I came in to audition for something called the "Monty Markham Story." And it was a story about this little rich kid who went to a dude ranch. And they gave me this script to look at, and I looked at the script and I read for that part. And I got that part. But then I didn't want to do it. And my agent-uncle said, "What?" And I said, remember, I was 14 or 15 years old, so I said, "I don't want to be this snotty little rich kid. I want to be somebody who's really cool." And I said, "There's this other part in there" which was a very small part at the time of this character Spin. And I said, “I want to be like that guy. That's a neat part.”. And my agent-uncle said, “Well, you can't do that because that's a much smaller part." And I said, "Well, you know, I'm not really interested, any other way." So he said, "Let me handle this." And he went back to the Studio and he said, now, "My guy wants to do this show but he wants to be this other character but only if it's the same size." Well, I never said any such thing, I just said I didn't want to be the other guy. And I guess they liked me because they did bring the other character up to an equal status and they called the show "Spin and Marty." Q: As Walt's presence was more felt, what did you call him? Tim:   Oh, I always called him Mr. Disney. I never would have called him Walt or anything else but Mr. Disney. I remember, I do remember that there were sort of whispers: "Mr. Disney's on the set, Mr. Disney's on the set." You know, and we'd all look around and there he'd be, kind of standing back and looking over. And he was very nice, very quiet, but those are my first memories of him. People would say, "Mr. Disney's on the set" and everyone would get all excited. And there was never any fear or anything like that, you know, the big boss or anything like that. It was just, the great man is on the set, you know. Q: You had the chance to talk to him about Disneyland, didn't you? Tim:    That was the best way to talk to Mr. Disney. If you ever wanted a conversation with Mr. Disney, all you had to say, at the time I was there, was, "How are things at the Park, Mr. Disney?" And, instant conversation. And, often, we'd meet him around lunch time on the way to the commissary, and we'd say that. And he'd say, "Well, come on up and I'll show you something." And he'd turn around and go back into the building, into the animation building where his office was, he'd take you upstairs and he'd show you, like a huge ping-pong table. Looked like, you know, like a kid has a train set? Well, he had Disneyland. And he'd show you the neatest thing that he was just working on now, "This is a new thing that I'm working on." And it was really interesting. That's the way I saw Disneyland. That's the way probably we all saw Disneyland first, was in Mr. Disney's office on his layout. Q: And when Walt wasn't on the set? Tim:    His presence was always felt. We always knew we were in something that was, that had the name Walt Disney on it. That was really something good for us. As I said, at our age, he was the man. I mean, Walt Disney was really something and we always knew, in the background, that it was a Disney thing. I mean, you get caught up in your work and you don't think about it all the time.