Born 1906 South Bend Ind of English parents Learned to speak English in 1910 Went abroad in 1920 Sentenced to salt mines in Siberia for soaping royal wind shield of Czar Nicholas carriage Escaped to California in 1923 Attended Occidental College in 1920 Awarded consistent freshman medal 1926 27 28 which included a paid vacation at Lincoln Heights the third year Two years behind the crank at Disneys camera and has never been in focus yet published in the June 20 1931 edition of The Motion Picture Daily Bill Cottrell nicknamed Uncle Bill by his colleagues was the first president of what is today known as Walt Disney Imagineering the design and development arm of the Company During the planning and construction phases of Disneyland Walt relied heavily on Bills creativity wisdom and foresight to make his dream come true Fellow Disney Legend Marvin Davis once said It was Walt who said Let there be Disneyland like the good Lord said Let there be a world But it was Uncle Bill who was Walts counselor and righthand man Born in 1906 to English parents in South Bend Indiana Bill graduated from Occidental College in Los Angeles California where he studied English and journalism After working for a time on George Herrimans Krazy Kat comic strip he was offered a job working cameras at The Walt Disney Studios in 1929 He soon moved into the Story department and contributed ideas for shorts including Who Killed Cock Robin Fellow Legend Joe Grant recalled Bill was a great fan of Gilbert and Sullivan and you will see elements of that such as the jury box chorus in Who Killed Cock Robin Bill went on to direct the Wicked Witch and Evil Queen sequences in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and contributed to story on Pinocchio In 1938 he married Lillian Disneys sister Hazel Sewell In 1941 Bill and Hazel joined Walt Disney and a small group of artists on a goodwill tour of South America on behalf of the United States Government The trip inspired The Three Caballeros and Saludos Amigos for which Bill also helped develop story Bill later contributed to Victory Through Air Power Melody Time Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan During the 1950s he carried his interest in story over to WED Enterprises now Walt Disney Imagineering where he helped develop storylines and dialog for such Disneyland attractions as Snow Whites Adventures Bill was also keen on nomenclature As former senior vice president of Walt Disney Imagineering John Hench recalled He was a talented writer and helped shape how we referred to events and attractions at Disneyland For instance he encouraged us to quit using the term ride and to refer to attractions as an experience which is exactly what they arean experience Among his many contributions to Disney Bill helped develop the popular Zorro television series and in 1964 was named president of Retlaw Enterprises the Walt Disney family corporation He held that position until 1982 when he retired after 53 years of service A lifelong fan of Sherlock Holmes Bills idea for a movie about an animal detective inspired the 1986 animated feature The Great Mouse Detective Bill Cottrell passed away on December 22 1995 in Burbank California
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