What inspired Forest Lawn Museum to explore the relationship between Hubert Eaton and Walt Disney in a public exhibition?
It’s something that we’ve always known was there, but we just didn’t know the extent of it.
In 2024, a couple of folks from Disney came to us with a different exhibition idea, but the timing just didn’t work out. It coincided with a release of something at Disney, but wasn’t enough time to everything they wanted. We thought it was a cool idea, though, and wanted to work with them.
We put our thinking caps on and pitched California Visionaries: The Lives and Legacies of Walt Disney and Hubert Eaton, and they loved it.
From there, we continued our research and just kept finding more, more fun things and more ties between Walt Disney and Hubert Eaton, and between Disneyland and Forest Lawn. It’s really been an exciting process.
How would you describe the men’s friendship, and what philosophical and artistic parallels do you see between these two visionaries?
They weren’t best friends. They didn’t hang out all the time. But they did spend time together. There was mutual admiration and respect.
They were cut from the same cloth in certain ways. They were both Midwesterners who grew up in Missouri and had big visions to change their respective industries. They moved to California and enjoyed the exciting world of early and mid-century California, where anything seemed possible.
They also, and we highlight this in the exhibition, celebrated Abraham Lincoln through art and various attractions, as well as Mark Twain. Again, that’s the Missouri connection. We actually have a photo of Hubert Eaton with Mark Twain’s daughter in the exhibition.
They were drawn to many of the same sort of cultural influences. They both travelled in Europe multiple times, taking transformational trips steeped in art and architecture that inspired them. I know that same feeling myself when I go to Italy or London. It’s like you’re living in a fairy tale. Both men recreated those worlds in their own ways.
Both Disneyland and Forest Lawn are carefully designed environments intended to evoke emotion and inspire visitors. What do you think has allowed both places to endure and remain culturally significant?
Both Disneyland and Forest Lawn feel simultaneously like you step into the days of yore, a sort of medieval Renaissance world, but they also feel timeless. I think it’s striking how they balance history and timelessness.
Another thing, and this is a very practical element, is good maintenance. Maintenance isn’t exciting, but it is important to keep up your facilities. There are plenty of amusement parks out there, but not every 71-year-old amusement park looks as good as Disneyland. And we’re 120 years old. We have a huge maintenance team that’s constantly working on things.
That practical element is part of it, but it’s really about the vision of making these places feel both historic and timeless at the same time.
The exhibition features newly discovered photographs and archival material. Was there a particular artifact or discovery that surprised you or changed your understanding of their relationship?
Yes, one thing in particular, and it was found well after we started working on the exhibit: correspondence between Walt Disney and Hubert Eaton from 1937.
We knew there was correspondence in the 1950s. They were photographed together when they were both served on the advisory board of Saint Joseph’s Medical Center in the Valley, and we’d seen photographs of them together in newspapers. We later found correspondence from just before they passed away. Both men passed in 1966.
But the 1937 correspondence surprised us because neither Walt Disney nor Hubert Eaton were well known at the time. Hubert wrote to Walt to say that he was speaking at a graduation at William Jewell College and asked if he could provide some words of inspiration for the graduating class. We have Walt’s signed response, wishing the graduates good luck and encouraging them.
That was an incredible discovery because it showed us that these men had corresponded as early as 1937 and kept in touch in one capacity or another for pretty much their entire careers.
In that same batch of letters is a note from Cecil B. DeMille and one from Amelia Earhart, written just a few months before her final flight. I think Hubert was really well connected. Los Angeles has been a big city for a long time, but it was a lot smaller 89 years ago.
We also found some remarkable photographs in the archive. One of my favourites shows the funicular at Forest Lawn, a little cable car that took Eaton from his home to the top of the hill near the museum. We knew the funicular existed, but we’d never seen a good photograph of it.
We joke that it’s the one ride that used to exist at Forest Lawn. It was never open to the public, but it gave Eaton a very short commute to work, like a one-man Angels Flight.
Hubert was also sort of a scrapbooker. He loved to collect things, and I think that’s even what inspired him to create a museum at Forest Lawn.
What do you hope visitors understand about Walt Disney and Hubert Eaton through the California Visionaries?
I think everyone could surmise that they were both hardworking, shrewd businessmen. That’s not a surprise to anyone. But what I want people to realize is that both of them, in their own ways, really did want to celebrate life and sort of create happy moments for families.
Disney does this through wonderful animated movies, musicals, and, of course, Disneyland. I can think back to the first time I went to Disneyland when I was four years old, and the magical moments I got to share with my family.
Hubert Eaton and Forest Lawn approached that idea differently. During some of people’s toughest times, Forest Lawn helps preserve and celebrate the memories of loved ones, not just on the day of someone’s funeral. It’s a place people can return to, filled with art and beauty, and a setting where they can remember their loved ones.
I think visitors will be surprised by the ephemera and objects from both the Forest Lawn collection and Disney’s history. It’s cool to get up close and personal with some really neat artifacts. We have a schematic sketch of the Abraham Lincoln animatronic right next to a beautiful statue of Abraham Lincoln from our collection. It’s a fun learning experience.
Both men were interested in art and beauty as a means of creating happy moments and celebrating life.
California Visionaries: The Lives and Legacies of Walt Disney and Hubert Eaton runs at the Forest Lawn Museum until February 7, 2027.