Uploaded September 2018 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago

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Diane Disney was the ultimate torchbearer of her father Walt's legacy. Walt Disney was a very public figure, but Diane did her best to avoid the spotlight until she realized that her father’s centennial year was approaching in 2001. She worried that people didn’t know who he was any more. The once-familiar face and voice from years of television exposure was fading into the shadows. If people recognized the name it was as a corporate entity and no longer associated with a real, live person. She made up her mind to reverse that process, even if it meant having to sacrifice some of her own privacy, and the Walt Disney Museum was born.

Back in 2006, before the Walt Disney Museum opened, Diane sat down with American film critic and historian Leonard Maltin for an interview that appeared in the bonus features of the Walt Disney Treasures DVD "Your Host Walt Disney" for a warm and intimate look back at her heartfelt memories of her dad, Walt Disney.

For more Disney history, be sure to visit www.disneyavenue.com.