Introduction
Join Kaye Malins and Sumner Nesbitt for a unique look at Walt Disney’s connection to Marceline, Missouri, the town that inspired so much of his life and work. As Executive Director and co-founder of the Walt Disney Hometown Museum, Kaye brings firsthand family memories of Walt Disney and decades of experience preserving Disney history. Sumner, a Disney historian and former Walt Disney World Cast Member, shares a lifelong passion for Disney history and Marceline’s enduring legacy. Together, they have presented on Walt Disney and Marceline across the United States and Europe, helping audiences connect with the roots of Disney magic.
Kaye Malins was born into Disney history, sharing her birthday with the day The Walt Disney Company was founded, she was destined to one day preserve the Disney history in Marceline. After her family hosted Walt, Lillian, Roy, and Edna Disney in 1956, the next 10 years involved Kaye growing up with Walt Disney as a family friend until he died in 1966. In fact, Kaye’s first encounter with Walt Disney was when he was standing in her living room, and a precocious 8-year-old Kaye convinced Walt Disney to stay in the “pink room.” After that, her claim to fame was that Walt and Lillian Disney slept in her bed. Kaye’s father, Rush, and Walt were business partners of the unproduced Marceline Project. Since then, Kaye has spearheaded the preservation and education of the Disney family in Marceline. At the request of the Disney family, she co-founded the Walt Disney Hometown Museum, which opened in 2001 as part of Walt Disney’s 100th Birthday Celebration in Marceline. For almost 25 years, Kaye has served as the museum’s Executive Director.
Sumner Nesbitt began his Disney journey when he got his first edition of Disney A to Z at the age of 5 and seemed to carry the book around everywhere, quite literally wearing it out, several years later he found himself working on Main Street, U.S.A. at Walt Disney World in Florida, where he worked along the Walt Disney World Railroad, drove the Main Street Vehicles and toured and trained the new Cast Members on Main Street’s rich history and legacy. After several years and several Disney roles later, he finally visited the original Main Street, U.S.A. in Marceline. Two months later, he called Marceline home and began working alongside Kaye Malins at the Walt Disney Hometown Museum. Since then, Sumner and Kaye have had the opportunity to give presentations on Marceline and Walt Disney throughout the United States and even in Europe. He has been officially recognized as an authorized Disney historian with his induction into the Hyperion Historical Alliance, the premier group of Disney writers, historians, and scholars, so all that reading in Disney A to Z paid off.