The partnership between Walt Disney and Admiral Joe Fowler was essential for getting Disneyland built and open under the time and financial constraints impacting the park’s construction.

Walt asked Fowler in 1954 to oversee the building of Disneyland. In a 1993 interview with Orlando Sentinel reporter Harry Wessel, Fowler shared that a few days after being hired, Walt boiled down for him how their relationship would work:

“Now, look, I will try to have the ideas, and you make the engineering a reality out of it. You can’t do it, tell me. That’s all.”

Thankfully for Fowler, and for all of us, there were only a couple instances where Fowler wasn’t able to make Walt’s ideas a reality. 

People Joe Fowler Walt Disney