The world’s most famous animation studios turned 90 this year and the landmark was celebrated with a toast at the historic Burbank lot. The 200 or so guests gathered at the studios’ Legends Plaza on a recent chilly California night included some very special actual legends including Milton Quon, who was Art Director on Bambi, Richard Sherman, who wrote the songs for Jungle Book and Mary Poppins, Margaret Kerry, who served as model for Tinkerbell and Ruthie Thompson, who began her work at the studios operating the ground-breaking multi-plane camera developed by Walt Disney for Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. They were honored by Bob Iger, chairman of the Walt Disney Company and John Lasseter, CEO of Walt Disney Animation as well as head of Pixar. The Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, as it was first known, was founded in Hollywood, California, in 1923 by Walt and Roy Disney in the back room of a Los Feliz real estate office. Here the brothers produced the “Alice Comedies”, featuring a live-action actress within an animated world, and accompanied by live music in theaters. The company was soon after renamed Walt Disney Studio and relocated to a studio on Hyperion Avenue in Silverlake neighborhood. It was here that Walt Disney began creating several of his groundbreaking animated shorts, including the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit series, the Mickey Mouse series and Silly Symphonies. “Steamboat Willie”, the celebrated cartoon short that saw the light released 85 years ago, marked Mickey Mouse’s first on-screen appearance, as well the use of fully synchronized sound in history. In 1934, the Studio began working on its first animated feature, 1937’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and the rest, as they say, is animation history. Disney has since of course grown to become one the world’s largest entertainment conglomerates but on this night it celebrated its original roots. “From our humble beginning animation really has been the heart and the soul of this company,” said Iger, “and I believe it always will be and should be.” John Lasseter raised a glass to “all the artists and voice actors that contributed to 90 years of animation history.” “Like every animator here,” he added, “I chose this as my life’s work because at one point in our lives Walt Disney touched us. When I was finishing Toy story at Pixar, Steve Jobs came to me and said you know John the life span of an Apple computer is maybe three to five years. After that they’re a doorstop. But if you do your job right with these films, they can last forever.” Luca Celada [gallery:3317]