Episode 054 – Jim Korkis, Part 1

 Jim Korkis
Interview Guest: Jim Korkis

 

Today’s podcast is brought to you by audible.com – get a FREE audiobook download and 30 day free trial at StoriesoftheMagic.com/audible. There’s over 150,000 titles to choose from for your iPhone, Android, Kindle or mp3 player—including my book, Faith and the Magic Kingdom.

In this episode, we begin what I squeezed down into a 3-part interview with author and Disney Historian, Jim Korkis. I knew we’d have a lot to talk about and I was definitely not disappointed! It honestly hurt to cut some of what I did cut to get it down as far as I have.

 

But first, I have a special gift for you as a listener to Stories of the Magic. In preparation for the release of the book, I created a 1-hour audio walking tour of Disneyland. Originally available only to people who bought the book during the Launch, now I’m making it available to you as a free download for the month of April. No strings. Nothing to fill out or sign up for. Just go to storiesofthemagic.com/faithaudiotour. That’s a direct link to the file to download it.

 

In this episode, Jim talks about…

  • How he first got interested in, and then interested in working for, the Walt Disney Company;
  • The dedicated and creative way he got interviews with some Disney animators at 12 years old;
  • His very first interview—and where he went from there;
  • Why he realized how blessed he was to get to do these interviews—and why that was also a source of frustration for him;
  • How he got started working for Disney, including why he had to move to Orlando;
  • A quick aside about being on The Gong Show, The Dating Game, and Family Feud;
  • His first job working for Disney—it wasn’t what he was expecting for sure;
  • Being a couple of characters—at least one of which you may not remember;
  • Teaching as part of Disney University, then tours with Disney Adult Discoveries and more;
  • Being let go from Disney and how he used that to more formally launch his writing career;
  • Why he’d been writing under the name “Wade Sampson” until this time, and the origin of that name;
  • What he still does for Disney;
  • Two articles he wrote recently for Disney-approved publications that got rejected—you’ll be surprised at why!;
  • A couple of ways Walt Disney was always keeping the guests in mind and planning ahead;
  • The time he first remembers realizing he was a part of the magic he’d spent so much time learning and interviewing people about;
  • The responsibility he feels to the people who shared stories with him over the years;
  • A world where many people don’t know Walt was a real person, and what that’s doing to his legacy;
  • What he loved most about what he did.

(The video he mentioned that he narrated is here.)

 

Find Jim Online:

 

Faith and the Magic Kingdom:

(Note: all product links are affiliate links.)

 

Podcasts Spotlighted in this Episode: 

 

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Music and voiceovers provided by Rick Moyer.

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