MAGICAL MEMORIES
Disney letter among artifacts for Capitol Theatre’s 100th anniversary
Even Walt Disney didn’t need a mirror on the wall to tell him Windsor’s Capitol Theatre was the fairest of them all.
In 1938, the man himself sent the Windsor Daily Star a letter thanking it for helping promote a screening of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at the Capitol.
That letter will be among the artifacts and archives spotlighted this year during celebrations for the theatre’s 100th anniversary.
“It’s pretty amazing,” said Sheila Wisdom, executive director of the Windsor Symphony Orchestra. “Disney is a thing unto itself. The fact that the person who was the head of the Disney empire took time to write a letter to the Windsor Star — Windsor Daily Star at that time — to thank them for their assistance in promoting a Disney film, it’s amazing. Incredible, actually.”
The WSO is hosting a media conference Tuesday to announce plans for Project Memories, a key part of the Capitol’s centennial celebrations, and how the public can get involved.
“We’ll be talking to people about ways they can engage, because through the history of this theatre it’s gone through several owners, it’s gone through different uses, and there are lots of stories that are related to the Capitol,” said Wisdom.
The Capitol’s doors first opened to the public on Dec. 30, 1920, when a night at the movies cost 35 cents. At the time, it was the largest single-floor theatre in Canada with 1,995 seats.
The building opened under the name Loew’s Theatre as part of a chain of vaudeville theatres owned by American entrepreneur Marcus
Loew, who also formed the MetroGoldwyn-mayer film studio. It was renamed the Capitol Theatre two years later.
During its century at the corner of University Avenue and Pelissier Street, the iconic theatre endured good times and bad. It was slated for demolition in 1991 before being saved by a community movement and government funding, then went bankrupt in 2007 before the city took it over.
The Capitol ultimately got its fairy tale ending, and now hosts sold out audiences as the home of the Windsor Symphony Orchestra and the Windsor International Film Festival.
One of its early heyday highlights came in 1938 when Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Disney’s first feature-length animated film, appeared on the marquee.
Walt Disney was so appreciative he wrote a letter expressing his thanks for the movie’s promotion.
The letter, dated May 12, 1938 and addressed to Windsor Daily Star editor W.L. Clark, is adorned at the top with the likeness of Snow White and her entourage of dwarfs. The menacing Evil Queen, disguised as the old hag, lurks at the bottom hunched over a shiny red apple.
The letter mentions the Star’s “splendid cooperation” in spreading word about the movie’s run at the Capitol.
“May I take this opportunity to thank your staff and especially your artists for their many kindnesses?” Disney wrote.
He ended the letter with his handwritten signature in large, swooping letters.
Wisdom said the letter is extraordinary for several reasons.
“The person who was in charge of the theatre at the time actually bothered to contact Disney directly to tell him this had happened,” she said. “In this day and age, imagine that. Imagine trying to get through to George Lucas if you were showing a Star Wars film. It just wouldn’t happen. And neither would he sit down and write a letter and send it to you. It’s just phenomenal. It speaks to a very different time in our world.”