Iconic river shown at start of Disney movies ID’d as tranquil spot out West linked to Walt’s wife Lillian

nypost.com:

according to the Daily Mail.During those five years, a CGI intro showed a glowing star shining in the night sky, representing the Second Star to the Right from “Peter Pan,” the outlet reported.

Viewers were transported down to the Magic Kingdom and taken across a bridge over a river towards the ocean — while a train chugs down a railroad track.Then, viewers were “flown” over the top of a castle bearing the Disney family crest, as fireworks exploded amidst a glowing arch.As it turns out, both river and bridge were inspired by a specific spot along the Snake River in the Lewis Clark Valley, near the twin towns of Lewiston, ID and Clarkston, Wa., according to the Daily Mail report.So what’s the connection to Walt Disney?Well, Disney’s wife, Lillian Marie Disney, lived in the area as a young girl before moving in 1920 to attend business school, according to the report.Then, in December 1923, Lillian moved to LA to be with her sister, getting a job at the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studios after Walt Disney asked her to work for him.Two years later, in 1925, Walt and Lillian returned to Lewiston to get married at the home of Lillian’s brother.As The Daily Mail reports, the official Walt Disney Fan Club notes that, while Walt and Lillian were on a train from New York to LA, she came up with the name “Mickey” for Walt’s now-iconic anthropomorphic rodent — which Walt wanted to name “Mortimer Mouse.”But Lillian told her husband that name was too formal, suggesting Mickey instead — and the rest is history.Lillian died in December 1997 at the age of 98 — on the very same day that Walt died 31 years earlier..