The Disney Historian Chapters 1-3

The Disney Historian

Chapter 1

Hunter was a young man in his mid-twenties. Born and raised in Orange County, California, there wasn't a year went by he didn't find himself in possession of a Disneyland annual pass. Every aspect of his life was thoroughly saturated with healthy dose of Disney.

Naturally, Hunter knew from a young age that whatever career path he chose, it would certainly have something to do with the Mouse House. Starting at age 16, he spent his summers working at Disneyland. He started as a busboy at a restaurant but, summer by summer, managed to work his way to a ride operator on his favorite ride; Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

Over time, Hunter decided that his dream career would be a spot in the Disney Archives. He couldn't imagine something much better than spending every day immersed in the precious artifacts from every era of the company's history. He worked his way through college, studying as well as he could the process of a historian, all the way keeping his post at Disneyland.

After college, he kept working part-time at Disneyland, but also found a local archivist job to help build his resume. As a result of his long tenure at Disneyland, Hunter a couple friends who were a little more in the know at headquarters than he was. One day, at the end of a shift on Big Thunder, Hunter was intercepted by one such friend.

"Hey Hunter! Wait up!" His friend Jack called out. Hunter had made it backstage and was on his way to change out of his uniform.

"What's up Jack?" He asked.

"I just got word that someone put in their two weeks at the archives." Jack explained.

"Are you serious?!" Hunter practically shouted.

"100%"

"I can't believe it!"

"Dude! It's time for your dream to become reality."

It was the moment Hunter had been waiting for for years. The Disney Archives was such a desirable place to work that people rarely left. He knew the stakes were high and hundreds of people would apply for the job, but who could possibly be more qualified for the job than him? He knew every date, he'd ridden every ride, seen every movie. He'd even seen Song of the South! He was confident the job was as good as his.

That evening, Jack sent him all the info to apply for the job. Hunter wasted no time completing the application in full and waited for the call. It came the next day while he was at his archiving job. He was in the middle of researching the origin of a piece art in the collection when his cell phone rang. He made an exception that day to leave his ringer on in what normally was a fairly quiet workplace. It startled him a little bit, but he was overcome with nerves when he didn't recognize the number.

"Hello?" He eagerly answered.

"Hello. Is this Hunter Erikson?" The voice on the other end responded.

"Yes, this is him."

"Hi. My name is Rachel Brown. I'm with the Disney Archives. How are you?" She asked.

"I'm doing very well, thank you." He tried not to sound too eager.

"We have received your application for the position here and are quite impressed."

"Thank you!"

"We would love to schedule an interview with you."

"That would be wonderful."

"Would you by any chance be available tomorrow?

"What time tomorrow?"

"Well, the morning would be best." She told him.

He hesitated for just a second. He had a shift scheduled at Disneyland the next morning. However, Jack was running his shift, so he was sure he could get out of it.

"That would be fine for me."

"Great! Will 9:30 work for you?"

"That will be perfect!"

She then instructed him where to go the following morning and finished the call.

He couldn't believe it. He actually had an interview for his dream job, and he was only 26! For the sake of professionalism, he contained his excitement as best he could. On his lunch break, he made sure to call Jack and fill him in.

"Hey Jack, I'm gonna need someone to cover for me tomorrow morning."

"What?! Why? You never call out." He said, surprised.

"You're not gonna believe it!" Hunter said, giddily.

"Try me."

"I can't come in because I have an interview at the Archives!"

"Are you serious?!"

"Would I be flaking on work if I wasn't?"

"Dude! I knew you'd get it!"

"Hey man, I don't actually have the job yet."

"Who could possibly be more qualified than you?" He offered. "I'll totally get your shift covered."

"Thanks dude!"

That night, Hunter went home and made sure his Disney knowledge was in tip top shape. He wound up falling asleep with the most recent edition of Disney A to Z on his face. He slept through the night, waking up the next morning to an alarm he had set as soon as he hung up the phone with Rachel. He was not about to miss the most important interview of his life.

He walked out the door with more than enough time to make it to the studio before his interview. Once the guard let him on the lot, he followed Rachel's directions to reach the area of the Archives where his interview would be held.

He was greeted by Rachel who subsequently introduced him to Dave Smith. Nobody told him that Dave Smith himself would be interviewing him. He was not prepared for this. He thought Dave was retired. Though he knew he was still involved in the Archives, he didn't realize he did the interviews. A slight curveball, but nothing was about to get between him and this job.

He pulled himself together as fast as he could and followed Dave into the interview. It was more casual than Hunter expected. More of an engaged conversation on all things Disney rather your traditional interview setting. Hunter quickly eased in to the format and found it difficult to pause the conversation.

"Well, Hunter, I'm not sure I've ever been so impressed by a young man your age." Dave said.

"Thank you, sir!"

"We've interviewed a lot of people with a lot more archiving experience than you. But, nobody has had such knowledge of and such passion for this company."

"This company is my whole life."
"I can tell. And because of that, I'm going to offer you the job right now." He told Hunter. "I've never done this before, but I have a special feeling about you."

"Oh my goodness! Thank you so much, sir. I promise, there is no way on earth you'll be sorry." Hunter assured him.

"I can tell. And you can call me Dave." He added.

Chapter 2

Hunter checked his phone after the interview and saw he had a text waiting from Jack.

Dude! Call me after your interview!

So, when he got to his car, he immediately called Jack.

"Hello? How was it? You got the job, right?" Jack fired off as soon as he picked up the call.

"Whoa! Slow down, man!" Hunter responded.

"Sorry. I just can't believe you even got an interview!"

"I know, me either."

"So, enough suspense, did you or did you not get the job?"

"Well... I... got it!!!" He teased. "They offered me the job right on the spot."

"Oh! I knew it!"

"He said they've immediately offered the job to someone like they did."

"Ha! Living the dream dude!"

"Hey man, I wouldn't have even know about the job without you! I owe you one."

"Eh. Just swipe an Oscar for me and call it even." Jack joked.

"Yeah, right. Lol."

"Hey, you busy tonight?"

"I don't think so, why?"

"I want to take you out to dinner tonight. You down?"

"Sure! Let's celebrate."

"Ok. I have to get back to work, but I'll text you later."

"Sounds good. Talk to you later."

"See ya."

That was just the start of Hunter's celebratory tour. After his phone call with Jack, he drove straight to his parents' house to break the news. He pulled up and was glad to see both their cars out front. They were surprised to see him.

"Hi!" His mom greeted him at the door. "Did you not have work today?"

"I had my interview at the Archives today, so I got Jack to cover my shift for me."

"Interview?" She asked.

"I thought I told you. I had a job interview today at the Disney Archives."

"No! We had no idea!" She exclaimed. "Come in and tell us all about it."

He went in and had a seat at the kitchen table, where his dad was working.

"Hey Hunter!" His dad said, cheerfully.

"Hi Dad."

"So, what's all this about a job interview?" His mom asked.

"A job?" His dad added.

"So, on Tuesday, Jack caught up with me after my shift on Big Thunder." Hunter started. "He had gotten word that someone at the Disney Archives had put in their two weeks and a position was opening up. Something practically unheard of, mind you. So, he sent me all the info I needed to apply. I made sure to get it all submitted right away. Then, yesterday morning, I got call while at the museum archive from the director of the Disney Archives. She scheduled an interview with me this morning. Then my interview ended up being with Dave Smith!"

"The Dave Smith?" His Dad interrupted.

"YES! I was so intimidated. But, he's actually super nice. Anyway, I was pretty sure the interview was going really well. Then, as proof, he offered me the job right then and there!"

"Oh my goodness!" His mom said. "Congratulations!"

"Thank you!" He said

"Well, we have to celebrate!" She said.

"Well, Jack's got dibs on me tonight, but I could do tomorrow."

"Tomorrow it is." His dad concluded.

"Sweet! Well, I gotta go break the news to the museum."

"Ok. Love you!" His mom said.

"Love you too!" He said on his way to the door.

Hunter drove straight to the museum and met with his supervisor there. He broke the news and gave his official notice. It was a bit of an awkward meeting; his supervisor was clearly jealous but also obviously trying to hide it. After that, Hunter had told everyone that needed to find out in person; so, he was finally able to post about it on Facebook.

That night he met Jack in the park and they went to dinner at Blue Bayou, it was a special occasion after all. It was one of only a handful of times Hunter had eaten there, all of them celebrating significant life events, so it seemed fitting.

"Dude, how am I going to get through these two weeks?" Hunter complained.

"It must feel like torture now." Jack sympathized.

"It really does. But it would be worse if I hadn't gotten the job." He replied with an air of optimism.

"True. Best to look on the bright side, I suppose."

"The park is really going to get me through, though." Hunter admitted. "Maintaining the connection to the magic."

Jack chuckled at that. "I don't know how we'll replace you though."

"There are more lunatics like me out there." Hunter joked.

"They're hard to come by, though." He admitted.

"Just think," Hunter mused as he watched a group of guests embark on their journey through Pirates of the Caribbean, "to be such an important part of preserving the magic."

Chapter 3

The last two weeks at the museum were, in fact, torturously slow for Hunter. He counted the minutes of every day, which felt like hours. He found his respite in his days on Big Thunder, though the end there was ominously near as well. Eventually two weeks and two goodbye parties passed and it was the night before his first day at his dream job.

Naturally, he found sleep a distant friend that stayed away that night as his anticipation kept him awake.

Morning came eventually and Hunter couldn't have been more ready. He was dressed and ready to go well before he needed to leave. He was nearly giddy to have an ID to show the guard at the gate to get onto the lot. He couldn't believe he belonged there. It felt a little like trespassing to unlock the door to the archive unsupervised.

"Welcome Hunter!" Rachel greeted him on the other side of the door.

"Thank you!'

"Ready for your first day?" She asked.

"I don't think I could possibly be more ready."

"Perfect." She responded. "Follow me."

He followed her through the doors at the back of the Archive lobby. Once through the doors, he found himself in a warehouse of pure magic. Labels on boxes like "Disneyland Tencenial" or "Hyperion Studio" were mesmerizing.

"So, typical days involve stuff like artifact maintenance, preservation, cataloguing, and sometimes assembling exhibits for various institutions." She explained.

"Awesome." Hunter let escape.

"But we have something a little unorthodox for your first day." Rachel informed him as she led him into a side room.

"What kind of thing?" He asked.

Rachel presented an Oscar Statuette on the work table in the room. "We recently discovered this Oscar that had wound up in sort of a miscellaneous box of artifacts. The information plate on it fell off, we don't have it and no one seems to be able to figure out what it was for."

"Weird." Hunter commented.

"So, that's what we've got for you today." She continued. "Do what you can to see if you can figure out what this was for."

"Wow. Ok." Hunter said.

"Don't worry if you don't get it. It's more than likely to turn into a dead end." She told him.

With that she left him to it. Hunter sat there, staring at it, wondering where to begin. He certainly well-versed in the history of Oscars, so placing it in a certain era wouldn't work. He picked up the heavy statuette, hopelessly trying to find something to go off of. After a couple of minutes, he was so intent on getting off the Statuette, he didn't notice his surroundings changing.

He jolted up when he was startled by the roaring of applause. He wasn't in the small room in the warehouse anymore. He wasn't in the year 2017 anymore either. He got a clue from the outfits of the people around him. The confirming detail was the announcer who said:

"Ladies and Gentleman, the 1943 Academy Awards will now continue."

"What in the world?" Hunter asked himself. "What's going on?"

When he looked back down, the Statuette was no longer in his hand. Not only that, he was suddenly dressed in a 1940s style tuxedo. His ears perked up when two people appeared on stage to present the award for "Best Short Subject, Cartoon". He listened to the nominees, two of them Disney cartoons.

"The award goes to... Walt Disney for Der Fuehrer's Face!" The presenter announced.

Hunter watched as Walt Disney himself appeared on stage to accept the award and listened to his acceptance speech. When he finished and the ceremony moved on to the next award, Hunter watched everything slowly disappear until he was back in the small room, in his normal clothes, holding the Statuette. For a moment he sat there trying to process what had just happened. Then he ran to find Rachel.

"RACHEL! RACHEL!" He screamed when he saw her.

"What?! What is it?" She asked frantically. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Do we know for sure if we have the Oscar for Der Fuehrer's Face?" He asked, out of breath.

"I'm not sure, let's check the database."

She turned to her computer and searched through a database they had created of the Archives.

"This says we do." She said. "We thought we had all of them. We have a location where it should be, let's go check."

Together, they walked through rows of history to where this Oscar should've been. Rachel opened the crate and they sorted through it.

"It's not here!" She said.

"Didn't you say the Oscar I'm working on was out of place when you found it?" Hunter asked.

"That's right!" She realized.

"Ha! That's what the unidentified Oscar is." Hunter exclaimed. "1943, Best Short Subject, Cartoon."

"How on earth did you manage to figure that out just from the award?" Rachel asked.

"I don't think you'd believe me if I told you." He told her.

"What? What do you mean?"

"I still don't even know if I believe it."

"Seriously, what are you talking about?"

Hunter proceeded to tell Rachel what had just happened, as well as he could. He was still pretty foggy on what happened and what didn't. Rachel's face was in a constant state of shock and disbelief.

"So, that's what happened. I think. Maybe. I don't know." Hunter finished.

"Seriously?" She asked. "You actually felt like you were suddenly transported back to 1943, watched Walt Disney accept the award and then wound up back in the research room?"

"At this point, I don't have a better explanation."

"It sounds so crazy, but how else can you explain how you figured it out?"

They both walked away without a reasonable explanation as to what happened. Hunter spent the rest of the day shadowing a guy named Eric.

"Well, I'm spending the rest of the day cataloguing everything we just got from the set off Beauty and the Beast. It'll be good practice for you to learn the process." Eric explained.

"Cool. Sounds fun."

"We're trying to get it all put in soon so that we can put together a display for one of the cases in the lobby. We have D23 tours in a couple weeks and this displays out there are the same as last time."

Thus concluded Hunter's first day working his dream job. Nobody could say it was average and Hunter certainly wouldn't say it was what he expected.

"You what?" Jack asked that night. Hunter went to his house after work to hang out.

"I'm telling you, there's no other explanation." Hunter reiterated. "There has to be some kind of magic or something in that building. I was transported back in time to the 1943 Academy Awards."

"Dude, I think the magic is in you!" Jack said. "You've been steeped in Disney obsession your whole life; the universe is probably trying to compensate for that or something."

"That makes as much sense as anything else. I wonder what's going to happen next." Hunter remarked.