Jack Lindquist’s new memoir, ‘In Service To The Mouse’
by Marty Sklar
 When I received the invitation from Jack Lindquist to speak at the launch of his new book, “In Service To The Mouse,” I reluctantly agreed. I was not negative about Jack, who has been one of my best friends since we started working together at Disneyland in 1955. I hesitated because Richard Nixon was not one of my favorite presidents of the United States, and the inaugural event was to take place in mid-December 2010 at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda, California.
I had been there previously, and I knew I would have a difficult time focusing on Jack after experiencing the shock of seeing the museum’s first photo of President Nixon, viewed almost immediately to your left as you enter the building. There they are—Richard Nixon and Elvis Presley! I remember thinking, “Wouldn’t it be fun, just for today, if we could substitute a photo of Jack in place of Nixon?”—after all, Jack was the first president of Disneyland! And, as his new book will prove when you read it, that’s exactly what Jack would have done in his days at the Magic Kingdom.
Jack retired as president of Disneyland in 1993 after 38 years at Disney. As a result of our relationship—going all the way back to the beginnings of Disneyland—I am privileged to have written one of the book jacket’s quotes, as follows:
“Jack wrote the marketing ‘bible’ for the amusement industry—he was willing to try anything. He bet his job on some of the wildest ideas ever: Disney Dollars, ‘Gift Giver’ for Disneyland’s 30th anniversary and the Mickey Mouse shaped cornfield in Iowa—now they’re all textbook classics! You don’t teach this stuff; you do it!”
Jack’s book is easily one of the most readable about the Disney parks, because he chose to tell the story as a series of anecdotal chapters. Because the stories are about so many of the marketing inventions from Jack’s playbook at Disney, readers will feel as if they were right there at the creation of Disney Dollars, Grad Nite, “Date Nite at Disneyland,” New Year’s Eve parties, “Blast to the Past,” and so much more Jack Lindquist’s inventive marketing mind brought to life.
Jack also shares the tales of how, in the course of selling sponsorships for Epcot, he spent 10 days waiting for a meeting with Imelda Marcos, wife of the president of the Philippines; six weeks in Tehran waiting to meet the Shah of Iran (who was overthrown a few weeks later); and that he was one of those threatened to be beheaded by a 10-year-old prince in Morocco. And you thought you had difficult clients!
I don’t want to spoil your fun in reading Jack’s book, but here are two sample stories: the first about the Magic Kingdom Club, which he developed with Milt Albright into a promotional vehicle with thousands of industry “chapters” and millions of members before it was discontinued in 2000:
Card Walker (Disney CEO in the ’70s and early ’80s) once told me … my favorite story about the Club. While playing golf in the United Airlines Tournament, Card stood at the tee talking with the chairman of United Airlines, when the chairman pulled a little card out of his wallet. He proudly showed off his card and said, ‘I’m a member of the Magic Kingdom Club!’”
The second story takes place at a private party at the Disneyland Hotel in the early 1960s, following the classic “Dixieland at Disneyland” evening show on the Rivers of America in Frontierland, a special event that starred the great trumpet players Louis Armstrong and Teddy Buckner:
We invited the mayor of Anaheim, the city manager, the city council, various department heads and some prominent business and social leaders to meet the bands and to celebrate {at the Disneyland Hotel}.
The party started at about midnight but remained quiet and staid until one in the morning, when a few musicians started jamming. Then a few more joined in and by two in the morning, the joint was jumping. Everybody knew that at two, the bar would have to shut down and the party would end. But Mark Stephenson, the Anaheim chief of police, proclaimed the event a private party and ruled that as such the bar could remain open. With this last minute reprieve, the party found new vigor. More musicians, including Nellie Lutcher and Sweet Emma, loaned their voices to what I consider one of the greatest jam sessions ever held outside New Orleans.
At about five in the morning, the curtain fell on the event with Louis Armstrong playing a soft, almost religious rendition of ‘When The Saints Go Marching In’ as the sun rose over the park. I don’t think anybody who was there ever forgot that night. I know I haven’t.
And neither have I. It was a thrill to be there— even when we had to be at work at the park again at 9 a.m.!
‘Gift-Giver Extraordinary’
 Perhaps the greatest promotion Jack writes about is the “Gift- Giver Extraordinary” for Disneyland’s 30th birthday. “Top management opposed it—they thought it was another one of my crazy ideas,” Jack writes. “To get the consensus needed, I had to say that I would resign if it didn’t work.”
A change of management, the arrival at Disney of Michael Eisner and Frank Wells as the new heads of the corporation, triggered this exchange:
Michael: “Are you the guy that wrote that memo? You said we’ll do 12 million people in ’85. That’s ridiculous!” (Disneyland attendance in 1984: 9.5 million.)
Jack: “That’s my job.”
Michael: You said that if we don’t do 12 million people in ’85, you’ll resign on January 1, 1986.”
Jack: “That’s a bonus for the company.”
“We computerized the Main Gate,” Jack describes, “and every thirtieth person got a prize … The 30,000th person got a new car … and the 3 millionth got a Cadillac. We gave away 410 cars that year, and attendance went up 22 percent (to 12.5 million guests!).”
Not only was Jack’s job saved but not long after, Michael Eisner appointed him the first president of Disneyland in 1988. Jack retired Oct. 18, 1993—Mickey Mouse’s birthday. He was named a Disney Legend in 1994.
At that Nixon Library event, the current president of Disneyland, George Kalogridis, told the enthusiastic audience that he had purchased copies of Jack’s book for all his leadership staff. It teaches us “to think out of the box” and never fear failure, he said.
There’s so much history about Jack B. Lindquist and his exploits for Disney parks and resorts around the world. I’ve been privileged to work with more of the wonderful talents recognized as Disney Legends than perhaps anyone else still around to talk about it—many were my mentors at Walt Disney Imagineering. But I also learned so much from so many others in other parts of Disney: Walt, of course, and Chairman and CEO Card Walker, President Frank Wells, songwriters Dick and Bob Sherman, and many others who “grew up” with Walt. And from working with Jack Lindquist, the first advertising and marketing manager and very first president of Disneyland. It’s about time his stories, memories, and remarkable marketing concepts have been published.
“In Service To The Mouse” is simply a great read about an incredible career in our industry.
Marty Sklar is the principal of Marty Sklar Creative, a Disney Legend, an IAAPA Hall of Famer, and recipient of the TEA Lifetime Achievement Award. E-mail: marty@martysklarcreative.com.
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