By Chase Hartsell
For as long as I can remember, my family has had a tradition of watching movies together at home over the course of Thanksgiving break. On one particular night during this year’s break, we decided to watch the new Disney+ original documentary entitled Mickey: The Story of a Mouse. About seven minutes into the film, we ran across a pleasant surprise.
During an early portion of the documentary, a narrator describes Walt Disney’s childhood in the small town of Marceline, Missouri. The sequence opens with a wide-shot of wooden barn, which serves as a replica of one owned by Walt’s parents that formerly occupied the site. From there, the film cuts to a shot of a fan message written on the interior of the barn amongst thousands of similar writings. This fan inscription includes two drawings: one of a 1920s-era Mickey Mouse accompanied by a modern version of the iconic character’s face. Written beneath these drawings are the words: “I love Mickey Mouse.” These markings are now preserved forever in an official Disney film project. They also happened to be left there by sister eight years ago this summer.
In the Hartsell household, Disney has always been a staple. Our family grew up watching Disney films together, and we’ve also made a few trips to Walt Disney World. In the summer of 2014, however, we decided to take a journey on many diehard Disney fans’ bucket list. We traveled to Marceline, Missouri: the boyhood home of Walt Disney. While Walt was born in Chicago in 1901, his family moved to Marceline when he was a young child. Disney spent many of his formative years in the small railroad town in northern Missouri and, even in adulthood, he credited Marceline as serving as the inspiration for some of his most successful projects.
Though the railroad business in town is not as busy as it used to be, Marceline continues to press forward while preserving the legacy of one of its most cherished sons. The building that once housed the railroad depot now hosts the Walt Disney Hometown Museum, a permanent exhibit that pays tribute to the escapades of Walt Disney and his family in both Marceline and beyond. A couple of miles from the depot building, the museum also maintains a portion of the land that once served as the Disney homestead. While the Disneys’ former house is privately owned, fans are encouraged to visit another part of the property that featured the family barn and Walt’s “Dreaming Tree.”
The replica of the Disney family barn as it appeared in 2020. The interior is lined with messages to Walt Disney and his most famous creations. | Photo: Chase Hartsell 
The Walt Disney Family Museum (pictured) offers multiple exhibits related to the Disney family and their ties to Marceline. Katelyn (right center) can be seen exploring the museum with our mom, Deana (left center). | Photo: Chase Hartsell 
Katelyn leaves her sketches on the walls of the Disney family barn in 2014. We wouldn’t see this art again until it appeared in “Mickey: The Story of a Mouse” in 2022. | Photo: Deana Hartsell
When our family arrived in Marceline in 2014, we took advantage of all of these amenities. We started our day at the Hometown Museum before making our way to the public portion of the Disney homestead. My sister and I spent several minutes under the “Dreaming Tree,” where Walt sketched and lived out his fantasies as a chid. Our family was fortunate enough to see the “Dreaming Tree” in its final stages of life: less than two years after our visit, the tree died after being struck by lightning and infected with a disease (the museum later did a fundraiser selling pieces of bark from the tree; I happen to own one of those pieces).
From there, we finished off our visit to the property by entering the replica of the Disney family barn. In terms of furnishings, there is not much speak of inside of the barn. Only a lantern or two adorn select corners of the wooden structure. The walls, however, are far from bare. Etched on every side of the interior of the building are thousands of messages serving as fan mail of sorts to Walt Disney and his celebrated creations. Each member of our family found an empty space and penned (or, in my sister’s case, drew) their own note for Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse. Katelyn, my younger sister (who was 11 at the time), took extra care because she wanted to make sure that her sketches turned out just right. After she completed her drawings, our family left the property and, after a pit stop at a local ice cream parlor, we made our way out of town. That marked the end of our first Marceline experience.
It would not, however, be our last visit to the boyhood home of Walt Disney. Six years later, during the summer of 2020, the Hartsells made a return trip to Marceline after my high school graduation. Circumstances were, obviously, different from our previous visit: the COVID-19 pandemic ensured that masks were necessary during our visit to the indoor Walt Disney Hometown Museum. The museum itself had improved since 2014, featuring new exhibits full of Disney and Marceline-related content and artifacts. After spending a couple of hours there, we explored the downtown district and, to close out the day, we returned to the Disney homestead. Besides the absence of the “Dreaming Tree” and some updated signage, not much had changed since the first time our family was there. The Disney barn appeared virtually the same as it had before, though a quick view of the interior revealed that even more messages now populated the interior walls. There were so many messages, in fact, that we had difficulty locating any of our original notes or sketches. After eventually admitting defeat, we left new markings on the wall before heading back to the car. Still, though, we wondered if we would ever see one of our original markings again.
A little over two years later, we had our answer. On a typical movie night over Thanksgiving break, we saw my sister’s 2014 sketches from Marceline appear in the official documentary celebrating Disney’s most beloved character. It was the first time we had seen her drawings since the day she put them on the barn walls over eight years prior. It was a special moment – our family has always appreciated the magic of Disney. Now, thanks to one summer visit to Marceline, my sister is a part of that magic forever.
You can see my sister’s handiwork for yourself by watching Mickey: The Story on Mouse, which is available now on Disney+. For more information regarding Marceline and the Walt Disney Hometown Museum, please visit https://www.waltdisneymuseum.org.
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Chase Hartsell Sports 