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Dave Rollin Smith (October 13, 1940 – February 15, 2019) was the founder and chief
archivist An archivist is an information professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to records and archives determined to have long-term value. The records maintained by an archivist can consis ...
of Walt Disney Archives at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California.


Early life

Smith was born on October 13, 1940 and raised in Pasadena, California. He appreciated
Disney movies This is a list of films produced by and released under the Walt Disney Pictures banner (known as that since 1983, with ''Never Cry Wolf'' as its first release) and films released before that under the former name of the parent company, Walt ...
as a child and, having lived in California, visited
Disneyland Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envision ...
frequently. He graduated from
UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...
and spent a year and a half as an intern at the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...
in Washington, D.C. He then moved back to California and worked as a librarian at
UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...
for five years. In the late 1960s, Smith was working on a bibliography on Walt Disney when he first heard of a possible archive being created by
The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Stud ...
. Smith, still working at UCLA at the time, wrote to the Disney Company with an offer of his services, which was accepted.


Career

He joined the company on June 22, 1970, as its first archivist. His first task was to document all the items in Walt Disney's office that had been stored there since his death four years earlier. Smith wrote many books, including '' Disney A to Z'', an official encyclopedia of Disney knowledge, as well as the Walt Disney Trivia Books, and also co-authored ''Disney: The First 100 Years''. In 2007, Smith received the Disney Legends Award, an honor given to people who have made significant contributions to The Walt Disney Company. Between 1980 and 2001, Smith was the executive director of the Manuscript Society. He was also a member of the Society of California Archivists. On June 24, 2010, forty years after he began work at Disney, Smith announced he would soon be retiring. After retirement, he worked for Disney as a consultant. According to the Disney fans and historians, he was regarded as the final authority on the topic of Disney history.


Books

* ''Disney: The First 100 Years'' (English , German ) * '' Disney A to Z'' () * ''Walt Disney Famous Quotes'' (ASIN B000PQ5CNO) * ''Ultimate Disney Trivia Book Volume 2'' () * ''Ultimate Disney Trivia Book Volume 3'' () * ''Ultimate Disney Trivia Book Volume 4'' () * ''Disney Trivia from the Vault: Secrets Revealed and Questions Answered'' ()


References


External links

*
An interview with Dave Smith
at themeparkinsider.com
D23 entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Dave 1940 births 2019 deaths Writers from Pasadena, California American archivists Disney people University of California, Berkeley alumni Historians of animation