When Walt Disney was a young man, he visited Switzerland and fell in love with Zermatt.
That’s why Disneyland in Los Angeles features the Matterhorn, and why Disney was so keen to produce the 1959 movie “Third Man on the Mountain”.
Disney was fascinated by the dramatic landscape in Switzerland, with snow-capped peaks and the vertiginous slopes stretching to the sky.
A Disney movie in Zermatt
Having been impressed by the many mountaineers he saw taking on the tough climbs of the area, he wanted to create a story about the adventures and challenges that Alpine environments deliver.
The movie came about after Disney discovered the book “Banner in the Sky” by James Ramsey Ullman. The novel tells the story of a young man who dreams of climbing the most dangerous mountain in the Alps.
Disney had found the perfect match with his ideas and optioned the book straight away.
“Third Man on the Mountain”
Walt Disney produced the film “Third Man on the Mountain,” which was released in 1959.
The actors and the crew visited Zermatt several times during production, filming several scenes on location.
It also gave Disney the excuse to revisit Zermatt, where he spent three weeks while the team were in resort.
The director of ‘Third Man on the Mountain’, Ken Annakin, recalled that “At that time, Walt had a fondness for Switzerland and everything Swiss. He went there every year during the summer holidays and loved it.”
The Matterhorn in Disneyland
Without the production of the film, it’s unlikely that the Matterhorn would ever have been recreated in Disneyland Park in Anaheim, LA.
However, Walt Disney decided during shooting to bring the mountain to America. The Disneyland Matterhorn is actually a hollow roller coaster that draws riders up eight stories high before sending them flying back down to ground level.
The ‘Matterhorn Bobsleds’ run opened on 14 June 1959, five months before the film première, and ensured that Switzerland’s most famous mountain would remain in the States forever.
America’s historical links with Zermatt
We recently reported on another famous American who had a love for Zermatt: Mark Twain travelled to Switzerland in 1878 and was overwhelmed by the ‘beauty at the summer of Gornergrat’.
Book your accommodation in Zermatt
If you would like to follow in the footsteps of Walt Disney and book accommodation in Zermatt, then please contact us via our website or call +41 79 247 15 88.
We can help arrange every detail of your stay in Zermatt in addition to your accommodation via our Concierge Service, including airport transfers, lessons, lift passes, restaurant bookings and everything else you may need.
