Disney CEO Bob Iger, with patients at Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines, unveils the new Disney character mural Wednesday at Blank.
Photo by Duane Tinkey

Seventy-five years after the first Disney character murals were painted in Blank Children’s Hospital, Disney CEO Bob Iger unveiled a new 110-character mural and accompanying $100,000 contribution.

“We’ve had a long history of supporting hospitals, and children’s hospitals in particular, around the world, dating back to Walt. We’ve maintained that involvement over time, but we’ve recently stepped up that involvement significantly with the announcement of a $100 million Disney-led campaign to support children’s hospitals around the world,” Iger said Wednesday at the unveiling.

The new mural was designed by some of Disney’s Imagineers — the creative team that is behind the Walt Disney Co.’s theme parks, restaurants, attractions and parades. “We turned to them, which is exactly what Walt would have done in his day to create these,” Iger said.

Des Moines is only the second stop in the Disney campaign for children’s hospitals, but it received early recognition thanks to a link between Disney himself and the hospital’s 1943 construction — Walt Disney and hospital founder A.H. Blank were friends, and Disney had the original artists of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” paint murals in the hospital’s playroom.

Today those murals are still on display in the hospital, with a layer of glass to protect the paintings. Iger first heard about those murals 18 months ago from Ray Cole, president of Citadel Communications and president of the ABC affiliate stations board.

“There’s something very vivid about them. The characters pop off the walls,” said Iger, who saw them for the first time on Wednesday.

Personally, Iger said he’s always admired Tinkerbell out of all the Disney characters.

“I try not to say that too publicly, because the other characters get jealous,” Iger told reporters.