TACOMA, Wash. — For 100 years, since the day it opened by screening The Green Goddess in 1923, Tacoma's Blue Mouse Theatre has been feeding and treating its neighbors like family.
In Clark Spencer's case...literally.
His grandparents owned the theater for three decades.
"I would literally sit on my grandmother's lap as she sold tickets to the shows and then when the movie started I would sit in the back of the theater and watch the stories unfold on the big screen and I was mesmerized," Spencer said.
The first movie Spencer ever saw here was Disney's "The Jungle Book."
"There's music," Spencer said. "There's talking animals. There's this villainous snake. There's a boy having a great adventure. That was kind of the coolest thing I had ever seen in my life."
A seed was planted in those days at the Blue Mouse and after some success on Wall Street, Spencer joined Disney where he'd win his first Oscar as executive producer of "Zootopia."
"I can remember the moment somebody pitched this idea: what if Nick and Judy had to go to the DMV that is run by sloths?" Spencer said. "That was all that was said. And the whole room was 'Oh my God that's such a great idea we have to go execute that."
We asked Spencer what it's like to go up on stage and be handed an Oscar?
"God that's a great question," Spencer said. " I always say to people it's a little bit of an out of body experience."
An experience Spencer has had some practice. He won a second time twice for "Encanto."
Today the man who sat on his grandmother's lap is president of Walt Disney Animation Studios.
"This is sort of the heart of the company where the whole thing started 100 years with Walt and animation. It's kind of a dream come true," said Spencer. "A dream that totally began here in Tacoma."
That's why Spencer recently came home to mark the 100th year of the Blue Mouse.
"I think there's nothing more powerful than the communal experience in a dark space where stories are unfolding on the screen," Spencer said. "I think you laugh more. I think you cry more. I think you're on the edge of your seat because you feel everyone else's energy at the same time and I think single screen movie houses are amazing."
The Blue Mouse Theatre is located on 2611 N Proctor in Tacoma. Every second and fourth Saturday they screen "Rocky Horror Picture Show" and audience participation is strongly encouraged.