Exploring Olympic Game Farm’s Disney Legacy

The Olympic Game Farm is a drive thru experience. You stay in your car and drive thru the farm to have an up-close experience with Tibetan Yaks, Llamas, Zebras, Bison, Elk and more. You can even see Brown Bears, Tigers, Lions, Wolfs and more. Before you start your driving experience, you can purchase bread to feed most of the animals on the driving tour. I highly suggested purchasing at least one loaf, as it helps bring the animals closer and gives you an upfront and close experience with a Tibetan Yak or Bison’s tongue.

So how did the Olympic Game Farm come about and what is the connection between the farm and Walt Disney you ask? Well, Mr. Lloyd Beebe is the entire reason for both. In order to learn the connection between the Olympic Game Farm and Walt Disney, lets learn a bit about who Lloyd was growing up and how the farm started.



Lloyd was born in Huntingdon, B.C., Canada, on May 2, 1916. In 1930 Lloyd and his family moved to the Olympic Peninsula, which is where he eventually met his wife, Catherine, and built his career. Growing up Lloyd worked different jobs to help support his family, from peeling vegetables at a hospital, delivering newspapers, to logging, and hunting cougars for a bounty. Lloyd even helped his dad raise and sell mink to help the family. One thing to keep in mind is this was during the Great Depression when there were not many jobs and welfare didn’t exist to fall back on.

Lloyd first met Catherine when he was eleven and she was five. A few years later, Catherine’s mom invited Lloyd and a friend to dinner. Ever since that night Lloyd made it a point to see Catherine whenever he could. On November 28, 1939, Lloyd and Catherine were married. While renting a house in Forks, WA, they worked on building their own house. They completed the house in a year, and began to build their life in Forks. 

When Lloyd and his dad were raising mink, they both dreamed of a day they would own a farm and raise animals. In 1942, they were able to make the dream become reality. Lloyd, Catherine, and Lloyd’s parents all purchased an 87 acre farm in Sequim, WA. They “decided that some day when we had enough wild animals, we would call our place Olympic Game Farm”² In the beginning the Olympic Game Farm was a dairy farm. The money received for the milk sometimes was not enough to make the mortgage payment of $120, so to help supplement Lloyd would hunt cougars for a $75 bounty.



In 1905 the State of Washington Game Department put a bounty on cougars and Wolves to help control the population. It was believed one cougar would kill at least one deer or elk per week. “The last wolf was shot and bountied on January 17, 1929,”³ By 1939, Lloyd became the number one cougar hunter in Washington state.⁴ When Lloyd first started hunting cougars, he was paid $15-$25, and by 1942 the bounty jumped to $75 per cougar.

In 1945, Lloyd purchased his first camera by getting a $300 loan against their car. He quickly learned about photography and started to expand into film making. It was suggested he make a short film with his son Melvin. Lloyd produced The Little Archer, and was able to sell it to Warner Brothers. Over the next few years, Lloyd practiced with his camera equipment around their farm and in the woods. In order to continue to expand and get a new piece of equipment he would get a loan against their car, pay it off, and then get another loan, and so on.

In 1951, Walt Disney started to produce a series called True Life Adventure Series. Lloyd decided he would write a letter to the Disney Studio telling them he had “some good wildlife color film”⁵ What seemed like as soon as the letter was received, Erwin Verity, a Disney Production Manager, called to buy some of Lloyd’s film. Lloyd ended up sending Erwin a copy of everything he had on film. Shortly after receiving the film, Erwin invited Lloyd and Catherine to the Disney Studios in California. This meeting started a twenty plus year relationship working with and for Walt Disney, Roy Disney, and Disney Studios.

Lloyd helped get footage of animals in a natural setting to help Disney create films like Vanishing Prairie (1954), Yellowstone Cub, White Wilderness (1958), Jungle Cat (1960), The Incredible Journey (1963), and so many more movies. The farm was originally named Disney Wild Animal Farm, because Disney set it up as a production set to film full movies and portions of movies. Disney also used it to store equipment between films. The first full film shot on the farm was The Incredible Journey (1963)⁶

In order to film the animals doing things on cue for the camera, Lloyd worked with the animals and had an uncanny way of understanding them. He told how he wore a wolverine down to be able to sit next to the wolverine in its cage without being attacked. In doing this, he gained the trust of the wolverine and was able to work with him on set. Lloyd is also credited with using the buzzer reward system to help train an animal to do something on cue.

Over the next 15 years both Walt and Roy Disney were involved in the nature films Lloyd was helping film. This built not only a working relationship but a friendship between the Disney’s and the Beebe’s. Walt, Lillian (Walt’s wife), Roy and Edna (Roy’s wife) would visit the farm on a regular basis to check in on the filming progress of the next movie and visit with the Beebe’s. Sometimes Walt would stop in while on location to see how things were going and give corrections as needed.

Lloyd traveled the world while working for Disney. Not only did he go to Arizona, New Mexico, Montana, and Canada, he also traveled to Brazil and Antarctica. While on location in most places, his family came and stayed with him. Although when he went to Antarctica, for 18 months, his family stayed in Sequim.

On December 15, 1966 Walt Disney passed away. Lloyd talks about the difference in filming after Walt passed vs while he was alive. It was as if the best was no longer the standard and ok was the new standard after Walt’s passing. Walt seemed to always push people to do their best and then a little bit more to get the absolute best work from someone.

Over the next five years, Lloyd continued to work on films for Disney, both on the farm and on location. A few of the most notable films were Charlie the Lonesome Cougar (1967), King of the Grizzlies (1970), and Grizzly Adams (1974). Grizzly Adams became a television series and was one of the longest shows Lloyd helped with filming.

In late 1971, Lloyd and Catherine were having dinner with Roy Disney, Erwin Verity, and others, when Roy said:

When Roy gave Lloyd the watch, it just goes to show how much Lloyd meant to Roy Disney and most likely to Walt as well. Roy’s appreciation really showed when a few weeks later Roy and Edna showed up at the farm and Roy presented a gold watch to Lloyd. Roy said, “This watch is just like mine. You will have a lot of fun with this watch; there are not many like it.”¹² Just five days later Lloyd was notified Roy O. Disney passed away, on December 20, 1971.

After Walt and Roy both passed away, things began to change within the Walt Disney Company. Not only did the Walt Disney Studios start to move away from making nature films, the quality of the shows were beginning to go away from the quality Walt and Roy expected. Walt Disney Studio and the Disney Wild Animal Farm, had several contracts to film on the farm and use the farm’s animals. Meanwhile, the Disney Wild Animal Farm was beginning to become more of a curiosity to those in the surrounding area. Lloyd thought, “it would be good to know what we could do on our own. It was our place, and the animals were mostly ours, so why not open up to the public for the summer?”¹³

Erwin Verity was away for the summer so this was a good time to find out if it would even work. So the Disney Wild Animal Farm opened up to the public in the summer of 1972, and visitors paid $1 to take a guided tour of the farm. When Erwin returned Lloyd told him what they had been doing during the summer. Erwin was curious and wanted to know how much they took in for the day. Lloyd told him ” ‘Nineteen hundred dollars.’ Erwin was surprised, and I believe happy for us, but wondered what it might mean to the film part of it. We told Erwin we were calling our place Olympic Game Farm. He thought that would be a great name if they would let us use it.”¹⁴

To make it official, Lloyd wrote to the Disney Studio and asked them about using the farm for tours and changing the name of the farm to Olympic Game Farm. He also asked about informing those taking the tour of the work the farm did with Disney. Erwin let Lloyd know Bill Anderson, who took Walt Disney’s place at Disney Studios, would be the one who would need to make the call if they could continue to give the tours. Bill Anderson came for a visit and gave the green light for the farm to do as they wish with the tours on the farm.¹⁵

^

Olympic Game Farm has been running as a home for animal actors and a wildlife animal sanctuary ever since the summer of 1971. Lloyd and Catherine Beebe lived the rest of their life on the farm. Lloyd passed away on January 6, 2011, and Catherine passed away two days later on January 8, 2011. They were married for 71 years. Their grandsons Robert and James Beebe, keep their spirits alive by running the farm.

Olympic Game Farm is no longer seeking work in the film industry however a few animals have been in some recent films such as Serenity Farms, Captain Fantastic, and a National Geographic special on black bears.¹⁷ The farm is open every day, except Thanksgiving and Christmas day, so the next time you are in the Seattle area, it is well worth the drive to see a piece of Disney history in person.

Need help planning a vacation to the PNW, or want to take a cruise out of the Port of Seattle, or Vancouver, Canada and add a few days before or after your cruise to explore and create memories in the PNW let me know! I am a travel agent with White Gloves Travel Company and can help you plan the perfect road trip, cruise, or even a trip to a Disney park.

 - Jen Keyser - Agent with White Gloves Travel Company since 2024

1. https://www.facebook.com/olympicgamefarm/photos/pb.100064902123709.-2207520000/10150120755377119/?type=3 
2. Beebe, Lloyd. Wilderness Trails And A Dream, The Story Behind the Olympic Game Farm. Olympic Graphic Arts, Inc, Forks, WA p 37 
3. Beebe, Lloyd. Wilderness Trails And A Dream, The Story Behind the Olympic Game Farm. Olympic Graphic Arts, Inc, Forks, WA p 14 
4. Beebe, Lloyd. Wilderness Trails And A Dream, The Story Behind the Olympic Game Farm. Olympic Graphic Arts, Inc, Forks, WA p 27 
5. Beebe, Lloyd. Wilderness Trails And A Dream, The Story Behind the Olympic Game Farm. Olympic Graphic Arts, Inc, Forks, WA p 44 
6. Beebe, Lloyd. Wilderness Trails And A Dream, The Story Behind the Olympic Game Farm. Olympic Graphic Arts, Inc, Forks, WA p 129 
7. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0066256/ 
8. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0066256/ 
9. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0066256/ 
10. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0066256/ 
11. Beebe, Lloyd. Wilderness Trails And A Dream, The Story Behind the Olympic Game Farm. Olympic Graphic Arts, Inc, Forks, WA p 148 
12. Beebe, Lloyd. Wilderness Trails And A Dream, The Story Behind the Olympic Game Farm. Olympic Graphic Arts, Inc, Forks, WA p 148 
13. Beebe, Lloyd. Wilderness Trails And A Dream, The Story Behind the Olympic Game Farm. Olympic Graphic Arts, Inc, Forks, WA p 150 
14. Beebe, Lloyd. Wilderness Trails And A Dream, The Story Behind the Olympic Game Farm. Olympic Graphic Arts, Inc, Forks, WA p 150 
15. Beebe, Lloyd. Wilderness Trails And A Dream, The Story Behind the Olympic Game Farm. Olympic Graphic Arts, Inc, Forks, WA p 151 
16. https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/disney-trainer-lloyd-beebe-created-olympic-game-farm-in-sequim/ 
17. olygamefarm.com