One more notice for those of you who – like me – insist on having physical representations of media instead of digital: Four Decades of Magic is now available in actual, made-of-paper form from Amazon. It is, of course, also available for Kindle.

For more details on its contents, and on my contributions, check [...]]]>

One more notice for those of you who – like me – insist on having physical representations of media instead of digital: Four Decades of Magic is now available in actual, made-of-paper form from Amazon. It is, of course, also available for Kindle.

For more details on its contents, and on my contributions, check out our previous article or Ayefour’s website.

Word has arrived that Four Decades of Magic, the collection of essays we recently discussed and to which I contributed two essays, is now available. It’s currently available in print and for Kindle; the print version will be available at Amazon in about a week. Other authors in the collection include Foxx from Passport [...]]]>

Word has arrived that Four Decades of Magic, the collection of essays we recently discussed and to which I contributed two essays, is now available. It’s currently available in print and for Kindle; the print version will be available at Amazon in about a week. Other authors in the collection include Foxx from Passport to Dreams old and New, Didier Ghez, Sam Gennaway, George from Imaginerding, and Mike Lee from Widen Your World. It should be worth a look!

A month from today, I will return to the world of legitimate printed material for the first time since my days at the Daily Tar Heel when Four Decades of Magic: Celebrating the First Forty Years of Disney World is released. Published by Ayefour, who also released Project Future and Jim Korkis’s The Vault [...]]]>

A month from today, I will return to the world of legitimate printed material for the first time since my days at the Daily Tar Heel when Four Decades of Magic: Celebrating the First Forty Years of Disney World is released. Published by Ayefour, who also released Project Future and Jim Korkis’s The Vault of Walt, this new volume contains twenty-eight essays written to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Walt Disney World.

A number of Disney writers, bloggers, and commentators have contributed to the project, including several good friends of Progress City. I contributed two essays – one, an extended look at the creation of the classic EPCOT attraction Horizons, and the other a brief look at the development of the EPCOT concept from 1971-78. It’s far from comprehensive, but I hope people enjoy it.

The book will be available soon on Amazon, and you can always get the latest news on Ayefour’s website.

Here’s the rest of the lineup from the book:

Foreword by Jim Hill

Introduction by Chad Emerson

The Sunset Boulevard that Was, Is, and Never Will Be – Tom Corless

When is the 3 O’Clock Parade? Then, Now, and Forever – Tom Corless

Tomorrow’s Windows: Looking Back at Horizons – Michael Crawford

A Brief History of the Future: From EPCOT to EPCOT Center – Michael Crawford

The Walt Disney World Monorail System – Jason Diffendal

Spaceship Earth – Jason Diffendal

Much Ado About Hoop-Dee-Doo – Greg Ehrbar

The 65th Year for Mickey, the Very First Visit for Kids – Greg Ehrbar

Walt Disney’s EPCOT and the Heart of Our Cities – Sam Gennawey

Joe & Carl: Two Men Who Built the World – Didier Ghez

Disney Brings Sports to the World – Adam Goswick

Whatever Happened to Beastly Kingdom? – Scott and Carol Holmes

Magic of the Night: The Evolution of Walt Disney World’s Nighttime Fireworks Displays – Debra Martin Koma

Meeting Mickey: Remembering Mickey’s Toontown Fair – Jim Korkis

For Your Pleasure: The Mythology and Reality of Pleasure Island – Jim Korkis

The Relative Truth About If You Had Wings – Mike Lee

Thunder Mesa & the Western River Expedition: A Neverending Story – Mike Lee

History of the Hoop Dee Doo Musical Revue – Chuck Mirarchi

History of the Main Street Electrical Parade – Chuck Mirarchi

History of the Contemporary & Polynesian Resort Hotels – Chuck Mirarchi

Walt Disney World Resorts That Never Were – Lou Mongello

Goodnight, George: A Ghost Story – Foxx Nolte

Another Magic Corner of the World – Foxx Nolte

EPCOT 1939 – Jeffrey Pepper

The Carousel of Progress: What Would Walt Think? – Michael Scopa

An Island Filled with Tropic Beauty, Colorful Birds, and the Mystery of Ben Gunn’s Buried Treasure! – George Taylor

Honoring the Cast: Insider Tributes & Homages – Kevin Yee

Theme Park Archaeology – Kevin Yee

You should head over to Alcorn’s site posthaste to investigate, but I’m going to reprint [...]]]> In his recent Imaginerding review of Steve Alcorn’s excellent Building A Better Mouse: The Story Of The Electronic Imagineers Who Designed Epcot, George Taylor linked a number of fantastic snapshots on Alcorn’s site that depict the creation of EPCOT Center.

You should head over to Alcorn’s site posthaste to investigate, but I’m going to reprint a couple of the photos here because one of them depicts something that I never, ever thought I’d see.

EPCOT’s construction is full of intriguing details, as the inner workings of the park are so massive and elaborate and hidden from the public. Everyone knows about the Magic Kingdom’s Utilidors, but few have seen EPCOT’s Utilidor that runs beneath Communicore:

EPCOT's sole Utilidor, under construction...

Also hidden is the massive carriage that contains all the show scenes and animatronics for the American Adventure; this picture just shows a small part of the machine – it’s a wonder they ever got it to work!

I see Chief Joseph!

Of course back in the day the commands that ran that show came streaming from EPCOT Computer Central in Communicore. Here’s a picture of the very first equipment being installed in Computer Central; the large box you see on the left is one of the binloop machines that used to stream audio in an endless loop to the far corners of the park.

Not depicted: Dancing Cockney guy

But what really caught my eye was this picture. See what you think:

Circle Pines.

What do you see? Well, it’s obviously large trees under construction, and if you read Alcorn’s caption you’ll realize it’s at the Canada pavilion. So what? “But wait,” you might say in a moment of quiet reflection, “where are the giant fake trees in the Canada pavilion?” That’s the thing – there aren’t any. But there were supposed to be. Look at this early concept art for the pavilion, which I appropriated from the fantastic Imagineering Disney:

How Not to Be Seen starring Martin Short

I always thought those towering pines were just artistic license, but there were actually plans to partially conceal the pavilion in a grove of lofty, artificial timber. As you can see in Alcorn’s photo, the trees were even built. But the issue of scale – as you can tell, they were designed to use forced perspective to fit in with their scaled-down surroundings – proved a problem, and they never looked quite right in the eyes of the project’s managers. Eventually Dick Nunis called for the metaphorical and literal axe, and the fake trees of Canada were removed before the park even opened. This makes them an even more ephemeral relic of EPCOTology than the fabled Danish bathrooms.

Looking for some real trees? Well check out this picture, which shows what a cabin at Fort Wilderness looked like circa 1982. Fleetwood!

Country living the Disney way

Be sure to drop in and check out the rest.

Didier Ghez has announced that the 10th volume in his essential series of collected interviews is now available online, and should be listed on Amazon in four to six weeks.

This new edition is an epic collection, containing all the existing interviews conducted by Bob Thomas for his well-known biography, Walt Disney: An American [...]]]>

Didier Ghez has announced that the 10th volume in his essential series of collected interviews is now available online, and should be listed on Amazon in four to six weeks.

This new edition is an epic collection, containing all the existing interviews conducted by Bob Thomas for his well-known biography, Walt Disney: An American Original. Weighing in at a whopping 324 pages, this is sure to be a must-read.

Contents include:

Foreword: Diane Disney Miller

Jim Korkis: A history of the Walt Disney biography by Bob Thomas
Didier Ghez: Bob Thomas
Paul F. Anderson: Bob Thomas
Bob Thomas: Walt Disney
Bob Thomas: Walt Pfeiffer
Bob Thomas: Lillian Disney
Bob Thomas: Edna Disney
Bob Thomas: Ub Iwerks
Bob Thomas: Wilfred Jackson
Bob Thomas: Bill Cottrell
Bob Thomas: Herb Ryman
Jim Korkis: Walt’s secretaries
Bob Thomas: Dolores Voght Scott
Bob Thomas: Ham Luske
Bob Thomas: Woolie Reitherman
Bob Thomas: John Lounsbery
Bob Thomas: Ward Kimball
Bob Thomas: Frank Thomas
Bob Thomas: Milt Kahl
Bob Thomas: Hazel George
Bob Thomas: Marc Davis
Bob Thomas: Dick Huemer
Bob Thomas: Ollie Johnston
Bob Thomas: Ken Anderson
Bob Thomas: George Bruns
Bob Thomas: Larry Clemmons
Bob Thomas: Bill Anderson
Bob Thomas: Robert Stevenson
Bob Thomas: Bill Walsh
Bob Thomas: Roy E. Disney
Bob Thomas: Winston Hibler
Bob Thomas: James Algar
Bob Thomas: John Hench
Bob Thomas: Harper Goff
Bob Thomas: Dick Irvine
Bob Thomas: Card Walker
Bob Thomas: Donn Tatum
Bob Thomas: Wathel Rogers
Bob Thomas: Roger Broggie
Bob Thomas: Marvin Davis
Bob Thomas: Joe Potter
Bob Thomas: Robert Foster
Bob Thomas: Joe Fowler

Check it out…

For my entire living memory I’ve been obsessed with Imagineering. A childhood was spent poring over my hoarded issues of Disney News and the few park-related books that existed, and was aided and abetted by daily viewings of Walt Disney Presents and the fact that the Disney Channel actually showed park-related content. Yet despite [...]]]>

For my entire living memory I’ve been obsessed with Imagineering. A childhood was spent poring over my hoarded issues of Disney News and the few park-related books that existed, and was aided and abetted by daily viewings of Walt Disney Presents and the fact that the Disney Channel actually showed park-related content. Yet despite the near-constant presence of WDI in my life, I’ve come to discover in recent years that I actually know very little about the Imagineering process.

It’s easy to conjure images of talented artists cranking out conceptual renderings, or of wacky engineers tinkering with animatronic chickens and pirates. Imagineering doesn’t end after that, though, and something happens after those inspiring renderings are handed off that’s more complicated than just “guys show up and build a building and the ride opens.” Imagineering is often defined as the combination of the skill of the artist and the talent of the engineer and that’s where this book comes in. Theme Park Design, by Steve Alcorn, provides a look at the Imagineering process that goes beyond the Blue Sky phase into actual ride and show design, engineering and installation.

Alcorn is no stranger to the industry; after becoming an Imagineer to work on EPCOT Center, he founded Alcorn McBride Inc. in 1986 and subsequently became one of the best-known providers of show control equipment. This lends an air of experience to his writing; while this book is by no means is a narrative of his time at Disney, he does incorporate several anecdotes throughout to illustrate certain points. More amusingly, he conveys the viewpoints of different groups from the creative and technical disciplines, and the internecine rivalries that result. Even among the various engineering disciplines are key differences in perspective and – naturally – in the trenches, everyone thinks that they have it right. Alcorn conveys these differences and the “gallows humor” that comes from looming project deadlines with his trademark good humor and light tone.

One of the confusing features of Imagineering is that is uses terms that might be familiar from the film industry, but in different ways. Hence my frequent confusion over terms like “art director” or “show producer” when they’re used in discussing attractions. Alcorn explains these roles, as well as the differences among the many types of engineers, and explains the difference between show control systems and ride control systems. These might seem like elementary concepts to those who create attractions, but to laypersons like myself the differences are easily lost.

Also described are a number of design and operational considerations that we might not think of when we’re “backseat Imagineering” our own attractions; it all goes to show how complicated even the simplest attraction is to design, and why exactly it takes so long for these things to come together. Things have changed since Disneyland was built in a single year.

The book almost takes the form of a primer; it doesn’t dwell too long on any one topic, choosing instead to serve as an introduction to the industry by touching briefly on a number of subjects. It’s not overtly technical, and discusses complicated systems in a fairly simple way. There are a few extremely minor nitpicks for the park history obsessive – Walter Cronkite was not the first narrator for Spaceship Earth, and Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride closed at Walt Disney World instead of Disneyland – but as you can see these are indeed minor semantic issues in a book that is not a historical work. On the topic of engineering ride and show system, few are more qualified to speak than Alcorn.

It’s possible that I’m biased, as I agree with many of the statements that Alcorn makes about the philosophy of themed design. At first I winced when the supremacy of “story” was brought up, as the term “story” has been flogged to death in recent years to excuse a number of sins. The lines between “story,” “plot,” “narrative” and “theme” all seem to have dissolved, and I was afraid that Alcorn was going to push in that direction. Thankfully, that turned out not to be the case.

At the end of the book, Alcorn gives a wish list of trends he’d like to see emerge in the industry. I agree with all his points, but most especially his third. I’ll excerpt briefly:

Fantastic news today to kick off the new year, as Fantagraphics co-publisher Gary Groth revealed in an interview that the company has obtained the rights to re-print the legendary works of artist Carl Barks, finally allowing fans stateside to acquire a definitive collection of his Donald Duck stories. The first volume in the series [...]]]>

Fantastic news today to kick off the new year, as Fantagraphics co-publisher Gary Groth revealed in an interview that the company has obtained the rights to re-print the legendary works of artist Carl Barks, finally allowing fans stateside to acquire a definitive collection of his Donald Duck stories. The first volume in the series will be released this fall, with subsequent collections arriving twice a year.

Barks (1901-2000) entertained a generation of comic readers, despite the fact that his work at the time remained anonymous. After a rather remarkable early life that included stints as a farmer, lumberjack, cowboy and even editor of a girlie magazine, Barks came to Disney as an animation inbetweener in 1935. He eventually became a gag man, and picked up some work on the side illustrating a Donald Duck story for Dell comics before quitting the studio to become a chicken farmer.

He soon began crafting new Duck stories for Western Publishing, and over the years until his pseudo-retirement in 1966 he created a rich and elaborate mythos that earned him a reputation among fans as “the good Duck artist.” In that time he created characters like Scrooge McDuck, the Beagle Boys, Gyro Gearloose, Gladstone Gander, Flintheart Glomgold, Magica De Spell, and the entire universe we now think of as Duckburg. After fans began to suss out his identity in the 1960s, he began to reap the praise he had so long deserved. His tales influenced generations of storytellers, including fans George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, and they found new fans through later reprints and their subsequent adaptations in the DuckTales television show of the 1980s.

The new Fantagraphics compilation will eventually present the Barks works chronologically, although the first volume to emerge this fall will cover the beginning of his “golden period” with Lost in the Andes from 1948. The second volume, to be released in Spring of 2012 and entitled Only a Poor Old Man, will span the introduction of Scrooge McDuck from 1952-54. Subsequent volumes will fill in the timeline of Barks’s career, and it is estimated that the final release will comprise thirty 240-page volumes. Each hardcover volume will feature around 200 pages of comics along with a wealth of supplemental material, and will retail for around $24.99. Aside from the rather unfortunate decision to present the art at only 90% of its original size, it’s a good deal.

Check out the original interview for more information about the releases and the importance of Barks in the pantheon of 20th century comic art, and for a hint of why it takes so long for us to get nice things when it comes to Disney.

Fair warning: be prepared for me to flog the heck out of these books when they start arriving this fall. I’ve been an obsessed fan of the Duck books since I was a wee bairn, and I’m often shocked just how many die-hard Disney fans are completely oblivious to this treasure trove of impeccable storytelling. Thankfully Barks is finally getting the respect he deserves in America (overseas, the Duck books continue to be a phenomenon), and I look forward to seeing people catch on.

The Disney Parks blog has announced a new cookbook for Walt Disney World, and in a nifty turn this new book features vintage dishes from the resort as well [...]]]> And by awesome, I mean posting this picture:

A very groovy Jimmie Rodgers holding court in the Top of the World Lounge at the Contemporary Resort

The Disney Parks blog has announced a new cookbook for Walt Disney World, and in a nifty turn this new book features vintage dishes from the resort as well as current recipes. A post on the official Disney blog with mentions of the Lake Buena Vista Club and Top of the World? Has the world gone mad?

Check out the original post for ordering information, and for a free recipe – Steak Diane from the Lake Buena Vista Club!

It’s been a busy year here in Progress City so perhaps it’s not surprising that we’re just now catching up on our critical reading material from 2010. Of the Disney park-related books published this year, few made as big a splash as Project Future, The Inside Story Behind the Creation of Disney World by [...]]]>

It’s been a busy year here in Progress City so perhaps it’s not surprising that we’re just now catching up on our critical reading material from 2010. Of the Disney park-related books published this year, few made as big a splash as Project Future, The Inside Story Behind the Creation of Disney World by Chad Emerson. Detailing the behind-the-scenes wrangling that led to the site selection and real estate acquisition for Walt Disney World in the 1960s, Emerson’s tale is a fascinating look at a subject that has to this point remained sadly under-documented.

Emerson, a faculty member at the Faulkner University Jones School of Law, is a long-time observer of the theme park industry and he was therefore able to draw on several years of interviews with key players in the “cloak and dagger” maneuvers of Disney’s agents in Florida. These contributions, by individuals like Robert Price Foster, Tom DeWolf, and former Governor Claude Kirk, provide a sense of what went on in those mysterious secret meetings as Disney slowly purchased its 27,000 acres in Central Florida.

The story of Disneyland-East, though, began long before Disney’s land purchases in 1965. Walt had planned eastward expansion as early as the late 1950s, and during subsequent years a number of sites for new projects were considered from Miami Beach to Niagara Falls, St. Louis, and even Marceline, Missouri. These projects are covered in Project Future, along with reasons for their abandonment.

After selecting Central Florida for the new Disney resort, there remained the matter of finding suitable contiguous plots of land and persuading the owners to sell – all without disclosing the buyer. Emerson covers the entire process, including several difficulties along the way that one might not even consider when thinking about how to secretly buy 40+ square miles of Florida swamp and ranch land. Even after purchasing the land, the project’s fate remained uncertain unless Disney could convince the Florida legislature to grant them special powers to govern their property. While the details of special district legislation and drainage governance don’t naturally lend themselves to riveting narrative, Emerson keeps things moving and doesn’t get bogged down along the way.

The story of Walt Disney World’s secret land purchase is pretty well known to fans, but until you see the entire story laid out one really doesn’t comprehend just how crazy a process it was, and just how close it came to falling through on many different occasions. When viewed in context, Walt Disney World’s creation can really be seen as having stemmed directly from Disneyland’s success and the events of the 1964/65 World’s Fair; likewise, it’s also apparent that the complicated legal wrangling behind the project was intended to lay the foundation for Walt’s EPCOT – a real, working city of the future.

Emerson tells the story in a fairly straightforward journalistic style, and the story moves quickly. Unfortunately, the book lacks citations or footnotes, which is a buzzkill for nerds like me, and the lack of an index makes reference use difficult. There is also the occasional editorial oversight; most are insignificant but some are notable.

Hopefully Emerson’s book will be the first in a new wave of Walt Disney World scholarship leading up to the resort’s 40th anniversary next year. There’s still a lot to be said on the subject. Thankfully things are off to a good start, with this well-sourced look at the resort’s mysterious beginnings.

Project Future, The Inside Story Behind the Creation of Disney World – 189 pages, softcover. Published by Ayefour Publishing. $14.95. Available in print and for Kindle.