Disneyland’s long history is full of oddities that might amaze those of us who missed the park’s first few decades, or who were never able to visit until later years. A lot of those “lost” mid-century novelties were located in Tomorrowland, which underwent several major overhauls in its early years and was home to [...]
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Video leaked today of a presentation during which Imagineer Kevin Rafferty shows a pre-visualization video detailing a full, computer-generated ridethrough of the upcoming Radiator Springs Racers attraction for California Adventure. Obviously, spoilers await… It looks fun. And that just underscores what we’ve recently discussed – it’s a lengthy, detailed, elaborate, technically challenging and fun-looking [...] For Disney fans of a critical bent, it used to be easy knowing where to channel one’s rage. Disneyland falling apart from neglect and mismanagement? Blame Paul Pressler and his gang of idiots. Key elements of Animal Kingdom’s master plan left out on opening day? Blame Eisner, or the “pencil pushers”. California Adventure? Blame everyone VP level or above. Once Disney began its long slide into mediocrity, beginning noticeably around 1994 and cratering out about ten years ago, the villain was remarkably consistent and easy to identify – cheapness. Penny pinching. Cutting corners. Basically, the refusal by management to commit the resources necessary to creating new things in the tradition that made Disney great. A lot has changed since then. Management is different at the top, and in many places at the bottom as well. Eisner’s replacement, Bob Iger, seems much more willing to spend on projects that he finds worthwhile and he mended a number of bridges to the creative community that had been burned. John Lasseter of Pixar was brought in as a creative consultant to Imagineering, which many – including myself – thought simply had to be a good idea. Most importantly, money is being invested in the parks; a billion dollars has been poured into an effort to make California Adventure habitable, a long-needed overhaul of Florida’s Fantasyland is underway, and other projects wait in the wings – projects like the Avatar-themed area of Animal Kingdom that surprised everyone when it was announced earlier this year. So, all is well… right? Continue reading The Carsland Conundrum
In a speech during the 1970s, author Ray Bradbury famously referred to Imagineering as a “Renaissance organization.” That was an apt metaphor; that first generation of Imagineers contained a remarkable collection of what could legitimately be called Renaissance men (and a handful of Renaissance women as well). These artists, many of whom had been culled from the realm of live-action motion picture art direction as well as Disney’s own animation studio, had not grown up going to Disneyland and dreaming of theme parks; they had seen the world and, like Walt himself, were fascinated with a slew of seemingly unrelated and esoteric subjects. Over the years, though, the mantle of Imagineering’s resident “intellectual” seems to have settled on John Hench. Another long-time Disney staffer and former artist at the animation studio, Hench was the reserved, studious sort. After Walt’s death, when individual Imagineers started to come to the fore in the media, Hench’s position at the top of the WED pile ensured that he received lots of print coverage as Disney tried to figure out what they were going to do about EPCOT. During this time, he publicly began to discuss his philosophies about “the architecture of reassurance” and what, exactly, made Disney Disney. Continue reading Hench On Hench Yesterday, Foxx from Passport To Dreams Old & New tweeted a link to this great cartoon from the 1962 Beany and Cecil animated program. The Beany and Cecil characters were invented by former Warner Brothers animator Bob Clampett, and were originally featured in a televised puppet show called Time for Beany which ran from [...] |
 
Essays about the first forty years of Walt Disney World, including two pieces by yours truly. Available in print and for Kindle. |
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