Progress City, U.S.A.

Rendering of golf cart for Progress City (EPCOT) by George McGinnis

Those of you who saw my birthday tribute to Imagineer George McGinnis will recall that his first job for Disney was to design transportation systems for Walt’s Progress City model. This model, which served as the grand finale for the original Carousel of Progress at Disneyland, became the template for Walt’s planned EPCOT city of the future in Florida.

McGinnis was hired by WED Enterprises based on the strength of his senior project at the Los Angeles Art Center School; it might be little surprise that Walt was fascinated with the project, a 200 MPH underground high speed train that would whisk commuters from New York City to Washington, D.C. and Boston. Walt himself showed up at the school to inspect McGinnis’s work (and to inspect the model train) – surely a daunting moment for a young art student.

McGinnis’s Progress City assignment wasn’t all glamorous trains, monorails or PeopleMovers, though. If something was going to move in the city of the future, he was tasked to design it. And so it was that we get the above rendering, for perhaps the sleekest and most futuristic golf cart ever created. How many Progress Citizens would take up golfing just for the chance to tool around the greens in one of these beauties?

George says that the design of this futuristic cart was based on Walt’s own Mercedes 280 SL, which could often be seen parked in front of the WED offices. My only question is, where do I buy one?

George McGinnis (R) inspects the newly-installed Nova Cite show scene for Horizons with fellow Imagineers John Hench, Tori Atencio and Kathy Knutson

Today marks the birthday of someone near and dear to the hearts of all Disney fans, even if you might not know his name. George McGinnis is perhaps best known as Show Designer for the legendary EPCOT attraction Horizons, but his resume features an astounding list of accomplishments from three decades of work with Imagineering.

An industrial designer by training, George came to WED Enterprises in 1966; when you consider that his first assignment was designing transportation systems for the Progress City model, you start to realize why he’s close to our hearts here. Some of his other early work included the famous Mighty Microscope from Disneyland’s Adventures Thru Inner Space, the Rocket Jets for 1967’s New Tomorrowland and 1971’s Magic Kingdom, the trains for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Walt Disney World’s WEDway PeopleMover cars, and the submarines for the Magic Kingdom’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

If that’s not enough, he also developed the design of Space Mountain and created the robots for 1979’s The Black Hole; his design of that film’s villainous Maximillian was one of the most successful elements of that film and remains a cult favorite.

In 1979, George was named the Industrial Design Manager for the EPCOT project. Before becoming Show Designer for Horizons, which opened in 1983, he contributed to design concepts for Spaceship Earth, Universe of Energy, Communicore, World of Motion, and World Showcase. He designed the Astuter Computer Revue and yet another iconic robot – the interactive SMRT-1.

After his EPCOT work, George designed both the Mark V and Mark VI Disney monorails. He also helped with the design of Delta’s Dreamflight in the Magic Kingdom. What did he do then? Well, if you’re ever ridden in any of these ride vehicles, you have George to thank: the Splash Mountain logs, the backstage tour trams at the Disney-MGM Studios, the jeeps of Disneyland’s Indiana Jones Adventure as well as the Time Rovers in Florida’s Countdown to Extinction, and the rockets from Disneyland Paris’s Space Mountain. If you’ve been to Florida’s Animal Kingdom park, you can thank him if you enjoyed your ride on the Kilimanjaro Safari jeeps, the Wildlife Express steam trains, or the Kali River Rapids rafts.

Do you start to see how important George’s work has been?

George retired from WDI in 1995, but has continued to consult with the company on several projects since. He also has remained an active part of the online Disney community, always willing to engage with fans and to answer any question you might throw his way.

Here at Progress City, we have a healthy roster of people who leave comments fairly frequently; we also have many hundreds of people who visit every day but never chime in. I’d like to ask that everyone who comes across this article take a moment and, if you’ve ever appreciated the fruits of his labor, leave George a birthday message in the comments below. I’ll make sure he sees them!

In any case, a very happy birthday, George – I can never thank you enough for bringing to reality my absolute favorite attraction of all time. Many of us can dream it, but you did it!

Today’s flashback comes from 1982, when the first show scene had been completed and approved for EPCOT’s Horizons attraction. The first set to be completed was Scene #14, “Urban Habitat.” You remember the one:

To celebrate the first finalized scene for the attraction, what better for a group of talented Imagineers to do than to take a few pictures of themselves goofing off?

“From left to right, John Hench, Tori Atencio, Kathy Knutson and George McGinnis gather ’round the ‘theramin’ — a type of musical organ which makes music from the heat of your hands as they pass over the keys.”

“From left to right, George McGinnis, John Hench, Kathy Knutson, Gil Keppler, Trevor Bryant and Tori Atencio in the futuristic dining area of the ‘Urban Habitat.’”

Horizons would go on to open on October 1st, 1983.

Concept rendering for Horizons post-show. Click to enlarge.

Happy New Year, everyone. For my first substantive post of 2009 I have something really special to share – a piece of never-before-seen concept art for the defunct yet beloved EPCOT Center attraction Horizons. The rendering dates to 1980, when the attraction was still known under its working title, Century III.

The sketch depicts the proposed post-show exhibit area that was originally slated to be built adjacent to the attraction’s unload area. The exhibits were designed to spotlight the various technologies then being marketed by General Electric, who was the original sponsor of the Horizons pavilion. The technologies would overlap thematically with the scenes within the ride, which depicted future life on land, under sea, and in space. Highlights included:

- Medical Systems: Diagnostic Imaging, Patient Monitoring, Demonstrate CT Scanner & Data Camera

- “International Theater” (Inverted Dome Theater): Helicopter views of Mining, Hydropower, G.E. Powered Ships, Construction Operations

- “Free Enterprise” & “Community”: Puppet or film shows that travel with the guest as he steps on circular moving sidewalk – traveling sound overhead

- G.E. Information Services: Mark III Computer Network, Mobile Radio Operations (Guest quizzes voice-activated data bank)

- Guest operated “Magnetic Levitation Vehicle”

- “Kaleidoscope Theater” (Film projection framed with angled mirrors creates giant sphere): Science & technology presented with kaleidoscopic views of computer chips, crystal growth, man-made diamonds, etc.

- “Simulators”: High speed vehicle experience – race car, helicopter, boat

- Research & Development: Aircraft Engines, New Materials, Energy Systems, Plastics

While the post show concept, dubbed “FutureFair” by Imagineers, was eventually scuttled, a couple of these concepts still saw the light of day. The “Kaleidoscope Theater” was retained by Imagineers and used in the queue area to highlight some of the attraction’s fantastic conceptual art by painter Robert McCall, and the moving theater concept for the “Free Enterprise” and “Community” segments was incorporated into the attraction itself as the show’s finale.

One of Robert McCall’s Horizons renderings, used as part of the “Kaleidoscope Theater” in the attraction’s queue

Why then was this exhibit not part of the final attraction? You might be surprised. When Imagineers were presenting the attraction’s designs to G.E. management, the company’s then-C.E.O. Jack Welch rejected the post-show as – brace yourselves – “too commercial”. No kidding. Wrap your brain around that one, and then imagine some executive today saying that. These days we’d be lucky to get the post-show and no attraction.

What’s interesting is that, although the post-show was commercial and the ride benefited from its absence, it would have been a really cool exhibit in CommuniCore. It certainly wouldn’t have seemed out of place. Also notable is that many of the concepts and issues explored in the exhibits are still very relevant today.

The above sketch comes courtesy of George McGinnis, former Imagineer and one of WDI’s greats. George came to Disney in 1966 and subsequently worked on, among other attractions, Adventures Thru Inner Space, Space Mountain and the WEDway PeopleMover. For EPCOT Center, he designed SMRT-1 and the Astuter Computer Revue for CommuniCore, and served as Show Designer for Horizons. George retired from Disney in 1995, having worked on attractions for Tokyo Disneyland and Animal Kingdom, but continued to serve as a consultant to the company afterwards. I’d like to thank him for sharing the fascinating piece of EPCOT history.

Hello everyone, sorry for the general lack of anything around these parts lately…

I have our first Progress City television alert today…

This weekend Turner Classic Movies is showing two Disney films back to back – The Black Hole at 2:30 PM EST and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea at 4:15 PM EST. 20,000 Leagues is a well known classic Disney adventure, and while The Black Hole comes from a later and far more troubled era in Disney corporate history, it’s still worth a look. Both films contain work from Disney design legends; Harper Goff was a key member of Walt’s design staff and was responsible for creating Captain Nemo’s Nautilus while Imagineer George McGinnis worked on the robot character design for The Black Hole. Matte artist extraordinaire Peter Ellenshaw contributed to both films, providing the fantastic production design for The Black Hole.

The films are thematically similar, with The Black Hole essentially a combination of 20,000 Leagues and Heart of Darkness with a dash of 2001 for flavor. 20,000 Leagues, based on Jules Verne’s book, is a classic of Victorian science fiction and spiritual forefather of the steampunk movement. The Black Hole combines the feel of Verne with the aesthetic of Star Wars; the film’s U.S.S. Cygnus is essentially a spaceborne Victorian Crystal Palace.

So pop some poppin’ corn and spend your Saturday afternoon with these two Disney sci-fi works. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea features a fantastic cast (James Mason and Kirk Douglas devouring the screen together) and visual work that must have been astounding in 1954 as it remains impressive today. The Black Hole also sports a worthy cast – and Roddy McDowell as a robot – and despite its problems with story, character and thematic inconsistency, it remains an interesting piece of work. Besides, Maximillian the robot horrified me as a child and remains an sadly overlooked member of Disney’s villainous pantheon.

Check them out…

Update: Jim Fanning points out on his blog something that I hate that I didn’t think to discuss – the fact that these uncut, letterboxed films are being shown commercial free on TCM, not the Disney Channel. TCM has actually been showing a lot of classic Disney live-action films recently; need I point out that the Disney Channel hasn’t been showing anything actually Disney at all?