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By Michael - February 2nd, 2012
Courtesy of John Donaldson come these sketches by Herb Ryman; they are preliminary studies for EPCOT’s Italy pavilion. While they are merely sketches, they do convey a Rymanesque sense of atmosphere and – of course – hint at a cast of interesting characters in the foreground.
The landmarks depicted do differ somewhat from [...]
By Michael - February 19th, 2011
Here’s a little look at the development of an idea that never appeared in the parks; these sketches by Imagineer Herb Ryman show the evolution of a concept for a “buffeteria” dining area in EPCOT. The sketches are undated, but we can divine that they are from fairly early in the park’s development – [...]
By Michael - August 19th, 2010
When we began this series in late July, it was to celebrate the 100th birthday of one of the Disney studio’s great artists. Since then, we’ve traveled the world with Herb Ryman, witnessed his brushes with the greats of Hollywood’s golden era, and seen how he helped create the art of theme park [...]
By Michael - August 14th, 2010
Herb Ryman has some cake before setting off on safari
As we’ve mentioned, after the completion of EPCOT Center Imagineer Herb Ryman left for a trip to the wilds of Africa. His paintings from the trip evoke the majestic landscapes of the continent, with which Herb became infatuated while working on the Equatorial Africa [...]
By Michael - August 5th, 2010
Ryman works on a concept painting for Euro Disneyland in 1988; his concept for the Indiana Jones Adventure is in the background
When Herb Ryman returned to WED Enterprises to work on EPCOT Center in 1976, he also helped with conceptual designs for “Oriental Disneyland” – the park that Disney was developing for Tokyo. [...]
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Four Decades of Magic

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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