Progress City, U.S.A.

If you’re reading this site, then Jeff Kurtti will probably need little introduction. Disney fans like myself will most likely have an entire shelf filled with books that Jeff has authored, magazines with articles he has written, and DVDs that he has produced.

Jeff worked with Walt Disney Imagineering from 1987-1995, after which he became a freelance author and creative consultant. The DVD packages he has produced were, quite literally, the best that Disney has ever released. He’s written scads of books, including a number of art books for Disney and Pixar animated films as well as several key works about theme park history. His 1996 Disney Editions publication Since the World Began remains the single great officially-sanctioned look at the history of Walt Disney World. His latest work is Disneyland Through The Decades, released this year in honor of that park’s 55th anniversary.

Jeff was kind enough to contribute this story about working alongside Herb Ryman, at a time when Herb was an elder statesman of Disney Imagineering.

Herbie Ryman and the Myth of Walt Disney

In 1987, I was hired at Walt Disney Imagineering as a Coordinator in the Graphics Department for what was then called Euro Disneyland.

The glamorous offices were in a well-worn two-story light industrial building, perched on a hillside overlooking the L.A. River in the Grand Central Business Park in Glendale. Today, part of the Studios of KABC Television stand on this site.

Inside was a collection of mismatched cubicle dens, large rooms that house the separate “lands,” each supervised by their individual Show Producer. In a stroke of good luck, there was an empty cubicle in the Main Street area, and I was given a home there, to begin identifying and coding all of the graphic design needs throughout the new Magic Kingdom.

My first day there, the curious and the welcoming came by, including a funny elfin old man with a twinkle in his eye and a smile on his face. I quickly connected the affable “Herbie” with the legendary Herb Ryman, and was simply stunned that such a legendary figure was in the cubicle just a few feet away from me. In these days at WDI, we still had Claude Coats, John Hench, Jack Ferges, and Adolfo Procopio in the building; we were frequently visited by Marc and Alice Davis, Ken Anderson, Harper and Flossie Goff, Harriet Burns, Bill Justice, Jimmy MacDonald, and so many other Disney Artists and Imagineers of great fame—at least to me!

Morning coffee with Herbie was a remarkable thing. He could speak with erudition about any number of topics, and loved to talk with a variety of people about all manner of subjects—often to the consternation of those charged with getting his work to a meeting or a presentation on time.

I came to learn that his talent as a raconteur was a part of his talent as an artist, a component of his process in translating ideas to evocative visual media. I think he genuinely liked people, and enjoyed the stimulation offered in his daily migrations around the building; observing, interacting, offering his insight or opinion, or in many cases recollections of earlier projects. Often it was his eyewitness account of solving a problem with Walt that offered a solution to what we had thought was a new problem.

For many of us, Herbie represented the links between Walt himself, and the very special new Park we were all part of trying to make, one that moved his design principles forward while respecting and elevating Walt’s ideas and dreams.

Sometimes, however, Herbie liked to kick the pedestal out from under himself.

One day I came to my cubicle to find about a dozen young Imagineers gathered in and around Herbie’s workspace. Half of them were smiling broadly. The other half bore expressions that ranged from bafflement to agony.

What I overheard from my office went something like this:

“Well, we realized very early on that as a collective of artists we wouldn’t have much success, but if we created a charismatic figure to act as our leader, we might deflect the unwanted attention and create more of a ‘creative scapegoat.’

“I mean, come on. ‘Walt Disney’? Did you ever hear a name that was more made-up? We created that whole persona to fit with the art forms we were pursuing, and to reflect the innovations our collective was cooking up. Did you really think that everything attributed to Walt Disney could really be the result of one man’s ideas?

“We hired an actor out of Central Casting, and he became our figurehead. The deal was exclusive and very secret—it was probably one of the best-kept secrets in Hollywood, and there are still agreements in effect that withhold the actor’s true identity.

“But about 1965, a lot of us were retiring or moving on, and there wasn’t a lot of desire to keep the charade going any more, so it seemed to make sense to let the whole thing go. I think that old fella is still out in the Motion Picture Country Home, clean-shaven and under an assumed name.”

The story went on in this vein, with detail layered carefully upon detail—fabrications woven with pieces of Walt’s genuine biography, so that every crazy element was grounded in an irrefutable fact. Herbie was so sincere and earnest, and such a consummate storyteller, that only that twinkle in his eye ever gave away his game.

I watched Herbie as his audience dispersed, some stunned and upset, others chuckling at the grandeur of his talespinning. Herbie looked at my bemused expression and grinned, and winked at me. “You see, Jeff,” he offered by way of explanation, “You kids think that once anyone hits fifty they lose their sense of humor.”

And off he went, on another round of afternoon visits.

Many thanks to Jeff for sharing this story!

JEFF KURTTI is a renowned cross-media storyteller recognized for his fluency in a variety of forms and formats. As an author of more than twenty-five books, a writer-director of award-winning documentaries, and a respected public speaker, host, and panel moderator, Kurtti is a recognized expert on pop culture and the entertainment industry. He is a consultant to several clients in the motion picture, theater, museum/exhibit and themed-entertainment industries. His newest book, Disneyland Through The Decades, has just been published by Disney Editions.

So much to say, so little time to say it. Some brief highlights of the day:

The Studios presentation was massive. They led off with a montage that seemed to last 20 minutes and feature every Disney film from after 1984. Who’d have thought that I’d wind up watching a montage of scenes from Down And Out In Beverly Hills today? Again, it was funny watching the thousands of guests vote their approval for different films via applause.

Lots of clips, and lots of special guests. Robert Zemeckis promoting A Christmas Carol – fail. Sorry, I’ll never be on board for the creepy mocap thing. The trailer was just silly. John Travolta and his family appeared to promote Old Dogs, a truly awful-looking comedy that they’re all in. The audience seemed to eat up the clips, though, so what do I know. It’ll make money, so whether it’s good or not is unimportant.

Tim Burton appeared to speak about his forthcoming Alice in Wonderland, for which a trailer was shown. He and Dick Cook also confirmed that Burton would be directing a new stop-motion animated film based upon his early short Frankenweenie. At a later press conference, producer Don Hahn confirmed that the film, like the original 1980s short, would be in black and white. It was amusing to see Burton on stage, as he seems such a shy but funny guy.

Jerry Bruckheimer was there to tout Prince of Persia, the clip for which didn’t help to give any sense of the film’s quality aside from its overwhelming load of visual effects and explosion porn. If you like fire and swords, you’ll be good to go. Nicholas Cage was there to present a clip for his upcoming film The Sorcerers Apprentice, which actually seemed pretty intriguing. Cage is a self-proclaimed Fantasia fan, and pitched the idea of the film himself.

The Muppets section of the presentation began with the characters on film interacting with studio head Dick Cook, and concluded with dozens of the Muppets riding onto the stage aboard a replica of Disneyland’s Mark Twain while singing a medley of songs. It was awesome. It’s no secret that I’ve always loved the Muppets, so it’s great to see them getting some respect. Their bit was funny, too. Cook announced that a new Muppet film, amusingly titled The Cheapest Muppet Movie Ever Made, is finally on its way.

There was a preview for the next Disneynature feature, Oceans, which looks fantastic. We also got the same teaser for TRON: Legacy that we’ve all watched a thousand times already.

Then Miley Cyrus came out and sang. Heh.

More exciting was the final look forward to future releases; there was the first-ever concept art for Andrew Stanton’s John Carter of Mars, which looked incredible. There was an official announcement of The Lone Ranger, which will star Johnny Depp as Tonto, and there was some discussion of the upcoming release agreement with Dreamworks which will bring Steven Spielberg to Disney at last.

One of the most exciting announcements for me was that Disney and Pixar have partnered with director Guillermo del Toro to found an entirely new animation label called “Disney Double Dare You” (silly name, but whatever). The goal of this label is to create animated features that focus on spookier content, inspired by del Toro’s childhood love for such scary Disney concoctions like Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion. He felt that Disney had lost that edge over the years, and the willingness to be truly scary in a family-friendly way, and he wants to bring that back. He’ll try his hand by directing the label’s first feature, Troll Hunters.

Of course, by now you’ve all heard how the presentation concluded. Cook bit the audience farewell, and as people started rushing for the exits he remarked that he might have forgotten something. Then the score from Pirates of the Caribbean started up, and a cloud parted on the main projection screen to reveal the title Pirates of the Caribbean – On Stranger Tides. The audience freaked out, naturally, and then a familiar silhouette appeared on a wrecked mast that appeared out of the mist. It was a nice bit of theater that worked the crowd into a frenzy, as Johnny Depp emerged in full pirate costume to trade some drunken banter with Dick Cook. It was by far the biggest announcement of the show, and it left people buzzing.

Other highlights of the day: Jason Surrell’s hilarious Haunted Mansion discussion, which featured lots of talk about the recent Magic Kingdom upgrades. Another Disney author, Jeff Kurtti, led a series of discussions with composers of Disney theme park music. This was a really exciting panel, since it included such notable composers as Bruce Broughton and the brilliant Michael Giacchino. I was ecstatic to see Giacchino there, as he’s usually my favorite film composer working today. His score for Ratatouille is superb, as was his work on The Incredibles. I spoke to Kurtti afterwards, and he was a really nice guy who seems to really get where the fans are coming from. You have to love that.

Don Hahn hosted a showing of Disney rarities; these were little-seen Disney shorts ranging from World War II training films to more recent fare. We got to see some of the films planned for the aborted third Fantasia project, including Lebo M’s One By One. Destino made a welcome appearance, and at last – at last! – I finally got to see Lorenzo. And yeah, it was pretty much as great as I expected. At a press conference afterward, Hahn said that Disney CEO Bob Iger is a fan of this sort of thing, so he really hopes that these rarely-seen shorts will make it onto Fantasia’s DVD re-release next year.

Then it was upstairs to a panel discussion about the upcoming documentary Walt and El Grupo; director Ted Thomas (son of Disney animator Frank Thomas) and author J.B. Kaufman (noted Disney historian and author of the forthcoming South of the Border with Disney) spoke about Walt’s goodwill trip to South America in 1941 and the films it spawned. They also showed clips from the new documentary. I spoke to the guys afterward and, as expected, they were great. Your civic duty now as a Progress City reader is to write, call or email your local theaters and try to get them to schedule a showing of Walt and El Grupo. Do it!

The evening ended with a screening of the 1959 classic The Shaggy Dog. Ubiquitous Disney child star Tommy Kirk was on hand to graciously answer a few questions, and it was good to see him get a little public credit for the work he did for the studio all those years ago.

So, another wild day. And it all starts up again in a few hours. Pictures and more details will come later, along with more official pics and releases from Disney. Until then…

I’ve long wanted to start writing book reviews here on Progress City, as recent years have been filled with a slew of great new titles dissecting every aspect of the Disney empire. Hopefully I can make time to do that, but this year looks to be filled with just as many interesting new tomes that it might be impossible to ever clear up the backlog.

I’m perhaps most excited about the upcoming release, on May 6th, of The Art of Walt Disney World. A companion volume to the excellent The Art of Disneyland, the book has already received a rave review from respected Disney historian Didier Ghez. Authored by prolific Disney authors Jeff Kurtti and the late Bruce Gordon – who, thankfully, left us with more posthumous releases than Tupac Shakur – this illustration-heavy edition will contain lots of little-seen conceptual art from the creation of the resort.

I’m incredibly excited about this release, as conceptual art from Walt Disney World has been much harder to find over the years than art from the development of Disneyland. We all know the handful of renderings that were released repeatedly in 1971; perhaps the only park to have its development well documented publicly was EPCOT Center, thanks to the now-legendary Walt Disney’s EPCOT Center: Creating the New World of Tomorrow.

The only problem is that, incomprehensibly, this book will only be made available in stores at Walt Disney World. Not online, not at Amazon… nowhere. Why? A large swath of Disney fandom has been waiting for this book for several years – it has been delayed many times – and not all of us can just pop down to the Emporium to pick up a book we’re interested in. This is another of those odd instances when I’m raring to give Disney my money but they refuse to take it. Of course, if they want to send me a review copy…

Staying in the theme parks, today marked the release of The Imagineering Field Guide to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The next in a series of pocket-sized editions that contain brief histories of various Disney parks, these “Field Guides” rarely have any earth-shattering revelations for die-hard fans but they always have some nice artwork and provide a good primer to the park and its history. I do think they missed a chance, though, by not offering a more expensive version without the dreaded Hat on the cover. I know I would have chipped in a few extra bucks not to have to see that on my bookshelf.

Heading to the world of animation, we have several new titles relating to Pixar and its films. The studio’s forthcoming feature Up has quite a few tie-in releases, most notably The Art of Up by Tim Hauser (The Art of WALL.E). Up also gets a Little Golden Book, and two picturebooks based on the film’s canine character Dug: Beware of Dug! and My Name is Dug, featuring art by Pixar vet Ronnie del Carmen.

Finally there’s The Pixar Treasures, also by Tim Hauser. Amazon says:

The Pixar Treasures is a scrapbook of instinct and inspiration, experiences readers can touch, and visions that exist only in the imagination. It begins with a group of animators who were inspired by Walt Disney films. In the late 1970s and early ’80s, John Lasseter, Brad Bird, and Joe Ranft were hired into an apprenticeship program at Walt Disney Productions. The last of Disney’s golden age artists, including animators Eric Larson, Milt Kahl, Frank Thomas, and Ollie Johnston mentored the young dreamers, and as Pixar later developed, their work would draw heavily from this direct connection with Walt Disney’s “Nine Old Men.” The tale continues with Pixar’s foray into computer animation, and the resulting success of Toy Story. With chapters on A Bug’s Life; Monsters, Inc.; Finding Nemo; The Incredibles; Cars; Ratatouille; and WALL*E, Hauser’s narrative covers the struggles, growth, and successes of an incredible animation studio. And it gives readers a sneak peak at the newest Disney*Pixar film, Up. Filled with unique removable keepsakes, The Pixar Treasures is an essential collector’s item for every Pixar fan.

Happy reading…

UPDATE: Amazon has just listed Art of The Princess and the Frog, based on the next release from Disney Feature Animation. The book releases on September 1, and is authored by the omnipresent Jeff Kurtti. That guy is everywhere…

UPDATE THE SECOND: I smack my forehead as RandySavage points out in the comments below a very glaring omission from my post. On November 3, Disney will release Walt Disney Imagineering: A Behind the Dreams Look at Making More Magic Real. This is a sequel to the popular 1996 edition, Walt Disney Imagineering: A Behind-The-Dreams Look At Making The Magic Real. Also – and I really can’t believe I forgot this one – there’s South of the Border with Disney: Walt Disney and the Good Neighbor Program 1941-1948, an October release that will tell the story of the Disney animators’ research trips to South America during World War II and the package films that followed – Saludos Amigos, The Three Caballeros, and the unproduced Cuban Carnival. This is one of my absolute favorite periods of Disney animation and I’m incredibly excited to see what never-seen surprises emerge from this book. Author J.B. Kaufman has discussed the project on the Walt Disney Family Museum site.

I also left out a couple of critical new animation titles such as June’s release of A Disney Sketchbook 1928 – 2008, a compilation of development art from the history of the Disney animation studios. October brings Walt Disney Animation Studios – The Archive Series: Animation, the next volume in the series of Disney Studios art that began with last year’s Walt Disney Animation Studios – The Archive Series: Story.

I’ve been occupied with a bit of research lately, trying to cobble together something interesting as well as trying to ascertain what the current economic situation is going to mean for the tenuous future of many long hoped-for park enhancements. So I’ll let other writers do the heavy lifting, as I empty out my bookmarks once more and share a few interesting stories from the last few months.

When we previously discussed the impending vintage Disney park music boxed set, Disneyland Goes to the World’s Fair, it was scheduled for a November release. Now that’s changed, but while park music fans might be frustrated with a delay in this long-hoped for boxed set, they’ll be pleased with the eventual outcome. Disney park music overlord Randy Thornton has stated that the set will now be released in February, a delay necessitated by the last-minute addition of new material to the collection. An entire extra disc of music has been added, making the final release a whopping five discs. Thornton has yet to announce what this new disc will consist of, but thankfully he was able to secure the funding and time to make this the best release possible.

For more about Thornton, his work at Disney and the philosophy behind his groundbreaking park music releases, check out this interview recently published at LaughingPlace.

One of my patented latter-day Disney diatribes involves the galling lack of any Disney-related content on the Disney channel. Ever since we lost Vault Disney lo those many years ago, fans have had to look elsewhere for their fix of Walt-approved entertainment. Thankfully, my beloved Turner Classic Movies has stepped up to the challenge and a posting on MiceAge has revealed that December will be a good month for television-viewing fans of classic Disney live-action film. What’s more, TCM will debut a new 90-minute documentary, The Age of Believing: The Disney Live Action Classics. Gotta love TCM. The schedule:

December 7th, beginning at 12:00 PM:

Treasure Island (1950)
Swiss Family Robinson (1960)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
Old Yeller (1957)
The Parent Trap! (1961)
Pollyanna (1960)
The Barefoot Executive (1971)

December 14th, beginning at 12:00 PM:

The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969)
The Strongest Man in the World (1975)
The Absent Minded Professor (1961)
Son of Flubber (1963)
The Age of Believing: The Disney Live Action Classics (2008)
The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975)
The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again (1979)

December 21st, beginning at 12:00 PM:

The Black Hole (1979)
Escape to Witch Mountain (1975)
Return From Witch Mountain (1978)
Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)
Candleshoe (1977)
Freaky Friday (1976)

December 28th, beginning at 10:30 AM:

The Age of Believing: The Disney Live Action Classics (2008)
The Shaggy Dog (1959)
The Shaggy D.A. (1976)
The Love Bug (1969)
Herbie Rides Again (1974)
Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo (1977)
Herbie Goes Bananas (1980)
The World’s Greatest Athlete (1975)

TRON 2 (or TR2N) is on the way. After managing to announce the film without actually committing to it at this year’s ComicCon, Disney executives confirmed the project at a lavish Hollywood shindig in September. Jeff Bridges spoke to The Guardian about the project, mentioning that some degree of motion capture technology will be used in the project. Director Joseph Kosinski spoke to Ain’t It Cool News, revealing that the film will be shot in stereoscopic 3-D and is aiming for a release sometime in 2010. Original TRON director Steven Lisberger is indeed consulting on the project, and Watchmen costume designer Michael Wilkinson is also on board.

Also announced at September’s Disney press event was that Johnny Depp would indeed be returning to the high seas in a fourth Pirates of the Caribbean film (surprise!) as well as saddling up as Tonto in the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced Lone Ranger revival (surprise! in a non-ironic way!) John Lasseter showed up to trumpet that Cars 2 has been bumped up a year to 2011, which no doubt led to a ticker-tape parade at Disney Consumer Products. No word on what happens to the two Pixar films already announced for 2011, but whatever happens to newt and The Bear and the Bow, it looks like Uncle John’s attempt to top pigs with pigs is on its way. The Brad Lewis-directed film will be preceded by several new shorts, known collectively as “Cars Toons”, which will play on the Disney Channel and possibly in theaters. The first of these shorts debuts later this month.

Jeff Kurtti’s long-awaited book about prominent Walt-era Imagineers finally shipped recently after years of delay. Thankfully, it’s a good read and includes information about a number of individuals who not only made critical contributions to the development of theme parks but might also not be well-known to the general public. Disney historian Didier Ghez has posted an interview he conducted with Kurtti.

Quick Hits:

- Discussing the legacy of the 1941 Disney Studios strike

- Collecting Fastpasses

- The Joel Chandler Harris museum’s take on Song of the South. Bob Iger, free this movie!

- A great new resource: The Walt Disney World map library

- Vote President GARCO in 2008!

- Proof that the Disney Studios was a friendlier place to work than Don Draper’s office

FREAKOUT!

From the “writers I wish I were” department: EPCOT Central is back with as concise distillation as I’ve found discussing what’s wrong with Team Disney’s mindset these days. Meanwhile, Passport to Dreams Old & New takes a look at walkthough attractions from the parks’ past and present. Germane considering the impeding re-opening of Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough, I’ll bet you’ll never have realized how much you missed CommuniCore.