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The Ryman Centennial: A Foxy Interlude

Story sketch for Anna and the King of Siam by Herb Ryman, 1946

The adventures that Herbert Ryman had in his world travels were translated into paintings and sketches, which helped him get his position at Walt Disney Productions. But after eight years with Disney, those same travels would lead to Ryman’s departure from the […]

The Ryman Centennial: Walt’s Elephants

This is a fun story that I’ve been holding on to for a while; thankfully, our recent discussion of Disney legend Herbert Ryman presents the perfect opportunity to print it. The following tale was presented in the May 14th, 1982 edition of the WED-MAPO Imaginews, an internal publication for Disney Imagineers.

Walt’s Elephants Are […]

George McGinnis, Walt Disney, And The Underground Train Of Tomorrow

Odds are that if you’re reading this, you’ve put together a school project at one point or another. Maybe it was your elementary school science fair, or maybe it was your doctoral dissertation in particle physics. Either way, you’ve spent some time working one one of these projects. Maybe you won a blue ribbon for […]

In The Beginning… There Was Project Future

Long before the Pueblo Room was a glint in Dick Nunis’s eye, planning was underway for Walt Disney World. Who knows how long Walt had mulled privately over his ideas for a megaproject in the east; but even before the scope of his plans for the Florida scrub became apparent to the public, work was […]

Walt Disney And The Winter Olympics

With the arrival of the 2010 Winter Olympics, it might occur to Disney fans to look back to 1960 – to the VIII Olympic Winter Games in Squaw Valley, California. In their drive to make those Olympics memorable, the organizing committee looked to the greatest showman of the age – Walt Disney. Walt was named […]