Back in the day… wait for it… the Disney Channel showed content aimed at us theme park fans. Crazy, I know, but true! One special I remember well is 1986’s A Dream Called Walt Disney World, which aired in conjunction with the resort’s yearlong 15th anniversary celebration.
The hour-long special gives a history of the resort (which, in 1986, was probably operating at its historic peak) as well as a look at its future (which, in 1986, was incredibly exciting and promising). And for my fellow Team Nunis members, there’s plenty of good #CultOfNunis material.
Many people over the years have contributed to what we consider the Disney legacy. Sadly, as time passes, we lose more and more of those iconic figures who were Walt’s hand-picked talent; those who were behind the golden era of Disney animation, film, and theme parks. Today we have lost another titan of old – Robert Sherman, half of the legendary Disney songwriting team – passed away yesterday at the age of 86.
Aside from my condolences to his family and friends, there’s so little that I can say that could adequately encapsulate the magnitude of the Shermans’ contributions to the popular culture of the 20th century. As I said when I reviewed their retrospective musical collection, their contribution to Disney songwriting is so fundamental that one cannot quite grasp it; as staff songwriters, their fingers were in so many pots creatively that the entire soundscape of that era would be vastly different without them.
And, of course, their creations are evergreen. The luckiest songwriters can claim to be the “voice of their generation”; Robert Sherman was a voice of at least four generations and counting with no end in sight. He bridged the eras of Tin Pan Alley, the Hollywood studio system, and theme parks and Broadway. Men are mortal but Robert Sherman’s songs will outlast us all.
Robert Sherman saw many things in his long life, some of which made a lasting mark, but despite it all he left a legacy that charmed and entertained literally billions. How many can say that? I could go on about this at length, so great my respect for this man. But perhaps it’s better – much better – to just sit back and listen. Here are some peeks back at the Sherman legacy.
Too often in the modern era the role of a Disney observer is to chronicle the slow loss of special things, as the parks’ offerings are pared down in service of cutbacks and streamlining. It’s a slow, depressing process that columnist Kevin Yee has termed “declining by degrees”.
Every now and then, though, we win one. And when the restored aspect is a personal favorite, it’s that much more… delicious.
Fans of Imagineering will no doubt recognize this artwork by the great Herb Ryman; said to be the first painting of Walt Disney World’s Cinderella Castle, it became an iconic image during the creation and promotion of Disney’s Florida resort. Much as he had done with Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty Castle years earlier, Ryman provided the first inspirational concept pieces that would define the look and feel of the new theme park.
Now, from Ryman friend and biographer John Donaldson, come these slides which were part of Ryman’s own personal trove. The images, dated November 1967, show what was possibly the first Imagineering model for Cinderella Castle. Taken from a number of different angles, it seems clear that these images provided the reference for Ryman’s iconic painting.
Everyone – especially any of you bunkered down in Burbank or Glendale – should read the latest at Passport to Dreams Old and New about how alterations to Walt Disney World have stripped it off some of its unique feeling. More often than not, these alterations are caused by sloppiness, and a general lack of understanding by California-based folks who don’t heed the small but important nuances that separate Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom.
We’ve all suffered from the “One Disney”, “DisneyParks” campaign that has not resulted in a rising tide of greater quality throughout the worldwide resorts but instead a wave of homogenization that has attempted to fit square pegs in round holes. As Foxx points out, this is because too often decisions that greatly affect Walt Disney World are made by parties in California to whom Disneyland is the living end of themed entertainment and Walt Disney World is an afterthought.
It’s fine that this is where their interests lie; I certainly don’t begrudge Messrs. Lasseter and Baxter their Disneyland love, because it’s what they grew up with. I don’t expect them to share my EPCOT fixation. But if people are going to be calling the shots on decisions that impact the unique culture of Walt Disney World in particular, it needs to be people who are well-versed stakeholders in that culture. That was easy back in the day, when WED was small and the same group of Imagineers who made Disneyland moved on, as a group, to create the Magic Kingdom. Everyone was on the same page because they had shared that experience – they had that knowledge “in their head” because they had made those design decisions. Nowadays, though, if you haven’t studied the history and know the unique differences between, say, the two Haunted Mansions, you can’t make effective decisions on their presentation.
This is a problem that has come to the fore in recent years, as time passes and we have developed two distinct subsets of fans – those who grew up on Disneyland and those who grew up on Walt Disney World. A lot of the company is operated by west-coasters, and it’s easy to tell. We’ve spoken at length about how even fan-centered divisions like D23 have an obvious west-coast bias, and it has colored both the selection of and content for their historical events.
I think it’s time that the Florida branch of Imagineering come into its own, with the power to initiate its own major projects and to call the shots on these critical details. We need people who first and foremost understand Walt Disney World calling the shots, and less of these missives from California mandating everything from design decisions to spiels. Obviously the power within Disney will continue to come from California, and the center of Imagineering will remain in Glendale. But there needs to be a team in Orlando with both the manpower and agency to be able to veto these incongruous “drops” from Disneyland and to retain the unique voice of Walt Disney World.
From the Progress City archives comes this collection of 33 tall tales and true from Disney history. Available in paperback, hardback, and ebook formats.
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