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By Michael - February 26th, 2012 
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.
Continue reading Behind The Masterpiece, 1967
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By Michael - February 25th, 2012 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.
Read the article!
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By Michael - February 24th, 2012 Amongst Disney watchers, there is a subset of us which could glibly be referred to as the “WED did it better” crowd. With a historical view of Disney attraction offerings, one can come to the conclusion that the old-guard Imagineering that created Pirates of the Caribbean, the Country Bear Jamboree and Horizons possessed a certain flair that the Imagineering that created Stitch’s Great Escape, Journey into YOUR Imagination, and Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor lacks.
The real reasons for this perceived shift are hard to single out; there’s certainly not a lack of artistic talent or technical wizardry at Imagineering, even after several waves of layoff and attrition. There are a variety of opinions out there as to why things are the way they are, and at what level the responsibility lies. And the blame doesn’t all fall squarely on Imagineering’s shoulders either; after all, they can only build what they are asked by the parks division to build, and only with the budget they’re allotted by Disney corporate.
Continue reading Goofy About Health
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By Michael - February 21st, 2012 
It’s the curse of the Disney researcher that Disney, historically, has published far more documents for internal use than they have for fandom or the general public. Whether Eyes & Ears of Walt Disney World, Disneyland Line, Disney Newsreel, or one of a million old departmental newsletters, there’s a huge paper trail that’s always turning up new surprises.
One of the best sources of information from the development of EPCOT Center and Tokyo Disneyland is Imaginews, an employee newsletter for the Imagineers of WED and MAPO which ran from the late 1970s until sometime in the mid 1980s. As with most old cast publications, it’s a less-glossy look at Disney, full of in-jokes and the kind of in-the-trenches humor that arises from tight deadlines.
Several cast publications made a stab at including employee-drawn cartoons at some point during their run, but these usually were high school newspaper-grade gags. A notable exception is, perhaps unsurprisingly, Imaginews. Imagineer Chris Runco (also responsible for “Go-Bots“) created a series of gags which were printed during the early 1980s and played on some of the iconography of EPCOT – especially the pavilion logos. They also convey some of the mood at WED at the time – the above gag takes its cue from the driving slogan behind the creation of EPCOT Center and Tokyo Disneyland, “We Can Do It!” It’s a nice bit of history for EPCOT fans and, most importantly, they’re pretty funny.
 The guy on the right is thinking of Flash-animated cartoons
 It's a fun gag, but I would buy the heck out of those balloons - and those omnimover toys!
 The first Julie Reihm-bot was designed by John Hench in 1965... they evolved... they rebelled... there are many copies... and they have a plan Related Posts...
By Michael - February 20th, 2012  "How Not To Be Seen: Bathroom Edition" We’ve spoken at length – some might say disturbing length – about the fabled “Lost Danish Potties” of World Showcase. Essentially, what are now the bathrooms for EPCOT’s Norway pavilion (opened in 1988) were originally constructed as a stand-alone building in 1982. They were intended for a never-built Denmark pavilion, and even though the facilities were later annexed by the Norse, we’ve looked at how Disney repeatedly tried to bring Denmark into World Showcase afterward.
Before the Imagineers slotted Denmark into the site currently occupied by Norway, they considered other possible locations in World Showcase. One potential site was between the French and United Kingdom pavilions; another, show below from a 1979 rendering, was the area currently occupied by the China pavilion.
After the park opened, plans for a Denmark pavilion faded in favor of building a “Scandinavia” pavilion which would represent several nations in the region. This was, naturally, an issue of money; if a single nation couldn’t underwrite a pavilion, perhaps several could.
In the end, only Norwegian corporations (and the Norwegian government) came through with sponsorship cash, so “Scandinavia” became simply “Norway: Gateway to Scandinavia”. By billing the pavilion as such, it left the door open for future participation by other nations yet let Norway have the spotlight to themselves.
But what of this mystery “Scandinavia” pavilion, sandwiched (Handwiched?) historically between the Denmark and Norway pavilion concepts? Take a look…
 EPCOT's Scandinavia, as seen from the promenade  A closer look at EPCOT's Scandinavia pavilion These undated pieces of art show a pavilion much more similar to today’s Norway than to the original Denmark concepts. They also appear to depict a somewhat larger pavilion, which would make sense considering that it was to represent multiple nations.
In the end, only Norway came to pass, but we live in hope that someday the eleven nations of World Showcase will get some new company.
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