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The Mountains Of Future Past

Sometimes you can see a picture a dozen times and miss a very crucial detail. I recently watched the 1987 Disney Channel special, Backstage Disney: The American Adventure; I’ve seen this show several times since its debut oh so long ago, but somehow every time I did, I seemed to miss a very important detail.

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Full Steam Ahead, Mr. Baxter

Tony Baxter with models of Discovery Bay and Dumbo’s Circus, 1976

As you’re no doubt aware by now, veteran Imagineer Tony Baxter resigned from Walt Disney Imagineering last Friday, his birthday, after a remarkable 47 years with the company. Tony will be staying on as a consultant to the company, providing his insight […]

A History Of Animatronics

Way back when… so far back that the Disney Channel showed actual Disney-related content… the network often filled time between its programs with informative interstitials about Disney history. A series of these featurettes were produced about Walt Disney Imagineering, hosted by then-frequent Disney Channel host Eric Boardman. One of these, shown below, provides a glimpse […]

From The Model Shop…

EPCOT Center’s Equatorial Africa Pavilion, as seen from World Showcase Lagoon in this Imagineering model

One of the seldom-heralded benefits to the theme park history nerd that the internet provides are the many, many artist portfolios that have appeared online over the years. Disney is notoriously stingy about releasing Imagineering art, especially that […]

Sub For One…

Not pictured: Tom 1.0

I just happened upon this picture of a “solosub” undergoing animation testing at WED Enterprises in January 1983. Later that year it would be packed and shipped to Orlando for installation in Horizons, which opened that October.

All I’m saying is that it’s been almost thirty years since the […]