There's No Such Thing As A Dumb Question

Window on Main Street: 35 Years of Creating Happiness at Disneyland Park by Van Arsdale France. 1991, 129 Pages.

Van Arsdale France, Disney Legend and member of the pre-opening cast at Disneyland, has a window on Main Street, USA at Disneyland (hence the book title). The window was originally installed above the former Tobacco Shop. Currently, the window is above an empty spot between the Magic Shop and Great American Pastimes. Van was at the opening of Disneyland, Walt Disney World and Tokyo Disneyland. He was responsible for the overall development of the training programs and is considered the Founder and Professor Emeritus of Disney University. As recounted in the book, Van hired Dick Nunis as a gofer back in 1955. Years later, Dick would be the president of Disneyland and Walt Disney World. Van returned to the company as Dick's staff assistant (professional term of gofer). Lesson learned? Always be nice to your staff--you never know when they might be your boss! Van passed away in 1999 in California.

Published in 1991, Van recounts his long and storied career with Disney. The work is full of anecdotes that are told chronologically. From meeting Walt the first time to the introduction of Eisner and Wells. The book is presented as a biography but is really more of a collection of anecdotes. As Van states, he had tried to publish this book in the 1970's, only to find himself heavily involved in the opening of Walt Disney World and Tokyo Disneyland. He revisited the idea in 1985; with Dick Nunis' approval and Disneyland's 35th Anniversary approaching, Van dusted off and "...reworked that old, dust-covered book." (p. 6)

Van looks mainly at his story at Disneyland. In the beginning, he was hired to create Disneyland's first employee training session--the very first session was attended by Roy Disney, the Vice President of Bank of America and major executives of Disneyland sponsors. Talk about a tough crowd! Roy approved and thus launched the beginnings of Disney training.

In that first session, Van and Dick created the training, the manual and all visual aids on a shoestring budget. The theme was We'll Create Happiness. The rest of the manual includes the following areas:

• It All Started With a Mouse
• The Magic Mirror of Your Smile
• It's Been My Pleasure
• We Don't Have "Customers", We Serve "Guests"
• We are "Hosts" and "Hostesses"
• There's No Such Thing as a "Dumb Question"
• Everyone's a V.I.P.
• The Disneyland Look
• Disneyland Taboos
• We Work While Others Play
• Team Work is Essential

From there, Van recounts the major points in Disneyland's history and his opinion and thoughts on those events. For a two-year period, Van left Disney and worked with C.V. Wood on the Pleasure Island Park in Massachusetts and the Freedomland Park in New York. After the hiatus, Van was rehired by Dick at Disneyland. From there, the Disneyland University was officially begun. It would see many changes throughout the years, but the basic philosophy would remain the same. My favorite parts of the book were the stories about Roy; you get the feeling that Roy truly loved Walt and did everything in his power to make all of Walt's dreams successful. Van never saw himself on the creative side and always felt an affinity for Roy and Dick Nunis. It is obvious that these two men were thought highly by Van.

The book is divided into major chronological sections with small stories presented back-to-back. It is a quick and easy read. At various points, you will find yourself laughing out loud. For me, I found myself wishing to be a part of the early years of Disneyland. Van finishes with a look at the changes and excitement brought by Eisner and Wells.

This book is a fun and a great look back at one man's long career with Disney but it isn't for everyone. I would recommend this work for the Disney enthusiast that wants to learn more about what it was like working in the organization and seeing how it grew. The anecdotes are charming and you do get a good sense of how Disney grew and evolved over the years.

I would like to thank Van--posthumously. If he hadn't decided to keep his "diary," there would be a lot of lost stories. And this book is a great collection of stories.

Lost Imagineering: Port Disney

by Jeff Pepper

In the very early 1990s, Disney developed plans for two different theme parks for southern California, with the intention of only one ultimately being completed. Westcot Center was proposed as a second gate at Disneyland, while Port Disney was imagineered for an area at Long Beach. Neither concept saw the light of day. Westcot was abandoned entirely, though fortunately Port Disney survived to some extent in the form of Tokyo DisneySea.

An Employee Forum published in 1991 said:

"Planning continues on the Long Beach park "Port Disney," whose California ocean themes emphasize recreation and fun, mythology, science and ecology. Work is now progressing on an environmental impact report."

Windows to the Past: King-Size Latex Toys

Kids today with their high-tech games and gadgets have no appreciation for minimalism in toy design.  Case in point--wonderful king-size latex toys from the height of the baby boom.  Remember!  If it was advertised on the back page of a comic book, you could be guaranteed it was a quality product.  At least that was the argument we made to our parents when attempting to cajole the $1.25 needed for the order.

Oh, and by the way-- King-Size Latex Toys = (a bag of balloons).

No Commercial Potential. No audience. No Market. No Deal.

No Commercial Potential. No Audience. No Market. No Deal.

by George Taylor

Disneyland the Nickel Tour: A Postcard Journey Through a Half Century of the Happiest Place on Earth Bruce Gordon, David Mumford, Roger Le Roque and Nick Farago. 392 pages, 2000.

Let me start this review with the following statement: This is the most prized book in my collection.

I'll try not to be too biased. It is also the most expensive and one of the hardest to come by. In the Afterwords section of Walt's Time [Editor's Note: a fantastic read about the Sherman Brothers], Bruce explains how The Nickel Tour came to be:

We talked to every publisher we could find, and heard the same story, word for word.
No Commercial Potential. No audience. No Market. No Deal.

They put the book together themselves: scanned all of the cards, did the layout of every page and had it printed in Italy. They lugged the books to every convention and sold them through mail-order.

And guess what: we sold every book we printed.

--p. 241, Bruce Gordon, Walt's Time - From Before to Beyond

Disneyland, the Nickel Tour is a look at the first 45 years of Disneyland's history seen through the postcards of the park. In addition to Randy Bright's wonderful Disneyland the Inside Story, The Nickel Tour stands as one of the two most comprehensive books about Disneyland's history. Where it edges out Mr. Bright' work is that The Nickel Tour does cover the past 20 years. Unfortunately, Mr. Bright passed away in 1990 and a second edition is not forthcoming. Bruce Gordon, the primary writer of The Nickel Tour, was an Imagineer and started with the Company in 1980. Mr. Gordon co-authored many books about Disney and there are several that were published posthumouslyr. Mr. Gordon passed away in November 2007. As it stands, the second edition of The Nickel Tour will probably be the last.

The Nickel Tour is an amazing work on so many different levels: the postcard images, the photographs of attractions that weren't released in postcard form, the historical information and the writing. They begin by sharing pre-opening cards and work their way through the history of Disneyland. One of Gordon and Mumford's strengths is that they write well and can take something as simple as post cards and turn it into an epic look at a theme park. The writing never gets technical and is always filled with reverence, love and a little remorse. Occasionally, they slip in some humor. It is always fitting and they obvious love word-play. The following paragraph could have been presented as just a litany of facts, but they went a different way with it.

On the left hand side of Main Street, we encounter the Sunkist Citrus House. Long before this view was taken, the Citrus House had actually been two separate stores, one housing "Sunny View Jams and Jellies" and the other housing the "Puffin Bake Shop." By October of 1958, Disneyland had canned the jam and jelly shop and opened a candy store in its place. It was a sweet deal until June of 1960, when the Puffin Bake Shop went stale. (It seems they just weren't making enough dough to stay in business.) And even worse, it wasn't long before everyone was beginning to sour on the candy shop next door. So the two shops were joined together, and in a dedication ceremony held with Walt on July 31, they finally became the home of the Sunkist Citrus Shop. Things were calm until 1990, when the time was ripe to spin around in a circle once more – only to find the Sunkist moving out and the Bakery moving back in! Well, that story certainly had a peel. Orange you glad we wasted all this time? Meanwhile, here's the scoop on the Carnation Ice Cream parlor: in 1997 they split from their original parlor and (having lost their Carnation along the way) floated into the home of the bakery. Then, with perfect Disneyland logic, the bakery moved into – the ice cream parlor! If that doesn't get a rise out of you, nothing will!
p. 121

The sense of history that you get from The Nickel Tour, through the postcards and photographs, has not been presented in any other form. Besides being a reference work for postcards, it is almost a wish book--one you can flip open to any page and see a favorite or long-gone attraction and dream about visiting or re-experiencing. The images are stellar and your appreciation of postcards as art and history will grow.

This work was obviously a labor of love for Gordon and Mumford. It is hard to stress how important this work is in the Disney Literature. Beside being one of two major historical works about Disneyland, you get a feel for how Disneyland evolved, how Walt plussed the park and how the Disney Company moved forward after Walt. It is the most cherished book in my entire collection. If you are lucky enough to find a copy, get it. I know that many people will dismiss this book because it is about Disneyland, but without Disneyland, there would be no Walt Disney World. The history of Disneyland offers a lot of insight into the growth of Walt Disney World as well.

This book is simply amazing!

Lost Imagineering: Edison Square

Lost Imagineering: Edison Square

By Jeffrey Pepper

One of the really cool features of the early souvenir books from Disneyland and Walt Disney World, were pages near the end that always showcased upcoming projects. The 1959 Walt Disney's Guide to Disney provided a glimpse of an area called Edison Square. It was one of a few different concepts for a "street" that would extend off from Main Street.

Freeze Frame: Jack and Donald

Disney has just released the Blu-ray edition of James and the Giant Peach. We were pleasantly surprised to see the cameos that made it into the film.

Jack Skellington, from Burton's 1993 The Nightmare Before Christmas, as Captain of the Pirate ship.

Our very own Donald Duck is the top skeleton crew member.

Donald helps to turn the wheel that is stretching Mr. Centipede.

Donald gets a closeup right before he falls apart!

In all of Donald's cameos, he displays his normal bravado and fierce temper! You can also hear is aggravated quack several times.

Lost Imagineering: WESTCOT Center

Lost Imagineering: WESTCOT Center
by Jeff Pepper
When Disney announced their initial plans for creating "The Disneyland Resort" in late 1991, Disney's California Adventure was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a more compact version of EPCOT Center, dubbed WESTCOT, was the second gate. An article in the Spring 1992 issue of Disney News provided no details about the park's attractions, beyond saying that "The glittering golden sphere of Spacestation Earth will beckon visitors to The Disneyland Resort day and night."

The same article also said near it's end, "Of course, it's still early in the game, and plans can-and usually do-change."

Marvelous Mechanized Magic!

Sometimes, something absolutely amazing falls into our mailbox at 2719 Hyperion. The following press release from the 1313 Club is a mind boggling, jaw-dropping event. If anyone wants to sponsor their favorite Imaginerd (that would be me, not my brother), then let me know!

MARVELOUS MECHANIZED MAGIC

The 1313 Club presents an evening of Audio Animatronics magic

Event Information

DATE: September 18, 2010

LOCATION: Grand Ballroom, Disneyland Hotel,
Disneyland Resort
Anaheim, California

TICKETS: On sale now at www.the1313club.com

COST: $88.00 per person

MC for the night - Actor Neil Patrick Harris

SCHEDULE: The event including; displays, dinner, panels, presentations and entertainment will run from reception 4:00 -5:15 p.m. to approximately 10:00 p.m. Saturday evening.

This September 18th 2010, Ape Pen Publishing and the 1313 Club will host an evening celebrating the incredible mechanical history of theme park animatronics and other mechanical magic. The event will spotlight attractions, characters and memorable devices created by WED Imagineering and later used at theme parks around the world. Using rare images, video, authentic props and animatronics, we’ll journey through the story of this fascinating technology that changed the world of themed entertainment.

Event highlights include presentations by Disney Legends as they share their memories of working with the original Imagineer Walt Disney. The event will give fans an inside view of this little known aspect of Disney park creation and an opportunity to meet and talk with the people who create the magic. This once-in-a-lifetime evening will honor Disneyland as one of the world’s great storytelling environments, with special emphasis on its technological wonders. Combining history, entertainment, lots of surprises and featuring never-before-seen props and artifacts, it’s an event not to be missed by any Disney or animatronics fan!

The current lineup is an impressive collection of legendary and behind-the-scenes talent. (Panels and talent subject to change.)

Reception –
Collector’s corner opens with special merchandise available for purchase. Doom Buggies booth with Disney Artist Brian Crosby, and special appearance by R2D2. Silent auction begins. Original theme park artifacts display opens and will include:

• Alligators from Epcot’s World of Motion attraction
• Ride vehicles from Snow White’s Scary Adventures and Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride
• Animatronics from Epcot’s Food Rocks attraction
• Dragon heads from the Legend of Mythica at Tokyo DisneySea and Fantasmic
• Dolls from “it’s a small world”
• Artifacts from America Sings, Haunted Mansion Holiday & Rivers of America
• Original maquettes from the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction and the Western River Expedition

Dinner and Entertainment –

Enjoy a full, three course sit-down dinner while viewing vintage images of Disneyland and rare photographs taken during the park’s construction. Dinner entertainment provided by: Kirk Wall and The Can Can Girls from the Golden Horseshoe Revue

Presentations –

Crossbones, Tombstones, and Dolls – The Animatronics Extravaganza

Join Disney Legends Alice Davis and X Atencio as they take you through the adventurous worlds of the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean, to the gentle musical environment of “it’s a small world”. Share their memories of creating the magic when Walt Disney himself was at the helm.

It All Started With a Magical Business Plan – Pixie Dust Marketing

Meet the “Honorary Mayor” of Disneyland, Jack Lindquist, who had the best job in the world, President of Disneyland. Share memories of a time when the E-ticket was the coveted treasure in the land. Learn marketing magic from Milt Albright, the man who created some of our most fond memories from school days past, Grad Nite at Disneyland!

From Paper to Life – Giving Movement and Voice to Animated Characters

Animators and voice artists breathe life into drawings and turn them into realistic characters. One of the most beloved animated Disney character, Alice from Alice in Wonderland, was brought to life on film and later through the magic of animatronics. Disney Legend Kathryn Beaumont shares what it takes to voice this classic character. Animator Floyd Norman utilized his talents from beloved 2D animated Disney films to today’s 3D wonders, many of which are featured in popular rides and attractions. Follow his journey from enchanted forests and “Lightyears” beyond.

Rides, Roads and Roars – From Monorails and Flying Saucers to the Roars of Dinosaurs and King Kong!

Disney Legend Bob Gurr is truly a wonder. For 55 years he’s helped move many a happy Disney theme park guest aboard vehicles and conveyances of his own design. Even retirement didn’t slow him down; he went on to create a vast array of fantastical beasts including King Kong and dinosaurs for Jurassic Park. If you haven’t heard Bob speak of his adventures before, you’re in for a treat! Those who have, you know he’ll regale us with stories of his rich career that are not soon to be forgotten!

MAPO Magic – The History of Audio Animatronics

The early days of MAPO brought an entirely new technology to the forefront of the industry and Rick Berryman was part of it all. Hear what it was like to be there during this groundbreaking time at WED from the man who, according to legend, has created more Audio-Animatronics figures for Disney than any other individual. Joining him with the history of Audio-Animatronics are two of today’s most talented Imagineers, Larry Nikolai and Ethan Reed sharing a presentation rarely seen outside the walls of Walt Disney Imagineering.

It’s Alive! - The Art and Science of Audio Animatronics Programming

The hands that have masterfully programmed many beloved Disney characters at Disney resorts around the world are now hard at work making the ultimate in animatronics figures come to life. Darrin Hughes shares a rare demonstration of how these amazing mechanical wonders are programmed for lifelike motion.

The Next Generation – Advancements in animatronics From Chuck E. Cheese to Dragons and Beyond!

When Garner Holt was young he was so inspired by Walt Disney and Disneyland, he dreamed of a career building things just like he saw at the park. At 16 he founded what would become the largest and internationally recognized animatronics design and manufacturing company. The company has built more than 2,000 animatronics characters from song birds to dinosaurs and dragons and will soon premiere the most advanced animatronics figure to date. With clients worldwide that include nearly all the Disney theme parks, Garner’s childhood dreams have become reality beyond his wildest imaginings as he makes the magic he always admired.

Lost Imagineering: Disney's America

Lost Imagineering: Disney's America
by Jeff Pepper

Abandoned Imagineering concepts are popular topics among Disney fans. Since many of these “lost attractions” have been covered in articles on other Disney sites and blogs, I thought I would take a slightly different approach when featuring them here. The Lost Imagineering Virtual Trading Cards will be a regular ongoing feature of 2719 Hyperion.

The failure of Disney’s America is sadly compounded by the fact that the company opted not to relocate it to a more receptive community. While I don’t necessarily agree, many felt it would have made a better fourth gate at Disney World than Animal Kingdom. It was also very disappointing when Imagineering recycled most of the park’s concepts for Disney’s California Adventure. The original attraction designs were far more interesting as they were first conceived.

While the protest against Disney’s America wore the noble mantle of being against the commercialization of history, at its roots is was just the local and very wealthy property owners who simply didn’t want Disney in their backyard. The Washington Post lead the charge, and Michael Eisner ultimately pulled the plug.

The Reality of the Situation is...

The Reality of the Situation is...
A 2619 Hyperion Book Review
by George Taylor

Realityland: True-Life Adventures at Walt Disney World by David Koenig (334 pages, 2007).

Andrew (my brother and co-editor at Imaginerding) and I met David at MouseFest 2007 and heard him speak about Realityland at the Reading Trout Book Store in Celebration.

You can read my reviews of Mouse Tales and More Mouse Tales.

Realityland fills a much needed void in the WDW literature--an unofficial look at the development and construction of Walt Disney World. The book follows the same formula as Koenig's Mouse Tales titles except that more pages are devoted to the history and development of Walt Disney World (whereas Mouse Tales focuses largely on anecdotes about Disneyland instead of the construction). It is obvious that Koenig spent a lot of time interviewing cast members, executives and construction people from the early days. The first chapters are filled with anecdotes about the Preview Center, hiring the first cast members and the rigors of developing the property.

This is one of the few un-official resources that effectively documents the construction of the Magic Kingdom, the TTC and the first resorts. Koenig offers an easy to read and compelling look at the overall development of the property. The stars of the book are the individual cast members that Koenig was able to interview; he was fortunate to spend time with cast members from all areas of the company. He spoke to former executives that talked about the mishaps and happy accidents, cast members that talked about the early years of working at WDW and with locals about the political machinations that took place.

Koenig presents an intriguing view of how Walt, Roy and Card Walker all dealt with the Florida project. There were a litany of undercover plans, political dealings, union issues and theft! As Koenig moves through the the timeline of the resort, he presents the major issues and milestones that each management needed to contend with, including: the fuel crisis of the 70's, the question of "Where's EPCOT" and the expense of EPCOT (leading to Card Walker's retirement) and the new management of Esiner/Wells. As in Mouse Tales, there were times when I laughed out loud and times when I wondered how they got it all done.

As with Koenig's other titles, he doesn't gloss over the negative side of Disney. He does cover the accidents that have happened over the years and one of the final chapters is devoted to Disney Security. I never felt that Koenig was out to get anyone--he was just trying to present a fairly unbiased look at Walt Disney World. One story that stands out is that he dispels the myth of George, the ill-fated worker that is rumored to have died during the construction of Pirates [Editor's Note: Check out Foxxfur's excellent article on George]. He uses official records to show when the first actual death happened at WDW (I'll let you read the book to find out) and covers accidents, missteps and Disney/Reedy Creek policy. As I mentioned in my review of the Mouse Tales books, you might have to remove your rose-colored Mouse Ears while reading Realityland.

I would surmise that the lack of information and focus about the development of the property after the Eisner/Wells team took over is due to the author's one noticeable bias--he is not a fan of Eisner. Koenig almost vilifies Eisner when talking about the creation of the Disney-MGM Studios. A lot of the more recent developments are glossed over. The dearth of information about the most recent 15 years is the major drawback to the book.

When thinking about the history that Koenig plays out, I was able to place a lot of the people and events that I had read about in other sources--this time with much greater detail. I would hesitate to let this work stand as my only source on Walt Disney World: Since the World Began: Walt Disney World the First 25 Years; Disney: The First 100 Years and the History Channel Modern Marvels - Walt Disney World all help to create a solid history of Walt Disney World.

This is a work that will be used by future generations to help further document the history of Walt Disney World. It is obvious by the Notes section, that Koenig did his research and left a great paper trail. Koenig spent a lot of time interviewing people and researching support documents through newspapers and magazines. It is very well researched.

Withstanding the last sections of the book, the first 200 pages alone are worth the price of the book. You will learn more about the development of the property and what it took to get the Walt Disney World Resort up and running. You will never disembark from the ferry or walk down the ramp from the monorail without thinking about how massive an undertaking Walt Disney World was after you read Realityland.

Bottom Line: For any WDW enthusiast, this is one of the few books to tackle the early history of Walt Disney World. Koenig does a fantastic job of telling the story and keeps you wanting to read more. The only shortcoming is the lack of depth in the sections on the development of the Disney-MGM Studios and the Animal Kingdom. You will walk away a deeper understanding of the Resort and a greater appreciation for everything that has been done. I enjoyed this book and I recommend it to all enthusiasts--no matter what your Disney Geek Level.