Rest in Peace, Blaine Gibson

Blaine Gibson, Disney Legend and master sculptor, has died at age 97.

Mr. Gibson was born in Colorado, and quickly showed an artistic brilliance. There weren't too many jobs in Colorado for a skilled artist, so his mother urged him to send some art to Disney Studios to see if they would be interested. They were, and Blaine soon found himself working as an inbetweener on several Disney classics. His first love was sculpture, a talent that would prove to be helpful for his boss when DISNEYLAND became reality.

Blaine worked on turning drawings into three dimensional figures, helping to create many of the adventures that DISNEYLAND guests enjoy to this very day. Mr. Gibson retired from the company in 1983.

Despite his retirement, however, Blaine picked up many projects at Walt Disney Imagineering, including one that was near and dear to his heart- the "Partners" statue at DISNEYLAND. Blaine carefully designed the statue that would honor his beloved boss who had given him the opportunity to follow his dreams. Mr. Gibson's work was placed in Disney Theme Parks around the world, a tribute to a very special man.

Today, Mr. Gibson's work continues to entertain and inspire millions. Most of those people will never know his name, but his work will live on.

Disney Legend #22: Carl Barks

Carl Barks was born in Oregon in 1901. His father was a farmer who would move from farm to farm and job to job, a lifestyle that Mr. Barks would undertake himself early in life. It was this lifestyle that would inform Mr. Banks' future work with Walt Disney Productions.

Mr. Barks began working as an inbetweener at Disney in 1935. His knack for coming up with story ideas and gags got him transferred to the story department, working closely with the staff who wrote for Donald Duck. Sinus problems made him leave Disney to relocate to the Southern California desert where he hoped to operate a chicken farm. He decided to make extra money doing freelance work, which led to him working on Disney comics.

Mr. Barks' history with Donald Duck led to his getting assigned to draw "The Duck". It was this assignment that led to the golden age of Disney Comics. Carl Barks' most famous creation was Uncle Scrooge, who proved to be an enduring character. 

Mr. Barks' work was originally uncredited, but once DuckTales, which was heavily based on his work, had taken off, the Walt Disney Company began to celebrate Mr. Barks and his characters. In 1991, Carl Barks was honored as a Disney Legend, his work having entertained generations of children. Mr. Barks spent his final years attending Disney conventions where he was able to meet and greet his fans. He passed away in 2000 at the age of 99.

Mickey Mouse's Sister

Did you know that Mickey Mouse has a sister? She isn't mentioned much outside of the Disney comic books, but she is the mother of his two nephews.

Her original name was "Amelia Fieldmouse" though she is now called "Felicity Fieldmouse". Early comics depicted her as a matronly older sister, but she was eventually said to be younger than her famous brother.

Matterhorn Screamer!

Walt Disney was a visionary. Instead of concentrating on today or even tomorrow, he was always looking to the future as a place where the problems of today would be solved and amazing new discoveries would be made to accomplish things we couldn't even imagine today. It was that way of thinking that made Tomorrowland and his original plans for EPCOT what they were- optimistic and not dystopian. Mr. Disney embraced technology and imagined a world where a great big beautiful tomorrow was just a dream away.

While just a far off dream in the 1960's, home computing became a very real thing in the 1980's and The Walt Disney Company was one of the first entertainment companies to license and produce software for the computers that were becoming commonplace in many American homes. One of the earliest games for this market paired up the lovable Goofy with a classic DISNEYLAND attraction- Matterhorn Mountain!

While the graphics look primitive by today's standards, they were amazing at the time. For the first time, guests could enjoy a game based on a famous Disney attraction in the comfort of their own home.

Imagine what might happen if you could become the accident-prone Goofy, hiking up the forbidding Matterhorn in an attempt to reach the top? It was now possible with the fun and entertaining Matterhorn Screamer! just one of many challenging and fun games that was available from Walt Disney Software. Mr. Disney would have been proud 

Rest in Peace, Michael Graves

Michael Graves, designer of the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotels and the Team Disney Burbank building has passed away at the age of 80.

Mr. Graves was brought to Disney in the late eighties to jazz up the company's building portfolio. The Swan and Dolphin Hotels are the most visible of his Disney projects, as they are located right behind the Epcot theme park.

The hotels feature his signature design with giant sculptures and unusual shapes.

His elaborate designs extend to the interiors with fanciful sculptures and fountains.

Mr. Graves also designed the Team Disney building in Burbank, which features large statues of the Seven Dwarfs, seemingly holding the building in place. Profits from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs were used to buy the property in Burbank, so his use of them in the design was apt. This building is not open to the public like the Swan and Dolphin.

Michael Graves was probably best known for his hugely successful line of housewares for Target, many of which had Disney characters incorporated into them. Mr. Graves recently oversaw an extensive internal refresh of the Swan and Dolphin Hotels, ensuring that his work will live on long after him.

Disney's Angels

The Walt Disney Company purchased the California Angels from Gene Autry in 1997. The company's ties to the team go back much further, however. Walt Disney sat on the team's board of directors as a good friend of Mr. Autry. It was the success of DISNEYLAND that encouraged Mr. Autry to relocate his team to Anaheim. Had Mr. Disney not passed away in 1966 he would have likely purchased a piece of the team; a sales agreement to buy a share of the Angels was discovered in Mr. Disney's desk after he had died.

After the Walt Disney Company purchased the team, the hope was to do more cross-promotion between DISNEYLAND and the team. Since the company had just purchased ESPN, there were also plans to launch a localized sports channel. These plans never came to fruition, but in 2002 the team did something magical that it had never managed to do before; it won the World Series! The celebration was magical, taking over both DISNEYLAND and Disney California Adventure. It was a unforgettable day!

The company eventually sold the team, but the memories and the magic live on. Anaheim Angels- A.O.K!

Disney Legend #14: John Hench

The fourteenth person inducted as a Disney Legend was John Hench. Born in Iowa, Mr. Hench attended many art and architecture schools around the country before finding himself at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles, which is where Walt Disney discovered him. Eager to settle down with his wife, Mr. Hench took a job in the Disney art department. Mr. Hench's talents weren't in animation, but in guiding the artistic look and feel of an animated picture. The elaborate concept art developed by Mr. Hench was beautiful on its own, but was used mainly as a guide for the artists whose art would actually appear in the finished film. While his artwork would go unseen by the general public for decades, it would serve as a guide for the finished product. Mr. Hench was regarded as a genius by Walt Disney himself.

Mr. Hench's artistic talents were heavily utilized throughout DISNEYLAND. Building interiors and corresponding color schemes at The Park were mostly developed by Mr. Hench. In fact, he was heavily involved in every construction and refurbishment project during the 1960's. Amusingly, Mr. Hench would often get mistaken for Walt Disney while he was working in the park. Mr. Disney never minded this since it gave park guests an added bit of excitement during their visit to his Magic Kingdom.

Mr. Hench spent over 65 years working for The Walt Disney Company, having a hand in designing every Disney theme park built up until his death in 2004 of a heart attack. His designs and artistry are still enjoyed today by the millions of people who visit DISNEYLAND each year, even if the vast majority of them don't even know his name.

The First Mickey Mouse Toy

The first Mickey Mouse toy was this wooden action figure. Originally sold for mere cents in 1930, it can sell for up to $7000 in excellent condition. Even in bad shape, it can sell for $750.

Disney on Atari: Sorcerer's Apprentice

In the early 1980's, everyone was crazy about Atari and Disney wanted to be at the forefront of the video game craze. While Disney translated its latest movies (like Tron) into video games, it also mined its classic characters for new video games- even the classic Fantasia. While it doesn't seem like an ideal candidate for a video game, Sorcerer's Apprentice was actually a natural for a video game adaptation. With out of control brooms throwing buckets of water into a pit that's rapidly filling up with water, players take control of Mickey Mouse as he tries to stem the flow of water by eliminating the brooms. Other characters featured in games included Snow White and Donald Duck.

Walt Disney's Special Plush Mickey

He was there from the start- Mickey Mouse! And Walt Disney enjoyed taking him everywhere he went, even the grand opening of his biggest dream- DISNEYLAND Park. The special plush Mickey Mouse- dressed in a railroad engineer uniform, was made especially for Walt Disney and was a one of a kind item. Whenever Walt found himself in the park or visiting sick children he'd take his best friend along to bring smiles to everyone.

This special Mickey, who was seen by millions on TV and thousands in person was carefully retired and eventually placed in the Disney Archives. Extremely fragile, he doesn't get hugged much these days, but is specially preserved so that he will still be around for years to come.

Disney Divisions: Hollywood Pictures

Hollywood Pictures was another film division of The Walt Disney Studios that, like Touchstone Pictures, was created to release films for a more mature audience. Its first released film was 1989's Arachnophobia.

Walt Disney's Real EPCOT

Want to see Walt Disney's EPCOT? Don't head to Epcot Center. Instead, hop on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority inside the Disney World Magic Kingdom park. Take a look to the left as your car turns into the first indoor section of the ride. The announcer refers to the model as Walt Disney's vision of the City of Tomorrow, but this model is actually how EPCOT would have looked if Walt had lived to build it.

Rest in Peace, Shirley Temple

Shirley Temple had huge ties to The Walt Disney Company. In addition to presenting Walt with the honorary Oscar for "Snow White", she also helped open Sleeping Beauty Castle & sat on the Disney Board of directors in the 1970s.

Donald Duck's Sister

If Donald Duck had three nephews, it stands to reason he must have had a sibling, right? He did! A sister named Dumbella "Della" Duck who graces her beloved brother with his three angelic nephews.

The Original Mickey Mouse Watch

The original Mickey Mouse watch was produced by the bankrupt Ingersoll Watch Company, which promptly exited bankruptcy and eventually became Timex. The price of an original Ingersoll Mickey Mouse in its original box is considerably more than the price listed in the picture below.

Mortimer Mouse!

Some people may know that Walt originally chose the name "Mortimer" for his character Mickey Mouse. (Thank Lillian Disney for changing his mind on that one.) But did you know that they actually did create a character named Mortimer? Mortimer Mouse was a rival for Minnie's attentions and was everything Lillian Disney associated with the name Mortimer- conceited, snide and rude.

Walt Disney's EPCOT

Walt Disney had big plans for his Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, yet like many of his biggest dreams, there were many in the company who doubted it would be a success, including his own brother. It would be nice to point to Walt Disney World's EPCOT and say that it was living proof of the success of Walt's dream, but that EPCOT was never built. After Walt's passing, his brother Roy quickly canceled all of Walt's plans for the Florida project. The resort as built reflects the vision of Roy Disney, not that of its namesake. Only DISNEYLAND park in Anaheim stands as a fully realized vision of one of Walt's dreams.

So where did the current EPCOT come from? It seems that people never forgot how Walt spoke about EPCOT on his television show and flooded guest relations at Florida's Magic Kingdom Theme Park with complaints about not getting to visit EPCOT during their visit. All design work on other potential theme parks was halted as the company concentrated on solving the EPCOT problem. They found the answer right on front of their faces; two of the many competing theme park ideas they were considering before it was decreed that "EPCOT" would be the 2nd Florida park were "Future World" and "World Showcase". They were not seen as compelling ideas on their own, but smash them together and they could become something bigger. So that's exactly what they did. Two dissimilar ideas thrown together became EPCOT Center.

Disney World's Space Mountain

What ride at DISNEYLAND is most like Disney World's Space Mountain? An easy answer, right? It must be Space Mountain. But that would be incorrect- the real answer is the Matterhorn!

After the Matterhorn was a huge success at DISNEYLAND, Walt Disney decided that the park needed a second roller coaster. His new coaster would blast guests into near total darkness and take place in a fanciful, futuristic structure, with multiple "rockets" embarking on multiple trips to space and back at the same time.

To do all this would require a sophisticated ride system. Walt Disney asked his best imagineers to come up with a workable system that would allow him to fully realize his ideas. Unfortunately it was not possible with 1960's technology, so someone suggested merely replicating the Matterhorn setup indoors. This was not good enough for Walt, so he put the idea on hold until technology caught up with his dreams.

Years later, the idea of building the Matterhorn indoors was revived when Walt Disney World's "Magic Kingdom" needed a major attraction. Since Disney officials doubted that an outdoor roller coaster would work in the humid Florida weather, building the Matterhorn indoors was seen as a viable option. So instead of building the Space Mountain of Walt's dreams, Florida's "Magic Kingdom" got the Matterhorn copy Walt had originally rejected.

However, advances in technology eventually made it possible to fully realize Walt Disney's vision. So when Space Mountain opened at DISNEYLAND, it was exactly as Walt had imagined.

Daisy's Three Nieces

Everyone knows about Donald Duck's three nephews, but Daisy Duck also has relatives- her three nieces. Named April, May & June, the three young ladies were just as rambunctious as the more well known Huey, Dewey & Louie. Used mostly in the legendary Carl Barks comic books, but have occasionally turned up elsewhere, like on The House of Mouse.