Parkendium

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Digital Disneyland archive unaffiliated with The Walt Disney Company. A project by @jason.parkendium.com. Parkendium: https://mediagraph.io/parkendium

American flags on the Mark Twain in Frontierland at Disneyland, with Big Thunder Mountain the distance.

Photograph on the parking lot tram from the parking structures, headed to the Main Entry Plaza.

Magic Kingdom rope drop.

Exterior of The Star Trader in Tomorrowland at Disneyland at dusk, showing all of the neon Space Mickeys illuminated.

Eddie Sotto in his office at Walt Disney Imagineering working on designs for Main Street, U.S.A. at Disneyland Paris.

Racing bobsleds on the Matterhorn in Fantasyland at Disneyland.

Debut guide map for Light Magic, May 23-27, 1997

Cover of p.t.m. magazine for Bell Telephone employees, October 1967, shows a waving Bell employee with Goofy and Pluto in front of Circle-Vision in the new Tomorrowland at Disneyland.

Photograph of the entrance to Tomorrowland at Disneyland in 1981, with two red PeopleMover trains.

Cast Member Jeanne Grado inside Carefree Corner on Main Street, U.S.A. at Disneyland.

Photograph of the Pixar Pal-A-Round in Pixar Pier at Disney California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort.

The chimney and fireplace at today's Rancho del Zocalo.in Frontierland dates back to Disneyland's opening.

Matterhorn Mountain in the distance beyond spring bloom.

HDastin in a vintage Disney's California Adventure sweatshirt on Hollywood Blvd.

Bust of Abraham Lincoln in Disneyland's Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.

Row of American flags on the Mark Twain Riverboat.

Tomorrowland's Clock of the World.

Video from around the time of Tokyo DisneySea's 2001 opening shows the Disney characters at the entrance to the Park.

Joe Fowler

Historical Perspectives

Veteran Disney Artists Share Memories, Stories Take Stock in America

Imagine what it would have been like to work with Walt Disney while he was creating Disneyland - to have had a hand in creating what Guests have enjoyed for 38 years. The memories you'd have ... the stories you could tell.

More than 100 Cast Members were treated to such memories of the early days of Disneyland at the 7th annual Historical Perspectives program held on Thursday, July 15, at the Golden Horseshoe. Guest speakers Harriet Burns, a Model Maker, and Artist Sam McKim enchanted the audience with their fascinating stories of working with Walt and creating Disneyland.

Joining The Walt Disney Company in July 1955 as a Model Maker at WED (now WDI), Harriet holds the distinction of being the first woman hired by WDI in a non-office worker capacity. She created prototypes for nearly every subsequent Disneyland project.

"Walt was a model maker himself and enjoyed miniatures, so he'd work side by side with us in the model shop," said Harriet. "Many times he'd come in and take something right out of my hand because he'd want to try it."

Harriet told delightful stories of building Storybook Land in amazing detail; of making a model for Candy Mountain, a project which never became a part of Disneyland; and of building the birds for the Enchanted Tiki Room. Explains Harriet, "I remember Walt talking about how he wanted to do this bird show. And all of the birds would do different things like move their heads and tails and sing — and they would all breathe. And I thought, 'Oh, that will be the day.'"

Sharing some of his favorite memories, Sam talked of his start at the Studio: "I was a sketch man for Fox when I was laid off, and they sent me over to the Disney Studios. They said Walt was working on this thing called Disneyland," said Sam. "I guess that's what you'd call a happy accident because it was 32 years before I left to retire."

One of the best-known illustrators of…

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES

For the past five years, the Historical Perspectives program has offered Cast Members an opportunity to celebrate Disneyland Park's anniversary with a unique look back at our early days that is not available to the general public. The presentation was hosted this year by Executive Vice President Norm Doerges at the Golden Horseshoe on July 16.

More than 150 Cast Members listened as longtime Disney Animators Marc Davis and Bill Justice reminisced about their experiences with Walt, the Company, and Disneyland.

Marc Davis began working for Disney in 1935 and is known as one of the "Nine Old Men" whose collective works include most of the Disney animated classics. Marc used slides to illustrate some of the attractions he helped design such as Haunted Mansion, Nature's Wonderland, Jungle Cruise, and Pirates of the Caribbean.

He also described some of the projects that were never built, including: Garden of the Gods, a water attraction featuring many sculptures; Enchanted Snow Palace, a winter wonderland complete with an abominable snowman; and Western River Ride, which Marc said would have been similar in scope to Pirates of the Caribbean, with various humorous scenes.

"The pirate attraction, and how it started, was not actually the way you see it now," Marc said. "When Walt came to me and said he was interested in starting the project, 'Pirates' was going to be a walk-through down under New Orleans Square. We were going to have a spotlight on a pirate who would actually be the narrator as various parts of the scene would be lit. This was being done while we were working on the New York World's Fair. Walt would come into office and never look at these boards. He wasn't ready to talk about it. I went right ahead and did all kinds of pirates - good and bad ones, mean ones, and funny ones. Finally, when the Fair was over, he came to the conclusion to do this as a ride and to put it on the other side of the berm. Then he was interested in seeing …

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES

A Historical Presentation

Disneyland's rich history has been chronicled in countless documents and publications which are available to anyone who is hungry for a bit of Disneyland trivia. Twice the treat, however, is to vicariously re-live a few moments of the Park's past through the recollections and tales of the Park's pioneers.

More than 200 Cast Members enjoyed such a treat on Monday, July 15, as they filled the Golden Horseshoe for the fifth annual Historical Perspectives program. Jack Lindquist and Marty Sklar were guest speakers for the event. Both Jack and Marty joined the Company in 1955, and they shared some humorous anecdotes about those early days while entertaining the audience with their delightful banter.

"It's amazing to think about the opportunities that have been available to me and to all of the people in this Company," Marty said while reflecting on his career. "I'd only been here two weeks when I was asked to make a presentation to Walt Disney...people can succeed because this Company is willing to take a risk on what you can do."

Marty first joined the Disney organization in July of 1955 in the Public Relations Department while still a college student. He was responsible for most of the Park's publicity and marketing materials until joining WED Enterprises (now WDI) in 1961. He became an officer of WED in 1974 when he was appointed Vice President, Concepts/Planning. From there Marty made a steady climb to his position of President of Walt Disney Imagineering, which he assumed in 1984.

Marty also reflected on what he says is the greatest lesson he has learned in his Disney career - a lesson he learned from Walt. "It was during that first summer of 1955," said Marty. "I was out with our photographer on a photo shoot and we drove out to Frontierland and parked the car at the Chicken Plantation. As we got out of the car, Walt was on us in an instant. He poked his finger in the photographer's chest and said, 'What are y…

Historical Perspectives

The occasion of Disneyland Park's 35th birthday is an ideal time to reflect on a bit of the full, rich past that has helped shape the Magic Kingdom.

More than 100 Cast Members were treated to some of that history as Disneyland Executive Vice President Ron Dominguez hosted the annual Historical Perspectives program, held Monday, July 16, at the Golden Horseshoe.

Milt Albright and Van France were the guest speakers for the event. Both Milt and Van joined the Company before the Park opened, and both shared amusing stories from those early days.

"Since I started in 1947, I've been able to do a lot of interesting things," pointed out Milt, 73, now Manager of Guest Communications. "I actually helped with the construction of the Park, which is probably something I'll never in my whole life forget, that year that we put this all together, working day and night."

Milt began his Disney career at the Studio as a junior accountant. In 1953, in an at- tempt to gain some attention from Walt and transfer to his new "amusement park" in Anaheim, Milt, an automobile buff, decided to design a miniature car for the Autopia. Walt drove the car, and although he was not impressed with the design, he was impressed with Milt and hired him in the spring of 1954 as Manager of Accoun- ting for Disneyland.

"When I was in Accounting...I signed the paychecks here for the first couple of years - many of them by hand," Milt recalled. "We always paid the payroll. Now, the suppliers of concrete and steel and everything they were a totally different story. It was really bad. There was a time when many of them had to go eight to 10 months without being paid...I can remember many times hiding in the Park because people would buy admission to the Park to find me. If you were owed an enormous amount of money, it was worth a dollar to get in and look for me."

In 1957, Milt became Manager of Holidayland, a private party area designed for group events. He transferred in 1958 to…

Cast Members Enjoy a Little History

The history of Disneyland surrounds us. It is in the attractions we work on, the buildings we see and the people with whom we work.

More than 150 Cast Members were treated to a little piece of that history recently as two individuals with a com-bined total of 90 years of service with The Walt Disney Company spoke at the third annual Historical Perspectives program at the Golden Horseshoe.

Roger Broggie and Claude Coats both started working with Disney in the late 1930s, and they shared their experiences of the early days with the Company, in-cluding their remembrances of Walt Disney himself.

"Walt was real easy to work for, if you did exactly what he wanted the first time," quipped Claude, who recently celebrated his 54th anniversary with the Company. "He had a funny way of using the word `Disney.' He'd say, 'You've got to get more Disney in it,' and he didn't mean that he was necessarily going to do it, but he meant that something had to happen to make it better that was."

Despite his number of years of service, Claude admitted that he has really held just two positions. He began his Disney career as a background painter at the Disney Studio in 1935. His credits in background and color styling include Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Song of the South, and Peter Pan, to name a few.

Then in 1955, Claude joined WED Enter-prises (now Walt Disney Imagineering) to work on attraction concepts for Disneyland, and he has been there ever since. As a Show Designer, he has con-tributed to the development of a number of attractions at Disneyland, Walt Disney World Resort and EPCOT Center.

When Walt passed away, Claude said it was a "bad time for us. It just seemed like the bottom had dropped out of the world." But he knew the ideals and values of Walt Disney would remain, and he feels they have. "We're fortunate to have had the ex-perience of working with Disney and it's still fun," Claude said. "People ask when am I going to r…

A Little Disneyland History

Most Cast Members recall major events that happened at the Park after they were hired, but have no personal recollection of what took place prior to that time, especially in the Park's early years.

On July 13, we had the opportunity to fill in some of those blanks during another Historical Perspectives presentation in the Golden Horseshoe. This year's guest speakers were Ron Dominguez, Executive Vice President, Disneyland, and Ken Anderson, Disney Studio artist for 44 years.

Ron Dominguez

After lengthy negotiations in the 1950s, Ron's family sold 10 acres of orange groves to Walt Disney. The Dominguez family didn't know what was to be done with the property — they just knew "something" was coming to Anaheim. That something turned out to be Disneyland, and Frontierland now lies on the property Ron's family owned.

When construction began in July, 1954, Ron and his family still lived on the property. "We moved out a month later," said Ron, "not that we wanted to, because the home my parents were buying wasn't quite ready. But if we hadn't moved then, we were going to be living in a hole. People were digging up everything around us." Their house was ultimately relocated near what is now the Center, and it was used as the Administration Building for several years.

Ron shared many amusing memories with the audience, including his stint as a Ticket Taker at the Main Entrance on a very hectic Opening Day; the need to install a fail-safe switch on the Mine Train attraction because "a foreman" kept accidentally hitting the switch and derailing trains ("that foreman was named Dominguez"); Harley's Tent, the first employees' cafeteria, "a real Ptomaine Tony's-type operation"; and the 33-year mystery of what to do with our 40 acres of strawberry fields.

Ron enjoyed this opportunity to put to rest some long-time rumors. "There was a tree in the Parking Lot for many years, and the story goes that the reason it was never cut down was becaus…

Historical Perspectives

Thirty-two years ago, Disneyland opened its doors and guests from around the world delighted in this new world of dreams and fantasy. It was, and still is, the brainchild of Walt Disney. It is a powerful reminder of the vast realm of the imagination; bounded not by creativity, for that seems endless, but by the current technology which limits the visions that can be brought forth to be shared by all. It is a continual process, honing our imaginations to cut through all age barriers and provide entertainment for everyone.

But to bring Disneyland from a vision in one man's mind to the sights, sounds and textures that others could com-prehend, Walt surrounded himself with the most talented and creative minds he could find. For in order to bring his vision to fruition, Walt need-ed more than words to sell his ideas —dreams are not concrete collateral to a banker.

On Tuesday, July 14, two men who helped Walt in his dream took time out from their busy schedules to ex-plain to our Cast Members their roles in creating Disneyland. "Historical Perspectives" featured Disney Artist Herb Ryman and renowned landscape artist Bill Evans speaking at the Golden Horseshoe in the morning before the Park opened.

Herb Ryman

Herb Ryman, whose conceptual painting of the Sleeping Beauty Castle ap-peared on the cover of last week's Line, explained how the Castle, in its current form, came about.

On a Wednesday in 1953, Walt asked Herb to visit him at the Studio. Roy would be on his way to New York the coming Monday to convince bankers to finance the building of Disneyland. Herb discovered that there were no blueprints, maps or conceptual draw-ings. And to Herb's surprise, he and Walt were to work throughout the weekend to produce the drawings Roy needed to convince the bankers.

"When we worked on the Castle, Walt wanted it to be hundreds of feet high. He said, 'When people get near us, I want them to say, "Look, there's the Castle; that's Disneyland; let…

Ken Anderson

Sign at Disneyland's Main Entrance reading, "Please note... Today Spaceship Endeavor will fly over The Disneyland Resort." The correct spelling of the space shuttle's name is Endeavour.

Commemorating the end of the free coffee refills available from Disneyland's Market House on the day it closed for conversion to Starbucks, April 14, 2013.

Happy New Year artwork featuring Big Al.

February 1966 aerial photograph of Frontierland and Fantasyland shows construction from rerouting the Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad, to allow for "it's a small world."

Disney's California Adventure poster from the 1990s

Late afternoon photograph of the "it's a small world" sign in Fantasyland at Disneyland, with a rainbow above

Cover of the Disneyland telephone directory effective November 25, 1955

Cover with text reading, "Telephone Directory, Disneyland, A Division of Walt Disney Productions, January 1963"

A miniature re-creation of the 1994 Jungle Cruise boathouse

Two frogs observe an empty log dropping down into the bayou at Tiana's Bayou Adventure

A woman stands with a mannequin of an older woman sitting in a rocking chair

Artwork for the Main Street Electrical Parade drum with featured text reading, "Disneyland Presents"

Advertisement for the Main Street/Adventureland The Pavillion

Photograph of Disneyland's Big Thunder Mountain Railroad train as seen from Big Thunder Trail

Mark Twain Riverboat Cast Member hamming it up in the pilot house

Postcard with artwork of two Siamese cats with text reading, "Yes Si-Am Having Fun at Disneyland"

Kevin Kidney adjusts one of the window displays

Cover page for speech reading, "Michael Eisner, Economic & Social Chamber, The United Nations, New York City, Thursday, November 17, 1988"

Lilo and Stitch scene from "it's a small world" Holiday

Photograph on Disneyland's Horse-Drawn Streetcars showing two streetcars passing one another, with a conductor on the left and a horse on the right