Pirates of Caribbean Behind the Scenes - Part One

Let's have a look back at the origin of one of the best E-Ticket ever made, which, just like the Haunted Mansion, is an attraction we can ride forever...So, here is a special POTC "behind the scenes" article, with artwork, photos, and great videos where Walt Disney will introduce you to this beloved attraction. And on monday i will post the part two of this "POTC behind the scenes", a brand new article including rare pictures of Imagineers creating the ride!

You probably have already heard about it, but some of the early concept of the attraction had it designed as a walk-through instead of a flume-ride, as you can see on the rendering below



As everybody knows Marc Davis designed most of the scenes of "Pirates" and here is a selection some of his great renderings.



























Here is Walt with Marc Davis, Blaine Gibson and one of the first Audio-animatronics...



And here he is with Claude Coats who created the fantastic settings of the attraction.



Some great pictures of the attraction, the Disneyland version.









This two part Youtube video is from a 1960's Disney TV show for Disneyland 10th Anniversary and Walt introduces the future Pirates of Caribbean attraction to a young Disney ambassador.







Let's end with this great painting done by John Horny for the Disneyland Paris Blue Lagoon restaurant.




You can find much more renderings in the great Jason Surell book - the best book ever written on "Pirates of Caribbean" - a "must have" if you don't have it yet!



Artwork, photos and videos: copyright Disney

All my thanks to freedogshampoo and MegaRob64 for the youtube videos

When WDI Legendary Imagineers designed Landmark Entertainment projects

As you know it's Disney and more 2nd anniversary this week, so i have a new gift for you with another great artwork article! I know, as Randy Savage have said on Mice Chat, that it's going to be difficult to top the Journey to the Center of the Earth article, but, hey, i can try!, and this one have some good surprises with never seen before artwork created not for WDI but for Landmark Entertainment projects by former Disney Imagineers like Herb Ryman, Marc Davis, Jim Michaelson and many others! Also, it don't happen everyday to discover new Herb Ryman or Marc Davis artwork!

Let's begin by this painting above by Legendary imagineer Herb Ryman showing a “Boat Overview Exterior” of the "S.S ADMIRAL", the "largest inland steamer ever built in America". Located in St. Louis, it once toured the Mississippi daily.

Back twenty four years ago, Landmark Entertainment worked on a Six Flags theme park project called "Phineas T. Flagg's Power Plant", located at Baltimore, Maryland. It was called Phineas T. Flagg's Power Plant as the theme park location was a historic power plant, near the the waterfront. Marc Davis - who retired from Walt Disney Imagineering in 1978 - and Herb Ryman worked on the project design. The main character, Phineas T. Flagg, was a fictitious magician and Herb Ryman did his design, the one you can see below.



Marc Davis worked on different attraction projects for this Phineas T. Flagg's Power Plant. Among them a great "Home of the Future Show""...



...including the design of a great spinning robot...




...a Power House show "tribute to the all american girl"...



...and a great Toy Circus Parade also planned for the same Power Plant park.





As told you the main character of this park, Phineas T. Flagg, was a magician and the park had a "magic" show. The artist who did this next rendering is unknown but i add it as this Crystal Ball "magic" Show concept looks interesting. I only wish i could tell you more about it...



Herb Ryman worked also on other Landmark Entertainment concepts. He did this bird's eye view painting below for what was - believe it or not - a "Monopoly" theme park project!



Marc Davis too worked on another Landmark concept. This "Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" project was supposed to be build at Valencia, California, near the Six Flags park but unfortunately the project was never realised. The model below still exist and who knows, may be it will be realised one day...



The "Jumping Frog" designed by Marc Davis would have been the main "character" of the park and Disney fans will recognize in the drawings below Marc's distinctive style.




Another artist - who did beautiful renderings for DLP Main Stret U.S.A - and also worked on a Landmark project is Jim Michaelson. Jim did this artwork for the "Dixie Landings" project, "the good time of the riverboat showplace" and below you will see his exterior view and the theatre entrance concepts.




Dan Goozee another artist who did some spectacular artwork for WDI - like the first and famous Expedition Everest official rendering - did this Sands hotel "Casino Lodge interior" artwork. Hmmm, it reminds be a bit of the Wilderness Lodge lobby at WDW, but it's true that the Wilderness Lodge was itself inspired by the Old Faithful Inn at Yellowstone Park, Wyoming as we saw in a previous Disney and more article.



Dan worked also a long time ago on "Dream Home" a Science Fiction Fantasy simulator attraction for an Asian theme park...



Good ideas may never die at WDI, but also may inspire other projects...This last artwork by Claudio Mazzoli was done in 1981 for the Haunted Graveyard of Niagara attraction at Niagara Falls and is called "Spirits Emerge From Crystal Ball in Haunted Mansion"!



I will end with good news as, if you wish, you can own some of the paintings above. The ORIGINALS paintings, not prints, and at amazing prices that, believe me, you will never see again in your lifetime! Landmark Entertainment actually put on sale most of their old artwork on two sites. The first one is the Landmark Selections site and the other one is on EBay.com where they have their own Landmark artwork store. Most of the above artwork is available. On Ebay they are not listed as auction but in "buy it now", so if you like some of these beautiful paintings, don't miss them!

All artwork: copyright Landmark Entertainment. Many thanks to Landmark for the high-res files of the artwork you saw in this article.

Haunted Mansion 40th Anniversary Celebration - A " Behind the Scenes " Tour

It's Disneyland's Haunted Mansion 40th anniversary, and to celebrate this event we will have today a look "behind the scenes" of this beloved attraction.



First, the famous Sam Mc Kim painting of the exterior of the Mansion.



As everybody knows, Marc Davis designed most of the scenes of the Mansion, so let's begin by some of Marc's artwork, more or less in chronological order...





















Here is the famous Hatbox Ghost Marc Davis rendering



...and another scene concept never used for the attraction.



Please note that you can find the Dueling Portraits artwork in big size on Kevin Kidney's site!


WED special effects wizard Yale Gracey recreated in 3D Marc Davis scenes...




I asked Imagineer Pat Burke if he had some untold story about the Haunted Mansion. Here is his answer!

"Disney Legend, friend, and co worker, Fred Joerger told me a few stories as he worked on the original Haunted Mansion. As you know Walt had been very sick with Cancer and passed away in December of 1966, before they could complete and open the Haunted Mansion. Fred said he and fellow Art Director Legends Claude Coates and Mark Davis, were hesitant to complete and afraid to open the Mansion to the public, as it was the first attraction on which they could not get Walt's official walk through and final approval. So this of course was a major reason for its delay. They wanted it to be everything that Walt would have asked for and approved. Seems like I remember a soft opening and then it was closed again for changes.

I was told some effects were deemed a bit too scary for guests back then. Sam McKim had shown me some of his original concept sketches which showed boats floating through the halls of a half floated, and flooded mansion much like the Blue Bayou themeing. I was responsible for the props and sets on the TDL Haunted Mansion and used Disneyland's HM as a guide. When Disneyland's opened the HM it had the best Victorian antiques in the attic scene. Over the years as antiques of the Victorian era increased in value, the great antiques slowly were replaced with cheaper substitutes. You know of course that the Nautilus pipe organ was added to the mansion after the 20,000 Leagues attraction closed at Disneyland.

Leotta Toombs had a funny story about when they cast her head for the famouse crystal ball scene. She said that at the studio they placed her head in a kind of a clamp to keep her pose steady. They applied a warm mold making wax to her head. She said it was a little too warm and slid down further forming a true capture or her bust! That was before plaster I guess, as I did later in college. Just a few funny memories from my coworkers..."

Most of the Haunted Mansion guests are always wondering how the special effects were done. Tne next videos will learn you (almost) everything about them.

The first video below is with Walt Disney himself presenting the future attraction surrounded with legendary Imagineers like Marc Davis and others...



The next one is from the Discovery channel and is a short walk-through with legendary Imagineer Tony Baxter. Tony don't reveal a lot of secrets in this one, but it's always a pleasure to see Tony!



This other 10 minutes video will tell you more about the history and the effects of the Mansion. And Tony Baxter, Marty Sklar, Bruce Gordon, sculptor Blaine Gibson, Wayne Jackson, and many other imagineers will show you much more of the "behind the scenes.





But it's this other 10 minutes youtube video that will show you the imagineers at work in the sixties, creating the ghosts of the mansion. This video is coming from Disney's tv show "The Wonderful World of Color" in which the Haunted Mansion made its debut.
The first part of it is with the imagineers and the second part is a ride-through with - guess who? - Kurt Russell and the Osmonds , and, yes, they were young at that time!





You can find much more renderings and the whole story of the making of the attraction in the great Jason Surell book - the best book ever written on the "Haunted Mansion" - a "must have" if you don't have it yet!



Thanks to leave a comment or discuss this article on D&M english forum on Mice Chat


Artwork: copyright Disney

Videos: copyright Discovery channel and Disney