There’s never been a better time to re-discover and celebrate the iconic work of all the skilled artisans who made Walt Disney’s dreams a reality. The Walt Disney Family Museum has launched a special exhibition entitled “Walt Disney’s Nine Old Men: Masters of Animation” (running now through January 7, 2019) and early next year, a new book entitled “Marc Davis goes to WED” will hit the shelves. Both worlds collided on Saturday, June 30th as the Family Museum hosted the book’s authors, Pixar Animation Studios’ new Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter, and Walt Disney Imagineer Chris Merritt for a special two-hour discussion on Marc’s achievements at WDI, then WED Enterprises.
From start to finish the conversation – hosted at the ILM Theater on the Lucasfilm Campus in San Francisco – did not disappoint. Billed as a sneak peak of the soon to be released 800 page, 2 volume book, the conversation focused on Marc’s contributions to iconic Disneyland attractions including Pirates of the Caribbean, the Jungle Cruise, Country Bear Jamboree, and Enchanted Tiki Room. Marc’s wife and legendary Imagineer Alice Davis has once again proven herself to be the key to the project by allowing Pete and Chris to rummage through the Davis household and discover a treasure trove of materials and stories that will add new depth and insight into the creative process and personal life of Marc during his time with Disneyland.
The search yielded countless never-before-seen sketches and media that will be shown to the public for the very first time once the book is published. Many of those images were shown to the audience at the discussion – including a collection of blue sky illustrations imagining what the Tiki Birds of the Enchanted Tiki Room might look like when the attraction was first in development. The pages and pages of sketch work feature bird character concepts ranging from the strikingly realistic to the incredibly cartoony. What Pete and Chris are hoping to illustrate through these pieces is the extensive development process that Marc went through in order to create the “sight gags” of which he has since become iconized for. As Chris explained, it was never a straight shot to the tableaus that have since become park classics. Rather, through the continuously developing designs you can see the seed of an idea get planted and then bloom over many iterations of refining and re-designing. Oftentimes ideas or elements found in vignettes for one project would be cut and then reappear in a later design for a different attraction.
A key theme in the discussion was Marc’s firm belief in “plussing” attractions – especially when re-mounting them for a new theme park such as Magic Kingdom. He was constantly looking for new ideas and concepts to bring to the park – and many of his long-lost ideas and concepts will be brought back into the spotlight in this new book. One such sight gag was a set of man-eating plants designed for the Magic Kingdom’s Jungle Cruise. In the research process, Pete and Chris both discovered that the gag was included in plans for the attraction right up until production began on the figures. For an unknown reason, they were suddenly replaced with a tableau of Tree Frogs. The frogs met a similar demise just months after opening, but Chris quipped that they continued to haunt that area of the Jungle because team forgot to turn off the sound effects – which continued playing for years afterward.
Marc also continuously pitched plans to replace the Grand Canyon Diorama and Primeval World at Disneyland with a new diorama still set in the deserts of the southwest and starring the Kachina Dolls of Pueblo Indian mythology. The full diorama layout as drawn by Marc is expected to be featured in the book, but the audience at the ILM Theater received a special bonus. While rummaging through Alice Davis’ household, Pete and Chris found the only remaining cassette tape featuring the full orchestration and narration mockup of the Kachina Diorama as it would have been heard on the Disneyland Railroad. In the moment, it felt like this diorama might have been the perfect addition to the railroad between Frontierland and Fantasyland during the recent renovation at Disneyland, after all – a good idea always hangs around at WDI.
The presentation also featured the reveal of another Haunted Mansion specter who made a “Hatbox Ghost” like disappearance – this time at the Magic Kingdom Mansion. She was a French maid who was to have appeared in the Corridor of Doors. Holding an oil can, she would be “adding” more squeaks to all the door hinges in a charming bit of Davis humor. Pete and Chris discovered the figure in the background of a Marc Davis interview photograph when they brightened the image through the magic of photoshop.
Photographs and Video Footage also played a key role in Saturday’s conversation. As research in preparation for the book, Pete and Chris visited the Library of Congress to access original negatives from media sources that had captured some of the most iconic photographs from inside Imagineering. When readers look through the book – they’ll find photographs of many moments in Imagineering history that they’ve become familiar with – but from different angles, many times revealing a new detail. Vintage film footage of Marc giving a special in-house lecture to new Imagineers during the 1980’s was also found in the discovery process and preserved digitally for the first time. Images discovered from Marc’s personal camera revealed a hilarious moment from the development of Pirates of the Caribbean when the company tasked with building the attraction’s flume constructed a full-size test version of the first waterfall drop in their parking lot. Marc’s point-of-view photos show Walt and his Imagineers trying out the drop for the very first time while Lillian Disney and Alice Davis watched, not willing to get themselves wet.
The discussion also touched on its fair share of sweet stories regarding Marc’s personal life and the personal relationships of the original Imagineers at WED Enterprises. Throughout the conversation, Pete and Chris emphasized that many of the original Imagineers were good friends both at work and at home. Many of the Davis photographs show Marc and Alice sharing time outside of the office with their fellow co-workers including a holiday get together at the Davis household.
For anyone who will be near the Walt Disney Family Museum before January 7th – the ‘Nine Old Men’ special exhibition is not to be missed. Each individual receives his own dedicated gallery within the Family Museum’s Diane Disney Miller Exhibition Hall. Within each gallery is a collection of original sketches showcasing the animator’s contributions to the Walt Disney Animation Studio, along with artwork created independently, and even some personal possessions.
The exhibition, curated by Don Hahn, does an impeccable job of giving visitors a window into each artist’s personality and the signature talents that gave their work such an iconic flair. A short three-minute video has been created for each of the Nine Old Men and plays every few minutes in their respective galleries – helping to tie all of the artwork and printed text together to complete the profile. A particular striking feature of the videos is their choice of interviewees – which is made up primarily of recent Disney Animators who were personally mentored or worked alongside the ‘Nine Old Men’ during the early portion of their careers. It’s a great choice when the obvious and boring would have been to call upon Disney’s historians as the primary interviewees. These deeply personal statements from the Disney Animators add a rich personal layer of intimacy on an already astounding exhibition.
Personal artwork of Walt’s Nine Old Men (click any image below to open gallery of larger photos):
This special talk on Marc Davis is only one of many of similar events planned by the Walt Disney Family Museum in the near future. Coming up on August 4th is a talk with Margaret Kerry, who served Marc Davis as one of the live-action reference models for Tinker Bell. Additional talks are to be announced soon, most of which will continue to be in conjunction with the special exhibition of the Nine Old Men and can always be found HERE. If you have the opportunity to travel up to the Bay Area when one is planned, take the chance! You’ll be in for an amazing experience, and always be sure to book your ticket online in advance as they tend to sell out early.
Gallery Images from Walt’s Nine Old Men:
Do you have a favorite Imagineering Legend? Have you visited the Walt Disney Family Museum? Now is a great opportunity to see a great exhibit and the gorgeous museum dedicated to the legacy of America’s great showman.
More information about the Walt Disney Family Museum and its exhibits is available HERE.
All photos courtesy the Walt Disney Family Museum
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