2009 D23 Expo Guidebook

2009 D23 Expo Guidebook by Marcio Disney

Disney Studio Store

Following the success of Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Walt Disney saw a need to increase the size of his studio. Using the profits from Snow White, Walt made a deposit on 51 acres of land in Burbank, California in 1940 and began work on a modern studio specifically designed for the making of animated films. 

Walt was personally involved in every aspect of the studio’s conception and he ensured that the studio would be a self-sufficient facility that provided everything his team would need for the entire production process.

There was the Animation Building in the center, which housed the artists and animators, the Inking and Painting buildings across the way, and the Camera buildings next door, where the completed artwork was photographed. Walt had a number of the buildings linked together by an underground tunnel so that even in bad weather, the production process would not be interrupted.

This new Burbank studio would be the production site of several of Disney’s most prominent animated features, including Bambi, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan.

On October 15, 1995, Walt Disney Studios welcomed its very own Disney Store to the lot, named the Studio Store. This Disney Store was created with the intention of providing Cast Members with a home store to purchase the exclusive and unique products Disney offers in Stores everywhere. Located next to the Hyperion Bungalow, an original building from the studio’s first location in Hollywood, the Studio Store was redesigned in 2011 to display a beautiful new interior design of a Disney historical timeline, featuring the major milestones and famous characters that define the extensive history of the Walt Disney Company.

To learn more, visit Liz, the Official Disney Store Blogger: http://blog.disneystore.com/blog/2012/03/flashback-friday-disney-studio-store-history.html

 
Liz

It All Began With a Man: A Biography of Walt Disney

During a 43-year Hollywood career, which spanned the development of the motion picture medium as a modern American art, Walter Elias Disney, a modern Aesop, established himself and his product as a genuine part of Americana. 

David Low, the late British political cartoonist, called Disney “the most significant figure in graphic arts since Leonardo.” A pioneer and innovator, and the possessor of one of the most fertile imaginations the world has ever known, Walt Disney, along with members of his staff, received more than 950 honors and citations from throughout the world, including 48 Academy Awards® and 7 Emmys® in his lifetime.

Walt Disney’s personal awards included honorary degrees from Harvard, Yale, the University of Southern California, and UCLA; the Presidential Medal of Freedom; France’s Legion of Honor and Officer d’Academie decorations; Thailand’s Order of the Crown; Brazil’s Order of the Southern Cross; Mexico’s Order of the Aztec Eagle; and the Showman of the World Award from the National Association of Theatre Owners.

The creator of Mickey Mouse and founder of Disneyland and Walt Disney World was born in Chicago, Illinois, on December 5, 1901. His father, Elias Disney, was an Irish-Canadian. His mother, Flora Call Disney, was of German-American descent. Walt was one of five children, four boys and a girl.

Raised on a farm near Marceline, Missouri, Walt early became interested in drawing, selling his first sketches to neighbors when he was only seven years old. At McKinley High School in Chicago, Disney divided his attention between drawing and photography, contributing both to the school paper. At night he attended the Academy of Fine Arts.

During the fall of 1918, Disney attempted to enlist for military service. Rejected because he was only 16 years of age, Walt joined the Red Cross and was sent overseas, where he spent a year driving an ambulance and chauffeuring Red Cross officials. His ambulance was covered from stem to stern, not with stock camouflage, but with drawings and cartoons.

After the war, Walt returned to Kansas City, where he began his career as an advertising cartoonist. Here, in 1920, he created and marketed his first original animated cartoons, and later perfected a new method for combining live-action and animation.

In August of 1923, Walt Disney left Kansas City for Hollywood with nothing but a few drawing materials, $40 in his pocket and a completed animated and live-action film. Walt’s brother Roy O. Disney was already in California, with an immense amount of sympathy and encouragement, and $250. Pooling their resources, they borrowed an additional $500 and constructed a camera stand in their uncle’s garage. Soon, they received an order from New York for the first “Alice Comedy” short, and the brothers began their production operation in the rear of a Hollywood real estate office two blocks away.

On July 13, 1925, Walt married one of his first employees, Lillian Bounds, in Lewiston, Idaho. They were blessed with two daughters — Diane, married to Ron Miller, former president and chief executive officer of Walt Disney Productions; and Sharon Disney Lund, formerly a member of Disney’s Board of Directors. The Millers have seven children and Mrs. Lund had three. Mrs. Lund passed away in 1993.

Mickey Mouse was created in 1928, and his talents were first used in a silent cartoon entitled Plane Crazy. However, before the cartoon could be released, sound burst upon the motion picture screen. Thus Mickey made his screen debut in Steamboat Willie, the world’s first fully synchronized sound cartoon, which premiered at the Colony Theatre in New York on November 18, 1928.

Walt’s drive to perfect the art of animation was endless. Technicolor® was introduced to animation during the production of his “Silly Symphonies.” In 1932, the film entitled Flowers and Trees won Walt the first of his 32 personal Academy Awards®. In 1937, he released The Old Mill, the first short subject to utilize the multiplane camera technique.

On December 21 of that same year, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first full-length animated musical feature, premiered at the Carthay Circle Theatre in Los Angeles. Produced at the unheard of cost of $1,499,000 during the depths of the Great Depression, the film is still accounted as one of the great feats and imperishable monuments of the motion picture industry. During the next five years, Walt completed such other full-length animated classics as Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo and Bambi.

In 1940, construction was completed on Disney’s Burbank studio, and the staff swelled to more than 1,000 artists, animators, story men and technicians. During World War II, 94 percent of the Disney facilities were engaged in special government work including the production of training and propaganda films for the armed services, as well as health films which are still shown throughout the world by the U.S. State Department. The remainder of his efforts were devoted to the production of comedy short subjects, deemed highly essential to civilian and military morale.

Disney’s 1945 feature, the musical The Three Caballeros, combined live action with the cartoon medium, a process he used successfully in such other features as Song of the South and the highly acclaimed Mary Poppins. In all, 81 features were released by the studio during his lifetime.

Walt’s inquisitive mind and keen sense for education through entertainment resulted in the award-winning “True-Life Adventure” series. Through such films as The Living Desert, The Vanishing Prairie, The African Lion and White Wilderness, Disney brought fascinating insights into the world of wild animals and taught the importance of conserving our nation’s outdoor heritage.

Disneyland, launched in 1955 as a fabulous $17 million Magic Kingdom, soon increased its investment tenfold and entertained, by its fourth decade, more than 400 million people, including presidents, kings and queens and royalty from all over the globe.

A pioneer in the field of television programming, Disney began production in 1954, and was among the first to present full-color programming with his Wonderful World of Color in 1961. The Mickey Mouse Club and Zorro were popular favorites in the 1950s.

Roy and Walt visit Marceline, Missouri in 1956, taking time to stand under the tree Walt used to sit beneath, dreaming of the future.

But that was only the beginning. In 1965, Walt Disney turned his attention toward the problem of improving the quality of urban life in America. He personally directed the design on an Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, or EPCOT, planned as a living showcase for the creativity of American industry.

Said Disney, “I don’t believe there is a challenge anywhere in the world that is more important to people everywhere than finding the solution to the problems of our cities. But where do we begin? Well, we’re convinced we must start with the public need. And the need is not just for curing the old ills of old cities. We think the need is for starting from scratch on virgin land and building a community that will become a prototype for the future.”

Thus, Disney directed the purchase of 43 square miles of virgin land — twice the size of Manhattan Island — in the center of the state of Florida. Here, he master planned a whole new Disney world of entertainment to include a new amusement theme park, motel-hotel resort vacation center and his Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. After more than seven years of master planning and preparation, including 52 months of actual construction, Walt Disney World opened to the public as scheduled on October 1, 1971. Epcot Center opened on October 1, 1982.

Prior to his death on December 15, 1966, Walt Disney took a deep interest in the establishment of California Institute of the Arts, a college level, professional school of all the creative and performing arts. Of Cal Arts, Walt once said, “It’s the principal thing I hope to leave when I move on to greener pastures. If I can help provide a place to develop the talent of the future, I think I will have accomplished something.”

California Institute of the Arts was founded in 1961 with the amalgamation of two schools, the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music and Chouinard Art Institute. The campus is located in the city of Valencia, 32 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles. Walt Disney conceived the new school as a place where all the performing and creative arts would be taught under one roof in a “community of the arts” as a completely new approach to professional arts training.

Walt Disney is a legend, a folk hero of the 20th century. His worldwide popularity was based upon the ideas which his name represents: imagination, optimism and self-made success in the American tradition. Walt Disney did more to touch the hearts, minds and emotions of millions of Americans than any other man in the past century. Through his work, he brought joy, happiness and a universal means of communication to the people of every nation. Certainly, our world shall know but one Walt Disney.

from D23

The Jungle Book & King Louie [The Orangutan voiced by Louis Prima]

Oct 18, 1967 - The Jungle Book is Released

Songwriter Richard M. Sherman remembers the first time he and his brother were called into a meeting to learn about this idea Walt Disney had for a new film. “We were called into Walt’s office with several other people: Woolie Reitherman, Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, Larry Clemmons and a whole bunch of the regulars at the studio. We were all staff people with our own specialties. Walt sat us all down in his office and he looked at us and said, ‘How many of you guys have read Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling?’ And of course nobody raised their hand. So I, sort of sheepishly said, ‘I saw a movie with Sabu.’ He said, ‘Yeah, yeah, but you didn’t read the book, did you?’ I said, ‘No, I didn’t read the book.’ ‘Good.’ He said, ‘We’re going to tell the story of The Jungle Book the Disney way.’” And while Walt didn’t live to see the completion of the film, it was released on this day in 1967 and met with great praise by the critics. Richard’s brother, Robert B. Sherman, takes pride in his involvement and calls The Jungle Book “Walt’s parting gift to the world.”

King Louie (the orangutan voiced by Louis Prima) was one of the characters created especially for Disney's The Jungle Book, for he doesn't appear in Rudyard Kipling's original story. Click Here to watch an amazing video in youtube about it!

Autopia Car Built Special for Freeway of Future

06.28.11 - Disney Legend Bob Gurr talks through the nuts and bolts of Disneyland's Autopia.

Hey, Abott-T-T! Christine Costello and Bud Abbott, Jr. give fathers Lou and Bud, Sr. a driving lesson on the Autopia Freeway. The famous comedy pair, recent visitors here, found the Autopia a top attraction as do most Disneyland guests.

For the Highway of the Future the Car of the Future was needed.

Disneyland's "Autopia," the Tomorrowland ride sponsored by the Richfield Oil Company, was planned as the Freeway of 1986. Built to scale so that it would be safe and practical for youngsters to a minimum age, Walt Disney assigned the job of designing a car for the miniature freeway to Bob Gurr, longtime Disney studio design artist and construction specialist.

"The Autopia Car," Bob relates, "was designed and built just about the same way a Detroit model is built.

Full Size Model
"First we made sketches. Naturally there were a lot of ideas about what the car of the future should look like. Then there was a question about materials, and we finally decided to use fiberglass, since it had great advantages in lightweight, strength and pliability for design.

After the sketches became finished drawings, the studio craftsmen made a full size clay "mock up" model. The model was modified a few times until Walt approved the final version. From this mock up the plastic mold was made which allowed the bodies for the cars to be built in quantity.

Glasspar Company of Newport Beach manufactured the bodies for the cars.

The problem of a chassis to carry the fiberglass bodies was then the next problem to be solved. Even on the Freeway of the Future, the designers knew, the cars would be subject to tremendous wear and would have to be extremely sturdy for the use they were to receive.

A two-inch square tubular steel chassis was developed and passed the rigid tests for strength the designers gave it. When aluminum wraparound bumpers were added, the car was ready for the road with only one problem remaining to be solved: the powerplant.

Same Type Engine
Several alternative types were tested until the Gladden engine was tried by Gurr and his co-workers.

The Gladden is a one-cylinder, vertical, aircooled "L" head engine. It is essentially the same engine that powers the conventional passenger car in that it is a 4-cycle, gasoline burning powerplant. Its rated horsepower development is just under ten, and is capable of driving the one fourth ton Autopia Cars at a speed up to 25 m.p.h. without a governer.

As they are actually used on the Autopia, the cars are limited to 11 miles per hour by a mechanical control.

Power from the engine is transmitted to the rear axel by a Gilmer belt feeding to a link chain. One wheel drives the car. Since the engine is mounted in the rear very little power is lost through a long driveshaft.

Safety factors loomed as major considerations in the designer's plans. Since the cars were built to be driven by youngsters with no experience, an extremely simple braking-accelerating arrange-ment was necessary.

Gurr and his fellow craftsmen assured this by attaching both operations to a single pedal. De-pressing the pedal feeds gas to the motor. Release of the pedal operates the braking mechanism so that the car automatically slows to a stop.

Other safety factors offered in the "car of the future" include the so-called "deep-dish" steering wheel and safety belts, both items now offered on several popular makes of American motor cars. An additional safety factor on the Autopia car is the steering wheel itself, made of a firm, yet yielding rubber, so that a sudden contact presents no bodily hazard.

Steering of the Autopia Car is eonvential rack and pinion type with a close sports car-like ratio. Tires are pneumatic.

Since finishing his work on the cars Bob has gone on to many other projects for Walt Disney. But he's reminded constantly of his association with the Autopia by youngsters, who have been to Disneyland and have been inspired by the miniature autos.

"We get calls from kids who are building their own Autopia cars at home. They get stumped on a problem and call us for advice. So far no one's finished one yet, but anyday we expect to see a proud owner at the Studio gates with his own car, built in his back yard with scrap parts."

"We wish them a lot of luck," Bob adds as he goes back to his latest assignment for Walt.

From the February 10, 1956 issue of The Disneyland News.

Herbie Joins The Mad Mad Race

06.26.11 - The biggest names in racing, including Andy Granatelli, Max Balchowsky, Bob Bondurant, and Joe Playan, teamed up for the driving stunts in The Love Bug.

"Hold on for dear life!" shouts Michele Lee to Buddy Hackett in this uproarious scene from Walt Disney Productions' The Love Bug.

It looked like a gathering for the Indy 500. Some of the greatest names in race driving were present, but not with the idea of setting new speed records. They were helping in the filming of Walt Disney Productions' latest comedy film The Love Bug, in which a VW named Herbie shows his exhaust pipe to a passel of Corvettes, Porsches, Alfas and Ferraris. Along the way Herbie scoots across a stream, rides in a mine shaft elevator, skids, careens and nearly flies.

Andy Granatelli, Max Balchowsky, Bob Bondurant and Joe Playan all took part in the film. Balchowsky is famed for his Old Yeller Buick of the 1950's. In fact, Old Yeller No. 5 took part in the film. Second unit director Art Vitarelli mounted two Mitchell cameras on it (one front and one rear), and it raced along at 150 mph. Playan is a well known amateur driver, and Bondurant won the World Manufacturer's Championship in 1965 in a Shelby Cobra. Vitarelli ex-plained that he preferred to use old timers in his racing sequences: "I didn't want to use the young guy who's ambitious — he'll want to grandstand, and he's going to have a wreck. I want the old experienced hands who've gone through the mill. They know how to do things safely — nothing phases 'em."

Granatelli didn't drive in the film — he played the part of a race starter. Vitarelli laughed and said, "It was kind of an inside joke. You know, Andy's cars were banned at Indianapolis because their intake was too large. We have a thing in the film where the VW won't run at Indianapolis because the intake is too small."

The man who did most of the driving and stunt work was veteran (since 1933) Carey Loftin. "When you've got a tough job, you start with Carey Loftin and work your way down," was the way Vitarelli explained it.

Loftin has "doubled" for Robert Mitchum (Thunder Road), Fred Astaire (On the Beach), Lee Marvin (Point Black) and posed as the woman who wildly drove the motorcycle in The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming. For The Love Bug, he collected many of the same drivers who had worked on Grand Prix.

In 1963, Loftin was filming a scene in which he was to lose control on a turn, spin across the track and turn the car over just off the track. Another driver was to follow right behind him and drive through a dust cloud, past Loftin. During the filming Carey hit a soft shoulder and flipped over in the middle of the track.

The other car entered the turn and crashed into Carey — at 100 mph. The impact knocked Carey's car upright and tore out the motor. The other driver was unhurt, but Carey received a punctured lung, broken jaw, cracked ribs and, for the third time, a dislocated left shoulder.

Loftin survived this stunt and hundreds of others because of meticulous "preparation." He plans to turn over, to roll, to plow through a brick wall at 75 mph, and he spends hours considering every eventuality and programs every minute detail of the stunt. As Loftin says, "We test and retest all of the mechanical things, made sure every safety precaution is taken and every device operates properly. Then we walk over and over the route. We make sure that the stunt is exactly planned, and our complete attention is devoted to making it work."

For The Love Bug, Loftin and Vitarelli held "previews" with the drivers to explain what was expected in each scene. In addition, Vitarelli constructed a folding blackboard and a complete set of miniature cars. At the "driver meeting" the two men showed each driver, via miniature car, exactly what he was to do.

Herbie, the VW, had a bus engine for some scenes; and for hot-running, Herbie had a Porsche engine that could do 90 mph in third and 115 in top. "Don't forget — you don't just start, you've also got to stop safely," added Vitarelli, "so we also had Porsche brakes, Koney shocks, a stabilizer, and wide-base wheels with Indianapolis race tires."

Vitarelli headed a 127-man crew for the racing sequences, which were shot at Riverside Grand Prix Raceway, Monterey Raceway, Willow Springs Raceway and Big and Little Tujunga Canyons outside Los Angeles.

While Vitarelli worked with cars, director Robert Stevenson worked with stars Dean Jones, Michele Lee, Buddy Hackett and David Tomlinson. The script for the screwball racing picture was written by producer Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi. Buena Vista releases.

From the original The Love Bug press materials.

Disney Producer Walsh Shows Approach to Comedy with Blackbeard's Ghost

06.02.11 - If a much sought after formula for successful motion pictures really exists, then Disney producer-writer Bill Walsh, whose current offering is Blackbeard's Ghost, has found it.

Track coach Steve Walker (Dean Jones) tells Peter Ustinov he wants no part of his weird, wild and "spirited" antics after accidentally conjuring up the rotund pirate's ghost in Blackbeard's Ghost, Walt Disney's newest comedy-fantasy in color by Technicolor.

When examining the greatest successes in Walsh's 22-year Disney career — films like The Shaggy Dog, The Absent-Minded Professor, Son of Flubber, Mary Poppins, That Darn Cat, and Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N. — his approach to comedy-fantasy becomes evident.

"The first portion of each film," comments Walsh, "takes time to establish characters and to delineate situation. Although this initial part may move more slowly than the rest of the film, it is a necessary and deliberate movement. Walt used to call this part of the picture winding the clock." Once the stage is set, the action picks up momentum as the picture unfolds.

"Too often comedies begin at a nervous clip, moving at a fast pace until they run out of gas, without having told a good story. The most important single consideration of any picture is the script," explains Walsh who has co-scripted 13 of his 16 features. "We are always on the lookout for fresh material that would be suitable for screen adaptation. Blackbeard's Ghost was developed from a very funny novel by noted illustrator Ben Stahl which tells the exploits of a long-dead pirate's spirit who is cursed to wander in limbo until he performs a good deed."

The second most important consideration is the cast. "Comedy-fantasies require actors who can play un-believable situations for real. Fred MacMurray and Dean Jones are that type of actor. Peter Ustinov, who has the title role in Blackbeard's Ghost, is another marvelous example."

"The success of Dean Jones, who has starred in three of my productions, including Blackbeard, lies in his sincerity. The nuttier the situation gets, the more he believes in it. Actors often go wrong in fantasy. They become cute with the material and lose audience contact.

"The supporting cast and secondary parts must also be all topnotch people who understand comedy. For example, Joby Baker, Elsa Lanchester and Richard Deacon beautifully complement the headline stars, Dean, Ustinov and Suzanne Pleshette, in Blackbeard."

Blackbeard's Ghost, filmed in color, stars Peter Ustinov, Dean Jones and Suzanne Pleshette. Robert Stevenson directed the Bill Walsh-Don DaGradi screenplay, which is based on a novel by the noted illustrator, Ben Stahl. Walsh is co-producer of the Buena Vista release.

From the original 1968 Blackbeard's Ghost press materials.

Pirate Costume Aged Some 200 Years for Ustinov as Blackbeard's Ghost

05.28.11 - A pirate costume for hefty, bearded Peter Ustinov, who looms larger in the entertainment industry than his physical 270-pounds, was a problem beyond mere size.

Peter Ustinov stars as free-wheeling, fun-loving (and somewhat rummy) spirite of a long-dead pirate who returns to earth — with hilarious results, in Blackbeard's Ghost, Walt Disney's newest comedy-fantasy in color by Technicolor.

For the lead in Walt Disney's new comedy, Blackbeard's Ghost, his swashbuckling garb had to be aged some 200 years to be authentic since the film takes place in contemporary New England, the actual site of the real pirate's pillaging.

"We took one problem at a time," confessed Chuck Keene, Disney Costume Department Head, "and fitted him with off-white canvas pants, a beige raw silk shirt, brown velveteen vest, navy blue wool full-length coat, and auburn velour hat; all of which were tailored to design specifications of our chief designer, Bill Thomas.

"His boots were specially designed cavalier boots, coming knee high with an extra-wide cuff. Constructed of black kangaroo leather, the boots had to be sturdy enough to support his massive hulk, yet still be comfortable to his wide foot and high instep. At the cost of $175, they were made by a craftsman who does nothing but make footwear for stars in specific roles.

"To age these boots two centuries, we sandpapered the leather and bruised it without breaking the support features down," continued Keene. "Then we sprayed them with a brown aging solution, waxed and powdered them. It's not really a complicated process, but it certainly gets results.

"We use the same process to age clothing. But in addition to sanding the material, we sometimes sandblast it, and that ages it in a hurry. His blue coat became an antique in a matter of seconds, buttons and all. A light brown spray of the aging solution was followed by a generous dusting with 'rottenstone,' a grey and brown powder, which discolored the navy fabric to a non-descript blue. Blackbeard's other garments were made old in similar fashion."

"I felt like a walking antique," quipped Ustinov, "wearing these relics from the costume department where they became museum collector's items overnight."

Filmed in color by Technicolor, Blackbeard's Ghost stars Peter Ustinov, Dean Jones and Suzanne Pleshette. Robert Stevenson directed the Bill Walsh-Don DaGradi screenplay, which is based on a novel by the noted illustrator Ben Stahl. Walsh is co-producer of the Buena Vista release.

From the original 1968 Blackbeard's Ghost press materials.

Behind the Screams at the Haunted Mansion

Disney Insider was just dying to scare up some trivia about Disneyland's Haunted Mansion attraction. So we hopped into a Doom Buggy and unearthed some spooktacular stories that answer visitors' most creepy questions.

Is the Haunted Mansion really haunted?
Aside from the official 999 happy haunts, cast members working on the closing shift have reported hearing strange sounds and seeing mysterious shadows after the attraction has been closed down for the night.

Do you know why the outside of the spooky house is so incredibly well kept?
When Disney Imagineers first pitched the idea to Walt, the sketches showed a house that had fallen into disrepair. Walt felt that the exterior should be kept clean yet mysterious, and said, "We'll take care of the outside, and the ghosts will take care of the inside."

Ever wonder what the names of the three hitchhiking ghosts are?
The little one with the ball and chain is named Gus; the tall, skeletal one is Ezra; and the hunched-over fellow with the top hat is known as Phineas.

Do you know who the woman in the crystal ball is?
That's Madame Leota. She uses her incredible mediumistic abilities to allow guests to see the spirited spooks. If you want to know the nuts and bolts, the face you see is that of a former Disney Imagineer known as Leota Toombs Thomas. The voice is provided by Eleanor Audley, who also voiced the wicked Maleficent ("Sleeping Beauty") and mean Lady Tremaine ("Cinderella").

The organ in the Grand Ballroom looks awfully familiar - where did it come from?
You should recognize it - it's the same one Captain Nemo played aboard the Nautilus in Disney's 1954 film "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea."

You've now got plenty o' trivia for your next visit to Disneyland's Haunted Mansion. But beware! You may have such a ghoulishly good time, you'll never want to leave - or the permanent residents may not let you!

From May 2002, Disney Insider

The Voice in Mission to the Moon and Mission to Mars From 1988 Disneyland Line

It Takes People

04.03.11 - George Walsh, who lent his voice to numerous narrations for Disney, voiced Mr. Johnson in Mission to the Moon, and later, Mission to Mars.

"Welcome to Mission Control, space travelers..." begins the opening remarks from Mission Control Director Mr. Johnson in the Mission to Mars attraction. The voice of Mr. Johnson belongs, coincidentally, to one of our own Disneyland Cast Members, George Walsh.

"Mr. Johnson" has been aboard the Mission to Mars attraction for many years. George has only been "on board" as a Disneyland cast member for a few months. His association with the Disney organization, however, has been a long one. He has voiced many narration spots for the Disney Studios over the years.

In addition to some educational films for the Studios, George has narrated several films promoting Mineral King and Epcot Center. George believes he may have narrated the last Epcot Center film on which Walt Disney appeared. So when the opportunity arose to do the voice of Mr. Johnson in Mission to the Moon — and later, Mission to Mars — George was well established as a Disney Studios narrator and a natural choice for the project.

George's 34 years as announcer for CBS/ KNX radio involved him in a diversity of projects. He is well remembered for being one of the voices of Smokey the Bear for many TV and movie spots. One of his most memorable achievements was announcing for a radio program called Gunsmoke, starring William Conrad, currently the star of TV's Jake and the Fatman. When the program went to an hour-long TV show, George did the lead-ins to the commercial spots for 20 years. He also narrated a popular radio show called Suspense, in which he was, as he puts it, "the spooky voice that told a tale, well calculated to keep you in suspense." He did a series of programs with award-winning designer Edith Head. When the radio division of CBS went to an all-news operation, George became a newscaster until his retirement two years ago. And somewhere among all of his achievements over the years, he was named Announcer of the Year by the Los Angeles Times.

George didn't always know that announcing would become his bread and butter. His first time "on the air" was in high school, where he took a public speaking course. He remembers that his first assignment was to describe "what I hope to become." He said, "My classmates were giving speeches about becoming doctors, lawyers, ministers and so forth and I didn't have the slightest idea what I wanted to become. So I decided to do something for laughs, just to get a grade in the class." He put together a skit, using voice impersonations of famous radio personalities. He received a good grade for his efforts. A couple of weeks later, for $15 and two tickets to the Senior Prom, George brought his impersonations act to the prom floorshow, and the rest is history. By the time George retired, he had spent half of his life with CBS and decided that it was time to try something else. So for a couple of years he "painted the house, pruned the roses, fixed up the old car and, one day last September, read in the newspaper that Disneyland was having a Job Fair. I came out to the Job Fair and left with a job."

"The voice of Mr. Johnson is alive and well at Disneyland," said George. "I've always been a Disney fan and now I have the pleasure of working here." George and his voice can be found in the Disneyana shop on Main Street where, he said, "I fit in very well with all of the old things."

From Disneyland Line, April 8, 1988