Tomorrowland: Mars And Beyond from the original 1957 press materials

03.31.11 - With the film Mars and Beyond, in Disney's finest contemporary style, the sound scientific speculations of the universe are intriguingly probed.

When earthman finally walks upon the sands of Mars, what will confront him in this mysterious new world? Will any of his conceptions of strange and exotic Martian life prove to be true? Will he find the remains of a long dead civilization? Or will the more conservative opinions of present-day science be borne out with the discovery of a cold and barren planet where only a low form of vegetable life struggles to survive?

Our space pioneers of the future will answer these questions. And they are the ones posed in Walt Disney's Disneyland TV program dealing with the space age, Mars and Beyond. Via live-action, animation and a unique combination of both, the fascinating, exciting story of outer space travel and possibilities of life on other planets constitute an absorbing viewing hour.

Introducing the show, Disney says simply: "One of the most fascinating fields of modern science deals with the possibility of life on other planets. This is our story." It begins with the earliest speculation of life on Mars and other planets. From the cave man's initial awareness of the stars, the dramatization notes the suppositions about the earth and other planets advanced by a succession of philosophers, astronomers, historians and fiction writers down to the 20th Century. Taking cognizance of the frequent rumors that Martians disguised as earthmen walk among us — strengthened by thousands of reports of unidentified flying objects — Disney digresses momentarily with a hilarious cartoon satire on science-fiction stories.

In serious vein, the miracle of creation is explored. The structure of an infinite universe, cold and dark, inconceivably vast, without beginning and without end is depicted. Our own universe — The Milky Way, one of trillions in the great cosmic void, is portrayed to demonstrate the seeming universality of the laws of creation and the certainties that other planets may harbor life. The earth is singled out as an example of how the wonders of life may be evolving with infinite variation on other planets as well as throughout the universe. Its misty beginnings from cosmic dust, birth of our solar system and the slow, complex forces that develop into life and eventually man, are amazingly recreated.

Man is next revealed in the environment of other planets in our solar system to disclose his ability to survive. Broad as life's 100 degree temperature range seems to be, it is nothing compared to the bitter cold and intense heat that marks the extremes of other planets. Moving away from the sun, man is depicted as able, with proper protection, to live on Mars, a new frontier of increasing importance in future plans to solve the serious problems of over-population and depletion of natural resources.

Historical discoveries concerning Mars are traced, based on a succession of astronomical observations. These are pictured adding to the Martian mystery — the presence of white polar ice caps, canals and other incomprehensible sightings. This sets the stage for a live-action explanation from Dr. E.C. Slipher of Lowell Observatory, considered one of the world's foremost authorities on Mars, on just what the modern astronomers know about the planet.

Dr. Slipher leaves open to speculation what is known about Mars. In a unique Disney pictorial treatment, an ethereal montage is seen of speculative possibilities of Martian life... plant life that migrates in search of richer soil, or plants that feed on themselves. And, if animal life has developed on Mars, its many weird and mysterious forms are theorized upon in an imaginative display of the artists' and animators' skills.

The intriguing possibility of traveling to Mars in a space ship is explored by two of the world's most outstanding authorities in the rocket and guided missile field, Dr. Ernst Stuhlinger and Dr. Wernher von Braun. Their answer is an atomic-powered space ship, 500-feet across carrying a small landing craft for the final descent to the Martian surface.

How the ship is constructed in an orbit in the vacuum of space and the eventual expedition to Mars is accomplished, forms a gripping chapter for Disney's Tomorrowland science-factual presentations which have previously consisted of Man in Space and Man and the Moon.

Mars and Beyond concludes on a futuristic note with flying saucers leaving a Martian space port to enter a mother ship which zooms away into the cosmic void.

From the original 1957 Mars and Beyond press materials

The Disneyland Band since 1950

Walt Disney loved music and he believed it had an important role to play in the experience at Disneyland park, so for opening day he hired a group of musicians to play band concerts in Town Square. He called the group the Disneyland Band. While the original run was only supposed to last two weeks, the band has performed for hundreds of millions of guests and the group is still playing 55 years later.

The Disneyland Band has logged more than 3,500 marching miles since opening day and has traveled to dozens of cities as a representative of the Resort.

The band performs annual music education concerts for 40,000 second graders at local schools from January through March every year. The 45-minute performances often include a visit from Mickey Mouse, as well as an introduction to musical instruments, musical styles and proper concert manners. An additional element of the program engages local high school students and gives them the opportunity to play on stage with the Disneyland Band. 

posted at the Official Disney Parks Blog on March 17th, 2010 by Heather Hust Rivera, Manager, Social Media, Disneyland Resort

Cuban Sculptor Carves Furniture for Disneyland's Haunted Mansion

  Sculptor Santana busy at work on furniture for Haunted Mansion.

02.17.11 - For Ciro Rolando Santana y Arrite, a soft-spoken, wiry little Cuban sculptor of extraordinary talent, a temporary position at Disneyland has become a springboard to the fulfillment of a longtime dream — to bring his family from an adopted home in Puerto Rico to the United States and continue his career as a sculptor.

Rolando Santana came to this country early in 1969. He had been at Disneyland for only a few weeks when the word went out from WED that new projects required the talents of an additional sculptor.

Rolando went to WED for an interview, presented his credentials, and was promptly made a member of the WED Imagineering staff.

The sculptor's work has been exhibited in many countries throughout the Americas and in Spain. For two decades, art and educational publications have featured articles on his works.

Rolando received his formal art training as a student for seven years at Havana's St. Alexander's National School of Fine Arts and two years at the Havana Center of Fine Arts.

Adept in sculpturing all media, Rolando has begun the resumption of his career at WED by carving wooden furniture and ornamentation for Disneyland's Haunted Mansion.

While one part of Rolando's dream became a reality, the other part came true in May when his wife and three children joined him in their new home in the United States.

From Disney News, Fall 1969

Robert A. Iger Short Biography

Robert A. Iger
President and Chief Executive Officer, The Walt Disney Company

Robert A. Iger is President and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company. Mr. Iger, the sixth CEO in The Walt Disney Company's 86-year history, was appointed to this post on October 1, 2005 after the company's board of directors elected him to succeed Michael D. Eisner in March, 2005. 

Previously, Mr. Iger served as President and Chief Operating Officer of The Walt Disney Company, a position he had held since January, 2000. In this role, he partnered with Mr. Eisner in overseeing all aspects of the company's worldwide operations including its filmed entertainment, theme parks and resorts, media networks and consumer products businesses. Mr. Iger also became a member of Disney's board of directors at this time. 

Mr. Iger began his career at ABC in 1974. Throughout his tenure at the company, Mr. Iger has held a series of increasingly responsible senior management positions, including serving as President and Chief Operating Officer of Capital Cities/ABC, where he guided the complex merger of ABC with The Walt Disney Company. During Mr. Iger's years with ABC, he oversaw its broadcast television network and station, cable television, radio and publishing businesses, which includes the market leading brands of ABC, ESPN, Lifetime and The History Channel.

He officially joined the Disney senior management team in 1996 as Chairman of the Disney-owned ABC Group and in 1999, was given the additional responsibility of President, Walt Disney International.

Mr. Iger is a member of the board of directors for the National September 11 Memorial & Museum and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc. He serves on the Executive Advisory Board of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.

About 1982's TRON

The First Electronic Gunslinger

02.09.11 - Long a fan of the mythic heroes of the Old West, Bruce Boxleitner finds himself playing the hero in a different kind of mythology. He is a computer programmer fighting to save his electronic world in Walt Disney Productions' futuristic adventure, "TRON."

Powerful Programmer… Bruce Boxleitner stars as a computer expert whose alter-ego is the most powerful game warrior in an electronic universe in Walt Disney Productions' futuristic adventure, "TRON."

"TRON" combines state-of-the-art computer graphics with special techniques in live-action photography to create a fantasy world never before seen on a motion picture screen. It is a world where energy lives and breathes, where laws of logic are defied, where an electronic civilization thrives.

All of which is quite a departure for Boxleitner, a tall and athletic actor whose career is rooted in roles as rawboned types who helped tame the West. Collector of frontier art, reader of historical fiction, Boxleitner relished such vehicles as the television series "How the West Was Won" and the telefilm "I Married Wyatt Earp." "I loved the idea of reliving history," he says. "Playing a Western hero you sense how strong those people must have been. Let me tell you it's a thrill."

Expectedly, he was not enthralled with the notion of starring in an effects-laden picture like "TRON.' "I was really feeling my oats," he says today. "I had just finished doing a Western movie-of-the-week and was still thinking of myself as the gunfighter hero. When I got the script for "TRON" I rejected it. I didn't want to spend that time cooped up on sound stages.

"Then Kitty (his wife, actress Kathryn Holcomb) read the script and told me I'd better reconsider. She thought it was something special. When I reread it, I realized that Tron, my character in the film, was not so different from a traditional Western hero."

Boxleitner's Tron character is the only being who can save his electronic world from domination by a huge and despotic master computer program. Ironically, while the completed film portrays an epic battle set in a fantastic landscape of light and electricity, the actors performed against sets that were practically bare. The live-action was mated with computer-generated settings in post-production.

"We looked at storyboards (rough drawings of each shot in the movie) before each scene. Then it was up to the imagination. And when you realize that what we are seeing in 'TRON's' world can't possibly exist — then you know how difficult a job the actors had. 'TRON' is the most difficult movie I've ever done." Boxleitner may have had it a bit easier than the others, however. Faced with a duel on the video game grid, chased by a Recognizer or a data pirate, or confronted by any of the electronic world's myriad dangers, he could always ask himself, "What would Wyatt Earp do?" The settings may change but the heroes remain the same.

In color by Technicolor, "TRON" also stars Jeff Bridges, David Warner, Cindy Morgan and Barnard Hughes. The film was written and directed by Steven Lisberger for producer Donald Kushner and executive producer Ron Miller. Buena Vista releases. Filmed in Super Panavision ® 70.

From the original 1982 Tron press materials.

 

 

Lisberger Breaks with Convention

02.09.11 - In 1976 he stretched a $10,000 American Film Institute grant into a multi-million dollar animated film. Today, Steve Lisberger is the guiding creative force behind "TRON," a motion picture that is not only unconventional, but the first of its kind.

Writer-Director Steven Lisberger is the mastermind behind "TRON," Walt Disney Productions futuristic adventure about an electronic world in which video games come to life through state-of-the-art computer imaging.

Writer-director Steven Lisberger is not one to settle for the conventional. As a college student in Boston he formed his own film production company. In 1976 he stretched a $10,000 American Film Institute grant into a multi-million dollar animated film. Today, Lisberger is the guiding creative force behind "TRON," a motion picture that is not only unconventional, but the first of its kind.

"TRON" combines live action with computer-generated imagery to create a fantasy world where video games are arenas of life and death. Long a devotee of video games, the filmmaker first conceived the project in 1978.

"Everyone's looking for new fantasies in the movies," he says. "Outer space has been done to death. They've gone inside the body and under the sea. We've created this world in 'TRON' by taking video games and just blowing them out to the point where they are a reality. At the point where the games met computer graphics, something came alive that hadn't been alive before. Video games were the basis for the fantasy; the computer imagery was the means to create it."

Lisberger and his partner, producer Donald Kushner, brought their project to Disney in mid-1980 and a deal was quickly struck. "They first gave us money to do a demonstration, to prove that we could create the effects we claimed were possible," Lisberger says. "It's to Disney's credit that they didn't say, 'Call us when the computers can do a dog.' We were interested in creating objects and environments that couldn't exist in the physical world. That's something computer-generated images can do very well."

With the boundless enthusiasm of the first boy out to recess, Lisberger began, in early 1981, to choose his creative team for "TRON." French comics artist Moebius — one of the founders of Heavy Metal — was lured from his Pyrenees mountain home to work on character styling and storyboarding. Futurist Syd Mead was called to design vehicles that would later be computer-generated. High-tech artist Peter Lloyd was hired for color styling and background design. Richard Taylor, currently manager of the Movie Technology Division of Information International, Inc. (Triple-I) and an art director whose glowing designs gained him fame in the 1970s with his commercials for Levi and Seven-Up, joined the group to oversee the computer imaging and optical effects. Harrison Ellenshaw, matte painter for "Star Wars" and "The Empire Strikes Back," signed on as co-director (with Taylor) of special effects and associate producer.

The Mathematical Applications Group, Inc. (MAGI), Triple-I, Digital Effects Inc. and Robert Abel and Associates were hired to execute computer images choreographed by animators Bill Kroyer and Jerry Rees. Matched with the live action, those computer scenarios bring Lisberger's world to life.

"We're taking risks with this film," admits the director who spends his days buzzing through the production like a low-flying plane looking for fires to put out. "But that's what got this place (Disney) rolling in the first place. They broke with convention. Computer imagery is never going to replace actors. Actors are what I call the ultimate special effect. And it won't challenge the hand-crafted animation for which Disney is famous. But for this particular fantasy in "TRON" it's the perfect artists' tool."

In color by Technicolor, "TRON" stars Jeff Bridges, David Warner, Bruce Boxleitner, Cindy Morgan and Barnard Hughes. The film was written and directed by Steven Lisberger for producer Donald Kushner and executive producer Ron Miller. Buena Vista releases. Filmed in Super Panavision® 70.

From the original 1982 Tron press materials.  

This Day in Disney History - Disney California Adventure Park Opens

A Decade of Fun at Disney California Adventure Park: Top Attractions, 552,000 Points, 236 Doors and More

posted on February 8th, 2011 by Michele Himmelberg, Public Relations Director, Disneyland Resort

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At the Disneyland Resort, there is one anniversary date we set aside as unique: July 17. On that day in 1955, Walt Disney’s big dream became reality with a theme park that was clean, safe and a magical playground for families.

While July 17 launched it all with Disneyland park, there are special milestones that deserve recognition – like today! February 8, 2011, is the 10th birthday for Disney California Adventure park in Anaheim, Calif. 

To thank all the guests who have enjoyed visiting Disney California Adventure park, we collected some fun bits of trivia that capture the excitement of the past 10 years. I hope you enjoy! 

1. Six of the most popular attractions at the Disneyland Resort are at Disney California Adventure park: The Twilight Zone™ Tower of Terror*, California Screamin’, Soarin’ Over California, “World of Color,” Toy Story Mania! and “Disney’s Aladdin – A Musical Spectacular.”
2. The interactive attraction Toy Story Midway Mania! invites guests to take aim at moving targets. The highest recorded score by a guest is 552,000. (For perspective, beginners are happy to score 25,000.) ©Disney/Pixar
3. In Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!, you’ll see 236 doors in the door vault scene. This attraction is the first at a Disney park that takes guests through the middle of a restroom (the Monsters, Inc. employee restroom). ©Disney/Pixar
4. Mickey’s Fun Wheel takes riders for an exhilarating spin that rises up nearly 150 feet above Paradise Bay. It’s a full-size replica of the original “Wonder Wheel” Ferris wheel, which was built in 1920 and still operates in Coney Island, New York.
5. At Flik’s Fun Fair, in A Bug’s Land, there are 75 clovers – one of which is a four-leaf clover. ©Disney/Pixar
6. Which attraction is known for this phrase: “Launch in five, four, three, two, ONE!” You probably guessed it – California Screamin’. The fastest and longest roller coaster at the Disneyland Resort, it takes guests on an adventure that’s nearly 1 ⅛-miles long.
7. You might know that Twilight Zone™ Tower of Terror* is the tallest attraction in the Disneyland Resort, at 183 feet. Did you know that it also extends 40 feet underground?

8. Phew! At “It’s Tough to Be a Bug!,” it takes 70,000 “perfume” pellets to create the “stink bug” effect. This show won the 1999 Themed Entertainment Association’s “THEA Award” in the category of “Outstanding Achievement, Attraction.” ©Disney/Pixar
9. Since opening in 2001, the Food and Beverage team has served guests plenty of delicious things to eat. Here’s the total for a few favorites: 10.9 million bowls of chowder and 9.6 million rolls (at Pacific Wharf Café), and 2.3 million tacos (at Cocina Cucamonga Grill).
10. “World of Color” celebrated its 500th performance on January 25, 2011. More than 2 million guests have enjoyed this nighttime water spectacular since it premiered on June 11, 2010.

And there’s more. The expansion of Disney California Adventure park continues this summer with the opening of The Little Mermaid ~ Ariel’s Undersea Adventure.

So much to celebrate already, and so much to anticipate. What are your favorite things to see or do at DIsney California Adventure park?

*The Twilight Zone® is a registered trademark of CBS, Inc., and is used with permission pursuant to a license from CBS, Inc. ©Disney/CBS, Inc.

This Day in Disney History - January 1st

1 year without Roy E. Disney

A Message from Bob: Roy E. Disney Passes Away

Dear Cast Members,

It is with great sadness that I inform you of the passing of our friend and colleague Roy E. Disney. After a courageous year-long fight with stomach cancer, he passed away peacefully this morning at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, surrounded by his loving family.

Roy played an important role in our lives here at Disney, and in the success of our Company over many years. Along the way, he touched many of us in a personal way. During his 56-year association with the Company, his true passion and focus was preserving and building upon the amazing legacy of Disney animation that was started by his father and uncle. His commitment to the art of animation was unparalleled and will always remain his personal legacy and one of the greatest contributions to Disney's past, present and future.

Roy not only helped to keep the legacy alive, but he also embraced new technologies, and gave the filmmakers the tools they needed to tell their stories in new and exciting ways. He encouraged talent, and loved working with the creative community. And they loved working with him.

Roy was a Disney Legend in every sense of the word, and his contributions to this great Company have been profound and will always be remembered. For the next week we will be flying the Disney flag at half mast here at the Studio and at our parks, and I know you join me in sending thoughts and prayers to Roy's wife, Leslie, his four children, and his 16 grandchildren. For those who wish to pay their respects, the family has requested that donations be made in Roy's name to the California International Sailing Association (CISA) to benefit youth sailing.

Bob Iger

On Safari [1962] Expansion of Adventureland

The password is "Safari," and Summertime visitors to Disneyland will be validating their passports, stepping aboard tropical steamers and sailing off on a brand new tropical adventure that may set jungle exploration back to the days of "Dr. Livingston, I presume." 

Marc Davis concept art for the Jungle Cruise

For Disneyland's brand new Jungle River Cruise — part of another $7 million expansion at Walt Disney's Anaheim wonderland — has been designed as a combination "you are there" exploration and fun-filled laugh provoking adventure whose "actors" are elephants, tigers and many more beasts of the jungle. 

Starting with a proven success — the true-life jungle cruise has been one of Disneyland's most popular attractions since opening — Walt Disney is adding a jungle-full of animated animals — startlingly life-like — and making the explorer's voyage longer and full of humor. 

Top highlight is sure to be the Indian elephants — big ones and "little squirts" — who will frolic, splash and swim in a unique "elephant bathing pool." Their trunks loaded with watery surprises (for unwary animalsand explorers), nearly two dozen of the full-size elephants will eventually call Disneyland "home," all brought to life through the marvels of Disneyland animation. 

The emphasis in new attractions is on Adventureland, with (1) the "world's largest" Tree House, (2) a "Big Game Safari" shooting gallery, (3) a colorful African motif for portions of the bazaar shops and stores in Adventureland, and (4) the fabulous "Stouffer's in Disneyland" dinner-show restaurants. 

The Swiss Family Tree House will tower 70 feet above the jungle. Spreading its branches 80 feet in width, it will include three separate "homes" at different levels — the living room, parents' room and boy's room, all inspired by Walt Disney's motion picture "Swiss Family Robinson." 

For the youngsters, "the climb's the thing," but adults are sure to enjoy the "never before" panoramic view over much of Disneyland offered by this "species Disneydendron giganteum" of 150,000 leaves and 50,000 blooms. 

Walt Disney's "Enchanted Tiki Room," one of three new restaurants at "Stouffer's in Disneyland" and Disney's first "by reservation only" dining spa, may steal the spotlight from the other new attractions. For Walt Disney is bringing together all the talents of his "imagineers" to create a complete dinner show performed by an exotic collection of birds, flowers and Polynesian Tikis that actually sing, talk and act! 

Many new animation techniques, developed exclusively for Disneyland, will "bring to life" the birds, idols and flowers. And, lest you should think it's not possible for inanimate objects to sing and act, just remember that this dinner-show is based upon legends and myths treasured for centuries by the natives of the South Pacific. 

Stouffer's, one of America's foremost restaurateurs, will also open European and American Kitchens in its Plaza Pavilion (facing Main Street) and a Tahitian Terrace overlooking Adventureland. The latter will feature nightly dancing and South Seas entertainment. 

If you're a marksman, the new "Big Game Safari" is for you. While it's based on a time-tested shooting gallery tradition, this jungle hunt is an authentic Disney creation — a one-of-a-kind rapid-fire adventure where you'll shoot at all kinds of jungle animals and birds, each handcrafted for Disneyland. 

So it all adds up to another big "bonus" in entertainment this Summer at Disneyland� where the new adventures Walt Disney adds each year are the frosting on a $40 million entertainment "cake!" 

From the Summer 1962 edition of Vacationland magazine, published by Disneyland.

Christmas Memories at Disney Parks

In this video you'll see the Christmas Parades and Decorations in 1960 and 1970!

At the end, testimonials from 2009 EPCOT's Candlelight Processional Narrators.