Walt Disney Imagineering is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year and it would be reasonable to say that it is happening during one of the most trying times in the storied organization’s history.
With considerable economic uncertainty on the U.S. horizon, the Walt Disney Company seems to be shying away from any new ambitious investments in the theme parks leaving the Imagineers potentially spinning their wheels. A looming, though recently postponed, forced relocation of Imagineering to Florida is reported to be deeply unpopular within the organization and has already caused more than half of the staff of roughly 1800 to quit.
The future of Walt Disney Imagineering is, at best, unclear.
Perhaps that makes it all the more bittersweet to watch the nostalgic and inspiring anniversary video that WDI released last week, but watch it you should. It’s a delight, filled with reminder after reminder of why you began to love the Disney parks in the first place. It is deeply refreshing, as a Disney parks lover, to drop the politics and economics surrounding the organization that is the crown jewel of the Walt Disney Company and to take a deep dive into the Imagineers’ accomplishments and genius.
Here is a link to the video.
After enjoying this short film a few times, I began to wonder how many of the brief clips in it I could recognize; and then started listing them; and two days later, bleary-eyed and celebratory, I present my list of almost every attraction shown in the montage.
Watch the video and take a look at the list and tell me what I missed or got wrong. Tell me what your favorite attractions in the film are and which ones you wish had been represented, but hadn’t. Most of all, enjoy the work of the Imagineers.
When going through these clips I had to make a few judgment calls. For example, if a picture had Walt Disney walking past dolls from It’s a Small World, it was sometimes difficult to know if that was prior to the installation of the original attraction at the 1964 World’s Fair or the move to Disneyland. I took a guess. If an attraction exists in multiple parks unless I could tell specifically where the clip was from — the illuminated portholes in the theater walls for Turtle Talk with Crush tells me Tokyo DisneySea, for example — I listed all possibilities.
Ok, ready? Strap in! Here are all 117 clips, labeled as best I could, in chronological order.
Disneyland after the earth has been moved, but pre-construction — Disneyland
Tree being moved into place, pre-construction — Disneyland
Unknown cable organizer
Jungle Cruise, hippos being lowered — Disneyland
Jungle Cruise, cables running to hippos being programmed — Disneyland
Sleeping Beauty Castle, rocks being textured — Disneyland
Sleeping Beauty Castle, tower pieces being hoisted into place — Disneyland
Ford Magic Skyway, Dinosaurs being assembled — 1964 New York World’s Fair
Ford Magic Skyway, Dinosaurs being accessorized — 1964 New York World’s Fair
Jungle Cruise, alligator motion being adjusted pre-opening — Disneyland
Unknown landscape view — Disneyland
Sleeping Beauty Castle, tower pieces being hoisted into place — Disneyland
Sleeping Beauty Castle, golden top being placed on spire — Disneyland
The Mark Twain Riverboat, Irene Dunne christening — Disneyland
Surprising color footage of Disneyland Opening Day; the opening of Fantasyland — Disneyland
Matterhorn Bobsleds, mark one bobsleds — Disneyland
Disneyland Railroad — Main Street Station — Disneyland
Testing unknown moving child figure
Matterhorn Bobsleds, Harper Goff sculpting what might be Matterhorn snow — Disneyland
Storybook Land Canal Boats, spraying village with water — Disneyland
Sleeping Beauty’s Castle, Walt walking through pre-opening day — Disneyland
Skyway, original sky buckets — Disneyland
Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship — Disneyland
It’s a Small World, Mary Blair doing inspirational drawings — Disneyland and Magic Kingdom
It’s a Small World — Disneyland
Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, Lincoln face from life mask mold — Disneyland
Carousel of Progress, Imagineer programming — 1964 New York World’s Fair
Enchanted Tiki Room, feathers being added to Juan the Barker Bird who sat outside until 1967 — Disneyland
Inspirational drawing of Disneyland’s New Tomorrowland which opened in 1967 — Disneyland
Floor-sized model of Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom
It’s a Small World, viewing-height model being assembled — Magic Kingdom
Monorail, Mark IV Monorail cars being transported to Florida Resort — Walt Disney World
Large scale table model of Epcot Center at opening
Spaceship Earth under construction — Epcot Center
Unknown science fiction animation, possibly from Magic Highway, U.S.A. episode of Disneyland TV series
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Nautilus passenger sub being transported — Magic Kingdom
Cinderella Castle construction — Magic Kingdom
Floor-sized model of Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom — Magic Kingdom
Actual Magic Kingdom aerial view circa 1973-ish — Magic Kingdom
Various parades from Disneyland/Disney’s Wonderful World of Color/Wonderful World of Disney shows — Disneyland
Unknown dance rehearsal
World of Color: Winter Dreams 2014 update — Disney’s California Adventure
Scenes testing and performing World of Color — Disney’s California Adventure
Imagineers working at Animator’s Palate — Disney Magic (Disney Cruise Line)
Testing Tron Lightcycle Power Run — Shanghai Disneyland
Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure, test ride — Shanghai Disneyland
Legends of Mythica water parade — Tokyo DisneySea
Turtle Talk with Crush — Tokyo DisneySea
Drawing of Enchanted Storybook Castle — Shanghai Disneyland
Unknown Dance rehearsal
Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure, attraction team photo — Shanghai Disneyland
Unknown team photo.
Fireworks — Shanghai Disneyland
Shanghai Disneyland opening ceremonies — Shanghai Disneyland
Guests entering Mickey Avenue — Shanghai Disneyland
Jet Packs, child enjoying attraction — Shanghai Disneyland
Tron Lightcycle Power Run — Shanghai Disneyland
Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge — Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Star Wars: Millennium Falcon — Smugglers Run viewscreen — Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Mystic Manor loading area — Hong Kong Disneyland
Mystic Manor promotional films — Hong Kong Disneyland
Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway — Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Unknown special effects test
The door effect — Enchanted Tales with Belle
Na’vi River Journey — Disney’s Animal Kingdom
The Enchanted Tiki Room, Walt with Tiki Room Bird — Disneyland
Walt with Primeval World Dinosaur — Disneyland
Walt walking through It’s a Small World scene — Disneyland
Avatar Flight of Passage, Joe Rohde and two Imagineers testing effects — Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Avatar Flight of Passage, film footage — Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Imagineers sculpting Pandora model — Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Pandora model realized — Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Unknown motion simulator test
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, demonstration animation — Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Iron Man Experience, computer model of vehicle — Hong Kong Disneyland
Tron Lightcycle/Run, computer model of building architecture — Magic Kingdom and Shanghai Disneyland
Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast, CGI Lumiere — Tokyo Disneyland
Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run, simulator test with film — Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Unknown animatronic
Unknown VR attraction test
Unknown small animatronic
Guardians of the Galaxy Mission Breakout, film clapboard indicating James Gunn directing actors — Disney’s California Adventure
Guardians of the Galaxy Mission Breakout, exterior — Disney’s California Adventure
Unknown headset/glasses device.
Pirates of the Caribbean — Battle for the Sunken Treasure, Davy Jones animatronic test — Shanghai Disneyland
Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular! — Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Pirates of the Caribbean — Battle for the Sunken Treasure — Shanghai Disneyland
Radiator Springs Racers — Disney’s California Adventure
Na’vi River Journey, partially constructed Na’vi animatronic head — Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Pixar Pier — Disney’s California Adventure
Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye — Mara opens her eyes — Disneyland
Iron Man Experience, queue — Hong Kong Disneyland
Ant-Man and The Wasp: Nano Battle! — Hong Kong Disneyland
Unknown Animatronic Hand
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, Imagineers reviewing space battle sequences — Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure
Test of aerial Spider-Man figure — Disney’s California Adventure
Unknown robot construction
Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, elevator — Magic Kingdom
Disney Cruise Ship
Unknown film of earth from space
Jet Packs, testing — Shanghai Disneyland
Mystic Manor, changing portrait, Lady Medusa — Hong Kong Disneyland
Walt Disney: One Man’s Dream — Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln — Disneyland
Test of walking Groot — Walt Disney Imagineering Labs
Test of walk-around Hulk hand — Walt Disney Imagineering Labs
Test of alligator animatronic — looks like Tick-Tock — for Peter Pan attraction at Tokyo DisneySea
Pascal animatronic
Enchanted Tiki Room, maintenance of Jose — Disneyland
Unknown animatic
Test Track, design station — Epcot
Tron Lightcycle Power Run — Shanghai Disneyland
Iron Man Experience, film — Hong Kong Disneyland
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance — Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Avatar Flight of Passage, Imagineers viewing ride film — Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Unknown Imagineers
Star Wars: Millennium Falcon — Smugglers Run, animatics of Hondo Ohnaka — Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Star Wars: Millennium Falcon — Smugglers Run, Hondo Ohnaka animatronic testing — Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Iron Man Experience, Iron Man animatronic test — Hong Kong Disneyland
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, Imagineer does VR ride-through AT-AT animatics — Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind, queue film testing — Epcot
And that’s the list. If you made it this far, thank you. Let me know your thoughts on what I got right or wrong, and your feelings about Walt Disney Imagineering. 70 years seems like a long time, but watching this film leaves me realizing just how magnificently it’s been spent.
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Kelly McCubbin is a columnist for the Boardwalk Times
