Welcome!
Hosted by Steven Clark, Head, D23
In a special edition of Disney Geek played on giant video screens, D23′s Jeffrey Epstein energized members — some of whom had been eagerly awaiting outside Disneyland Hotel’s Grand Ballroom as early as 6 a.m. in full Mousketeer regalia — by announcing Destination D’s full weekend of excitement and stars. From wall to wall the room lit up with excitement and cheers. Jeffrey then kicked off the weekend by introducing everyone in the Hotel’s Grand Ballroom to Steven Clark, head of D23.
“We have 39 of the 50 states represented here as well as seven countries,” Steven said, a gorgeously imagined remake of Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty Castle serving as backdrop. “It’s just fantastic to have this many people here from all over the country.” Indeed, some members had flown from as far as Australia and Japan to take in this inaugural D23 event. “We are here to celebrate the past, present and future of Disneyland,” he added, “and we have quite a few special surprises for you over the weekend.”
In addition to a joking presentation of some witty D23 marketing posters that didn’t quite make the cut — including as advertisement featuring Mulan holding a fan with words reading, “We’ll make a fan out of you” — Steven announced a change to the annual Disney Legends ceremony. The induction ceremonies will now occur every other year at the D23 Expo, and special Legends celebrations will take place, on the off years, at Destination D.
Steven also announced a new, weekly sister show to Disney Geek, which will begin in November under the name Armchair Archivist. “We’re opening up the Walt Disney Archives to the world,” Steven said. “As we were going through the Archives, we uncovered a lot of content that has never before been shared.” Two avid Disney fans, Steve Czarnecki and Josh Turchetta, will host the show. They’ll tour the Archives, Disney warehouses and even collectors’ homes to uncover Disney treasures. “It gives us the chance to reflect and look back at all the treasures we have,” Steven added. “And in addition to all the classic items, we’ll be introducing new assets as well — including set pieces and costumes like those we recently received from the TRON: Legacy production team.”
D23 Head Steven Clark welcomes guests to the inaugural Destination D; he also announced the launch later this year of the Armchair Archivist video series, which will be available at Disney.com and on iTunes.
A sold-out crowd celebrates the inaugural Destination D event on September 24 at Disneyland Hotel’s Grand Ballroom.
Weird Disney
Hosted by Becky Cline and Paul Anderson
The agenda said this eagerly anticipated presentation would be hosted by Archives Director Becky Cline and Disney historian Paul Anderson, but at times D23 Members had to be wondering if this charming pair, who exhibited comic timing, rapier wits and a touch of slapstick throughout the proceedings — had morphed into Abbott and Costello or Hope and Crosby. In short, they had the audience eating out of their hands, and their offbeat, quirky look at what they called “Weird Disney” fully lived up to its name.
Taking the audience on a chronological (somewhat) tour through just some of the (more than three million) images in the Archives Photo Library (let’s face it, a lot of this was pretty hysterically random), Becky and Paul started with what they called “1930s Weirdness” — which included charming images from the days of the original Mickey Mouse Club days held at movie theaters around the country. “Next was “1940s Weirdness,” which — we said this was a little random — concluded with Becky reading a letter a “scientist” wrote in the 1990s asking then Disney President and CEO Michael Eisner, “Where do you keep Walt Disney’s brain?” The writer goes on to ask if he can dissect said brain, and promises to return it, “for the most part intact.” He concludes, “Go Ducks!” — a reference to the Anaheim Ducks hockey team the company owned at the time. We said this was “Weird Disney!”
From then it was looks at weird clowns, weird events, weird characters, weird Walt hats and more. In short, if it was weird and it happened at the Disney Studio or at Disneyland, the grateful audience saw it. There were silent video clips of parades and Disneyland Pancake Races, first held at Disneyland in 1957 — “All the parades were silent back then,” Paul quipped. But it was a tale the dynamic duo brought Disney expert Tim O’Day on to relate that really brought the house down. He told the story of a diminutive Disneyland performer Tim only identified as “Paul,” who bravely volunteered to serve as Baby New Year at Disneyland one New Year’s Eve, only to get cold feet at zero hour. Becky and Paul had unearthed the actual video of the terrified man as he descended down the Matterhorn on a 13-story-high wire, looking to the world like a man absolutely hating his last few minutes on earth.
Fortunately no one was harmed in the making of that classic Disneyland moment, and the only bruising anyone received at this uproarious event was to their funny bones. In fact, at the conclusion of the presentation, the audience was asked to look under their seats; those who found a replica paper fish affixed to the bottom of their chairs received a personal note from the presenters and could exchange the memento for a Frontierland Fish Tote carrying bag.
Becky Cline and Paul Anderson send the crowd on a rollicking tour through “Weird Disney.”
Mickey Mouse Club 55th Anniversary
Hosted by Tim O’Day
In the original Mouseketeer count-off from the 1955 television show, Disneyland’s Tim O’Day introduced Destination D’s lineup of original Mousketeers. Sharon Baird, Doreen Tracey, Bobby Burgess, Karen Pendleton, Sherry van Meter (Alberoni), Tommy Cole, Cubby O’Brien and Mary Geoff (Espinosa) walked onstage in their black and white Mousketeer costumes, in step with the Mickey Mouse Club march.
The eight reminisced about being on the show and gave some insights on what it was like to be a part of Walt Disney’s small group of talented young performers. “It wasn’t like going to work,” Tommy remembers, who told the audience about how his audition for the show. “I played in an accordion band and my school music teacher encouraged me to go to some auditions for television shows,” he said. “I sang ‘Mexicali Rose’ and they gave me a screening test for Spin and Marty, but they decided to put me on the Mickey Mouse Club show instead.”
They also shared some of their behind-the-scenes crushes, too. “I was in love with Tim Considine,” Karen admitted. “He took me on my first date, but then I heard that he also took Sharon out!” Bobby added, “We were all in love with Annette, but she liked older guys.” They also revealed the origin of the show’s iconic Mickey Mouse ears, an idea that came from co-host Roy Williams. The Mouseketeers fondly referred to him as “Uncle Roy.” Roy was a gagman at the Walt Disney Studios and came up with the idea from watching an early Mickey Mouse cartoon, where Mickey tips his hat.
The group wrapped up their walk down memory lane with a video of the Mickey Mouse Club‘s signature ending, and the entire D23 audience joined the Mouseketeers, in union singing, “M-O-U-S-E.”
Doreen Tracey and Mary Geoff (Espinosa) share a memory while Tommy Cole talks to the audience
From Quirky to Collectible: The Wonderful World of Disneyland Merchandise
Hosted by Stacia Martin, Paul Anderson and Rob Klein
Disney historians and archivists Stacia Martin, Paul Anderson and Rob Klein hosted a spirited discussion — the final presentation of the morning — that told the fascinating story behind a colorful chapter in Disneyland history: Disneyland collectibles. And for the non-collector among us — and if you’re a Disney fan, that’s precious few of you — that includes everything from original Disneyland tickets and Guidebooks to gate flyers, recordings and toys.
“It’s great to be in a room where everyone feels the way you do about Disney history,” Stacia said at the beginning of the presentation, and judging by the applause, laughs and aawwws generated throughout this lively discussion, the feeling was mutual. Standout collectibles shown to the audience included Disneyland ticket No. 1, owned by Roy O. Disney (and safeguarded in the Walt Disney Archives). As the trio bantered about which were their favorite examples, one thing became apparent. Each of these most collectible tickets of the past is a work of art in its own way, and the earliest tickets mixed fonts and graphics in interesting ways to convey the spirit of the attractions to which they provided access.
Perusing (on the Grand Ballroom’s four gigantic projection screens) Disneyland Guidebooks seem to wake the fond memories of many in the audience. Just the sighting, again, of Disneyland in Natural Color, from 1956 or the exceedingly rare insert from a Look magazine from 1967, elicited sighs of memories. The same effect happened when Stacia took guests on a musical odyssey through the best of Disneyland collectible records — Country Bear Jamboree and America Sings eliciting audible gasps of remembrance.
But it was a discussion of toys and other collectibles that reminded the audience once and forever what a charming, innocent time it was in the ’50s and ’60s, when interest in Walt’s flagship park was sweeping the country — and the world — and Walt experimented with new ways to feed visitors’ imaginations. Then, for example, you could buy a replica Jungle Boat made out of plastic and featuring a, not so intelligently it turns out, tiny steam engine. Of course, when you tried to take it out for a jaunty spin, it turned into a “Jungle blog,” in the words of Tim O’Day. A Mark Twain Riverboat AM radio seems just as innocent and no less charming.
Stacia Martin and Rob Klein during their quirky look at Disneyland collectibles.
Lunch Break and Mouseketeers Meet & Greet
Nothing says D23 more than a special meet-and-greet moment with those from the club who started it all, the Mouseketeers. Members gave a great big mouseke-cheer as the cast of the Mickey Mouse Club arrived to sign autographs with fans.
First in line was Mark Yosick from Lebanon, Ohio. “I love them all,” Mark, who met up with his Orlando-based son Scott at this nostalgic event, said. “I grew up watching them and Cubby was always my favorite. Like me, he was always the little guy running around. He still looks a lot like he did back then.” Mark, grinning ear to ear with a childlike smile, shook hands with the television star he’s waited 55 years to meet.
Bobby Burgess signs autographs for D23 Members and their guests at Destination D.
Mousketeer fan and D23 Member Mark Yosick, of Lebanon, Ohio, meeting one of his idols, Cubby O’Brien, during the Mousketeer Meet & Greet at Destination D.
Star Tours
Hosted by Tom Fitzgerald
A Long time ago… or sometime in the mid-’80s, a couple of Disney Imagineers got together with George Lucas. And in a presentation with Tom Fitzgerald, senior executive, Creative, Walt Disney Imagineering, their story and concepts for the breakthrough attraction Star Tours were shown to a public audience for the first time.
For an attraction about the future, Tom started his presentation out in the past. “We had been in the talks with George about creating an attraction based on Star Wars in the parks for some time,” Tom said in the presentation. “He came to Imagineering on a Saturday and looked at everything that was in development. George saw some images for a flight-simulator technology we were looking at and he was instantly drawn to it.” Weeks later, they flew to London to check out a company that was building these simulators. And everyone was sold on the initial concept. But the attraction they envisioned was so grand, it was going to take a few years to research and build. So in the meantime, they developed another attraction in tandem — Captain EO.
Tom took the audience through the entire design, development and testing of the famous Tomorrowland attraction. He even showed clips of original commercials, orchestral recordings, a time lapse video of the ride vehicles being dropped into their show building by a crane and some alternative images of how Star Tours might have looked, had it been decided to go somewhere else other than Endor.
D23 Members also got an inside look at the upcoming attraction Star Tours: The Adventures Continue — with three new destinations. “I’ve agreed to share tidbits on the Disney Parks Blog, where we’ll release more on the new attraction, up until the attraction opening,” Tom stated. “However, I can tell you a couple of things today. We are going to be in a race in Tatooine and the Starspeeder will look a bit different — it’s the 1000 not the 3000 you’ve been riding for the past 20 years. The story takes place in between the two Star Wars trilogies. They are also adding two characters. One is Ali Son Son, which was named by George Lucas and voiced by Allison Janney. The other character added to the new attraction is Ace, which resembles RX-24.”
Tom Fitzgerald during his presentation on Star Tours.
The 1964 New York World’s Fair and the Development of Audio-Animatronics® Characters
Hosted by Paul Anderson
Disney historian Paul Andersen came back to the stage for his third Destination D appearance, this time in a bit of a panic. He fumbled with a cup of coffee and a script for the presentation he was about to give. Paul stood there awkwardly shuffling about, the audience laughing and asked, “What? You start work as soon as you get there?”
The storytelling historian then launched into a look-back at how the 1964 New York World’s Fair shaped the Disneyland we know today. With concept images, video and photos pulled from a thick folder most likely marked “Walt’s Biggest Dream Yet” in the Walt Disney Archives, Paul explained every detail. So much was created just for this fair. The $500 million event celebrated the 300th anniversary of New York. “And it came at a very good time,” Paul added. “Had the fair come a few years later, I’d be up here telling a radically different tale about Disneyland history.” For only two years, the attractions entertained World’s Fair visitors. But the technology developed in this short time was used in many Disney theme park attractions and is still reproduced in new attractions today.
“Walt had bigger ideas and he wanted to build his version of the future,” Paul said. “Had he lived another 10 years — who knows? — he might have accomplished bringing his future to the world.” Walt’s futuristic model of the future displayed at the Fair was the first idea for EPCOT, Walt’s Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. Other ideas that sprung from the ’64 World’s Fair were the Omnimover ride system, cutting-edge projection screens and three Disneyland attractions that eventually landed in Anaheim — Carousel of Progress, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln and it’s a small world. Less than a mile from this presentation, park guests are still visiting two of those attractions today.
Imagineering the Magic of Disney
Hosted by Marty Sklar
There are few experiences in life that qualify as truly spine tingling. For any true Disneyland fan, one such moment happened near the beginning of the “Imagineering the Magic of Disney” presentation, which concluded the afternoon portion of events at Destination D: Disneyland ’55. That’s when Disney Legend X Atencio, in the ninth decade of his life, stoutly sang those famous words “Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirate’s Life for Me” — the legendary song he wrote for Pirates of the Caribbean, an attraction he scripted at the behest of Walt Disney. The act of singing a song millions of fans have cherished for decades elicited in the crowd murmurs of appreciation, happy shouts of glee, smiles and shakes of the head — exactly the types of reactions Imagineers have specialized in bringing out of guests at every one of Disney’s theme parks and resorts around the world.
Getting the chance to listen to a panel of men and women who dreamed up and designed Disneyland attractions over the years was clearly one of the highlights of the day’s agenda, and the large audience seemed to hang on every word. After all, getting a chance to listen to X, Tony Baxter, Disney Legend Alice Davis, Dave Durham, Disney Legend Bob Gurr, Disney Legend Don Iwerks, Kathy Mangum and Kevin Rafferty talk about their work and their inspirations is something no Disneyland fan — or D23 Member — would want to miss. When Marty asked X how exactly he came to work on Pirates of the Caribbean, X answered, rather succinctly, “Because Walt told me to. I told him I thought we needed a song,” X said, “and he said, ‘Go ahead, get George Bruns to write the music.’ I thought he’d get the Shermans [Richard and Robert] to write it, but that’s how I became a songwriter.”
Disney Legend Alice Davis said her favorite attraction is it’s a small world. “Walt asked me to do the costumes, which I loved, but I was a Depression-era child, so I never had dolls, and I got to build those, too,” she said. She also remembered one of Walt’s maxims: “Never cheat the people, or you’ll never see them,” Alice says he told her. “Give them more than what they want and they’ll come back.”
Disney Legend Bob Gurr added his own perspective of a career spent redefining the face of theme park entertainment, admitting that it could at times be a daunting profession — and proposition. When pressed by Marty, he admitted that by the time vice president Richard M. Nixon first rode the Monorail, in 1959, the space-age-looking vehicle had made it around the Park’s track exactly one time. “Then I kidnapped [vice president Nixon] and drove off without the Secret Service,” he laughs, recalling the Monorail‘s official inaugural journey around Disneyland in 1959.
In hearing these and the recollections of the rest of the panel members, one can’t be surprised by the long legacy Walt Disney Imagineering has given the world. After all, these are men and women humble and gracious, accomplished and self-effacing, and all still visibly touched by the greatness of Walt Disney.
Disney Legends Alice Davis and Marty Sklar at the “Imagineering the Magic of Disney” presentation at Destination D at the Disneyland Hotel on Setpember 24.
Marty talks to X Atencio as Bob Gurr looks on.
E-Ticket: Music From the Disney Parks
Hosted by special guests.
The first night of Destination D: Disneyland ’55 concluded with a very special program of song, celebration and Disney history, and everyone attending our inaugural Destination D event had our version of an E-Ticket to attend this D23 spectacular.
A canopy of stars now rising above the replica of Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty Castle, which provided a perfect backdrop to the day’s events, set the tone for this night of joyous, mystical, romantic and moving music. A prologue introduced a cavalcade of Disney Legends to the audience — reminding everyone in attendance of Disney’s historic contributions to family entertainment and the very high quality standards to which Disney always aspires in every facet of the work it does, including music. The assembled Disney Legends, which included Alice Davis, Ron Dominguez, Bob Gurr, Don Iwerks, Marty Sklar and Dave Smith, had the assembled D23 Members and guests standing in appreciation, only to have the announcement of Richard Sherman, named a Disney Legend in 1990, take the applause to another decibel level.
“The first song Bob and I ever wrote for the Parks was in 1963,” he remembered. “Walt said he was working on something, and he wanted us to see it. We went into soundstage 4 and there was this mockup of a jungle room.” After receiving a demonstration of the world’s first Audio-Animatronics® characters, of the birds that formed the basis of Enchanted Tiki Room, the brothers went off and wrote “The Tiki Tiki Tiki Room,” a classic in the Disney musical canon. Richard then proceeded through a Sherman Brothers parks songbook and through every land in Disneyland, telling stories behind each song and playing the piano in his trademark style, like a comfortable, close relative — everybody’s favorite uncle who had amazing stories and knew how to entertain. Other highlights of the night included:
- John Tartaglia (Avenue Q) performed a spirited version of “Grim Grinning Ghosts,” complete with two flamboyantly dressed ghost puppets he built earlier in the day.
- Ana Ortiz (Ugly Betty) sang the moving “Two Brothers” from Epcot’s American Adventure.
- Teron Brooks (Broadway version of The Lion King) took the best of the briar patch onstage with a medley of songs from Splash Mountain.
- Wilson Cruz (ABC’s My So-Called Life) movingly sang “Second Star to the Right” and “When You Wish Upon a Star” with a booming vibrato that touched the heart on every dreamer in attendance.
- Dressed in pirate costumes, Michael Urie (Ugly Betty) and Ana Ortiz performed a swashbucklin’ tribute to Pirates of the Caribbean with a pirate mash-up of pirate jokes and the song, “Yo Ho (A Pirate’s Life For Me).”
- Tracie Thoms (Rent) sang “Just One Dream,” from Disney California Adventure’s Golden Dreams attraction, which reminded everyone of their common bond.
- Voices made up of cast members and employees from The Walt Disney Company — Melo-D 23 — sang several songs — in arrangements written exclusively for tonight’s show.
The night’s surprise moment came when Jeffrey Epstein, our Disney Geek, joined Ana Ortiz onstage for a duet of “A Whole New World” from Aladdin. A whole new Jeffrey we’ve never seen before!
And what better way to end the night than with Richard Sherman’s prayer for peace and understanding, “It’s a Small World,” sung by the entire company, which sent everyone off to bed with a perfect kiss good night?
