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  • Blog Post: "Be Our Guest" features an unvarnished take on Disney Company history

    I have to admit that It's been kind of amusing to watch the reaction (both here and elsewhere around the Web) that Tuesday's "What's really behind the sudden change in Disney Parks & Resorts' facial hair policy" story has been getting. With all sorts of would-be Disney scholars...
  • Blog Post: "Walt and the Promise of Progress City" covers an awful lot of Disney-related real estate

    "You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen ..." Well, if you're a Disney history buff, then you must already know about Walt's land searches of the early 1950s. As Disney tried to find just the right spot in Southern California for his family fun park . Likewise if you're...
  • Blog Post: Disney's California Zephyr departs Anaheim, but not for oblivion

    Fans of the Disney California Adventure (yes, they do exist) have known for some time that the impending Buena Vista Street project would bring changes to the entrance to the theme park. As the Golden Gate Bridge makeover is well underway, the next phase of this project starts to take shape on Monday...
  • Blog Post: Original Disneyland train cars reunite at Carolwood Foundation's Combine event

    I am not nearly old enough to have attended Disneyland in the 1950s. The first time I went to the park, I was five years old. This was the 1970s. But I have long been interested in the park as it existed in those early years: how art directors and set designers used their cinematic skills to recreate...
  • Blog Post: Young kids & old codgers proved to be a very powerful combo at Walt Disney Studio

    It never occurred to me at the moment. I guess I was too busy being enthralled by all the amazing artwork on the walls. Yet, there was something different about the animation unit, and it took me a while before I realized what it was. It turns out the entire unit was unique. It was comprised of animation...
  • Blog Post: Disneyland history comes to life at D23's first anniversary party

    Though I must admit that back in January, when the D23 Anniversary event at Disneyland was first announced, I was skeptical as to how Disney would put together a three-hour party on a Wednesday that was worth a three-hour drive to the park.Three hours, each way, I might add. Having just attended the...
  • Blog Post: Disney Legend Harriet Burns: A model (maker) of a mother

    If you ask Pam Burns-Clair to describe her mother, she’ll tell you that Disney Legend Harriet Burns was not your typical 1950s housewife. “When I was a girl, the shows on TV were Ozzie & Harriet , Leave It to Beaver and I Love Lucy . These women were very much stay-at-home moms with the chocolate...
  • Blog Post: Blaine Gibson remembers Harriet Burns, the First Lady of Imagineering

    Last year, after Disney Legend Harriet Burns passed away, Pam Burns-Clair decided to put together a book about her mother. Mind you, what Ms. Burns-Clair had in mind wasn't a traditional biography. But -- rather -- a gathering of memories. Which is why -- in partnership with noted Disney historian Don...
  • Blog Post: Remembering Harriet Burns (1928 - 2008)

    This past Friday, the Disney community lost one of its celebrities. Harriet Burns passed on at the age of 79. She was the first woman hired by WED as an artist. She was born in San Antonio and remained in Texas for most of her young life, venturing only to Dallas to pursue a college degree in art in...
  • Blog Post: Toon Tuesday : Getting a head with Blaine Gibson

    Like most old guys, I tend to get my brain stuck in a certain time frame. So I didn't immediately recognize the man sitting in the limo. For some odd reason, I expected to see the guy I remembered. The slender, dark haired young man with the horn rimmed glasses. However, this older gentleman didn't exactly...