Shanghai Disneyland concept art reveals how good the Imagineers are at hiding things

Jim Hill

14 years ago

I got an e-mail asking me what I thought of that
concept painting of the Shanghai Disneyland Resort which was shown at The Walt Disney Company’s 2011 Investor’s Conference yesterday.

Concept art for the Shanghai Disneyland Resort. Copyright Disney
Enterprises,
Inc. All rights reserved

To be honest, I thought that it looked an awful lot like
that image of the Shanghai Disneyland theme park which was briefly unveiled at a Walt Disney Family
Museum event back in July of 2010 …

Concept art for the Shanghai Disneyland theme park. Copyright Disney
Enterprises,
Inc. All rights reserved

… in that it really didn’t show you a hell of a lot. But
just gave you a rough sense of what this yet-to-be-built project might look like
from 5000 feet up.

Given that John Hench had a hand in the overall design of so many Disney theme parks during the 60+ years that he worked for the Company …

Peter Ellenshaw painting the
now-famous blacklight image of Disneyland. Copyright
Disney Enterprises, Inc.
All rights reserved

… I once asked this Disney Legend if there was a secret to
putting together these early-early concept paintings. And what John said in response kind of
surprised me.

“You can’t really be concerned about getting all of the
details right. After all – at that point in the project – the design of the
Park is actually pretty loose, subject to change,” Hench explained. “So you
have to be a good enough artist to give people the illusion of detail when
what you’re really doing with an image like this is working in broad strokes.”

According to Hench, his longtime friend & colleague Herb
Ryman …

Disney Legend Herb Ryman
working on concept paintings for Euro Disneyland
Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc. All rights reserved

… was the absolute master when it came to these sorts of
images. Using roughly sketched-out lines & splashes of color to make viewers
think that they were seeing far more than they actually were when they looked
at one of WDI’s early-early theme park concept paintings.

Herb Ryman’s concept painting for EPCOT Center’s entrance plaza and Spaceship
Earth. Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc. All rights reserved

Of course, it’s not really a surprise that Herbie was the
very best at these sorts of paintings & drawings. Given that he was the one
who worked with Walt over that infamous “Lost Weekend” back in September of 1953. Putting
together the very first overview drawing of Disneyland. Which Roy O. Disney
then took with him to New York City so that he’d then have something to show
the network people & money men which Roy hoped to get to invest in Walt’s
dream project.

Herb Ryman’s 1953 overview drawing of Disneyland. Copyright Disney
Enterprises,
Inc. All rights reserved

I then asked John if there were any tricks-of-the-trade were when it
came to putting together these sorts of early-early theme park concept
paintings. And Hench said “It’s all about distracting people. Putting something
in there that catches their eye. In the original Disneyland painting …

Walt Disney in front of John Hench’s blacklight painting of Disneyland
Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc. All rights reserved

… we put in a red observation balloon. People noticed that
…

… but not the yet-to-be-designed part of Disneyland that was
directly below and behind that balloon. So I’d have to say that that was a
successful bit of misdirection.”

According to what Hench told me, this balloon gag was
thought to be so successful on Disneyland’s concept painting back in 1954 that
— ever since then — the Imagineers have used this same bit of artistic bait-and-switch over &
over again …

… whenever they needed to hide the fact that the theme park which
they were doing a concept painting of wasn’t fully designed or developed yet.

Overview concept painting of the never-built Disney’s America theme park project
Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc. All rights reserved

John also talked about the Imagineers would often use banks
of clouds to fill in blank spots on these canvases …

Overview concept painting of Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park
Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc. All rights reserved

… or deliberately position shafts of sunlight …

… or insert multiple spotlights that then racked the night sky …

… as a way to give the people the impression that they were seeing a
lot more in this image than they actually were. More importantly –
when in doubt – a colorful burst of fireworks and/or an explosion at the very edge
of your concept painting was another great way to pull people’s eyes away from those seriously under-designed & developed areas on your painting.

“You have to understand that the whole point of a concept
painting like this is that Imagineering is trying to sell some corporation or
Disney’s board of directors on funding this very expensive proposition. So all your
concept painting for this proposed theme park really has to do is convey a
sense of energy, the excitement of this place,” Hench continued. “So accuracy
isn’t all that important when it comes to creating an image like this. What you’re
really looking to capture here is the sizzle, not the steak.”

Which isn’t to say that John was a fan of theme parks
that were sold to Mouse House management using this somewhat deceptive method. As Hench famously said after attending an Imagineering preview night for
Disney California Adventure back in January of 2001 …

.. “I liked this place better when it was a parking lot.”

One hopes that John (who sadly passed away in February of 2004) would have had a far different opinion of
the revamped version of DCA that’s currently under construction at the Disneyland
Resort. Given that the Walt Disney Company is reportedly spending $1.1 billion
to remove all of that sizzle that fizzled and then replace it with one big honking steak of a theme
park.

But what about you folks? Do you have a favorite piece of
Disney theme park concept art? And – if so – have you ever noticed how little
that image actually reveals?

Your thoughts?