Marc Davis and His Early Days at WED

Marc Davis is my hero. He is the best Imagineer to ever live. His influences in theme park design continue today more than a decade after his death. But his early Imagineering experiences weren't all sunshine and lollipops.

An Animation Legend

His contributions to animation are significant– Cinderella, Alice, Tinker Bell, Maleficent, Auroro, Cruella De Vil, and so on. Though he didn't particularly like animating "bland female characters" he mastered the difficult task. Marc once told Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston that "he got a lot of crap characters (to animate). Moving a girl around with a rotoscope [tracings of live action] is a pretty rotten way to make a living."

Marc's WED Legacy Begins

After his work on 101 Dalmations, Marc with a few other animators produced preliminary work on an animated film they hoped to eventually make at the studio. The film "Chanticleer" was never made because management deemed a chicken movie to be not-so-interesting. Note: Some of the work did go on to influence the studio's 1973 "Robin Hood". After "Chanticleer" was bagged, having not been assigned to any specific animation effort, Marc Davis would unknowingly begin his WED legacy. 

Improving Mine Train Thru Nature's Wonderland

In 1962 Walt Disney asked Marc to head over to Disneyland and take a "good, hard, critical look" at Mine Train Thru Nature's Wonderland which opened in 1960. "See what you think about this thing." Walt was less than satisfied with this somewhat boring attraction.

Upon viewing the attraction Marc quickly saw that "there was an awful lot of things wrong" with Mine Train and other attractions. He had plenty of constructive feedback for Walt and many ideas for improvement. "They had no gags in it, no story at all," Marc said about Mine Train Thru Nature's Wonderland. "One kit fox's head is going up and down, then about a hundred feet away another kit fox's head is going left to right, so I took the two, put them nose to nose, so one is going up and down, the other moves side to side, So immediately you have humor!"

Marc made about 40 drawings of how the park could be improved. At this time of Disneyland history, park management was very unhappy with the men sent to Disneyland from the Walt Disney Studios to help with the park.  Marc's wonderful wife Alice remembers that the Disneyland people "seemed jealous".

Marc quickly found himself (within 2½ hours of telling Walt he had drawings) in a meeting with the entire WED crew. "Everyone who was important was there, and here I am, a stranger from animation. So I stood up and I started explaining piece by piece." When discussing animated figures his knowledge of anatomy gave him the credibility that no one in the room could compete with. He expressed frustration with the way people were seated in the Mine Train cars (all facing center). He described how we look forward when driving a car because forward is where the danger and excitement will exist. This and everything else he spoke of impressed Walt and "he was buying everything I had done and he was quite intrigued with it," Marc said. Interestingly enough, I do not believe Marc's suggestion for the modified seating arrangement was ever fully implemented. 

Marc's "Little Pencil"

Quickly Marc Davis was Walt's choice for some of the most interesting and challenging assignments at WED. Other crew members resented this, as you could imagine. One short-sighted WED executive once walked by Marc's desk and said, "And what are you doing with your little pencil now?" Jerk. This would not be the end of Marc's run-ins with prominent Imagineers. Not gonna name names. But I'm looking your way John H. and Tony B. (We still love you, Tony Baxter.)

Jungle Cruise Improvements + Ride Posters?

It's no secret that Explorer Boat Ride a.k.a. Jungle River Cruise a.k.a. Jungle Cruise was nothing to laugh about in its early years. By that I mean it was more serious and less funny than the versions we know today. Marc was asked to pretty much do with Jungle Cruise what he did on Mine Train. He often mentioned that he got a kick out of the Elephant Pool in particular. He also mentioned, "I really did most of the ride posters as well." Interesting! Any we haven't seen?? Most certainly. 

Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room

Holy moly how did he do it? I know he wasn't alone in any of these but by golly his visible influence out ways that of all others. Could you imagine a grass hut with dozens of robotic birds singing above you... WITHOUT the Marc Davis charm? This (and quite possibly every other Marc Davis attraction) would have had the potential of being creepy on the level of third-rate (yet still fun) local amusement parks. Or even crazy Japanese rip-off parks.

1964-65 World's Fair

Walt assigned not only Marc Davis to the World's Fair efforts but his lovely wife Alice Davis as well.  The character work in all four Disney-designed Fair atrractions– "it's a small world", Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln, Carousel of Progress, and Ford's Magic Skyway– were all heavily designed by Marc. Alice's costume designs were also a significant contribution.

Marc, Alice, and Mary Blair (what a trio!) with a small handful of other WED-ites created all of "it's a small world" in what, 11 months? Dang.

All This in the First Couple Years

So with no prior "3-D" experience and in a very short period of time, Marc Davis would create and/or strongly influence some of the theme park industry's most successful attraction experiences ever. "This was quite a change to get up from an animation desk and find out all of a sudden there were people with bulldozers and they wanted to know where you want his pile of dirt!"

Shortly After:

Marc's greatest achievement of his career followed by his second-greatest achievement– Pirates of the Caribbean Disneyland and The Haunted Mansion. After that, his greatest unbuilt acheivement– Western River Expedition. Other fantastic Marc Davis attractions after Walt's death were and are also fantastic– Country Bear Jamboree, America Sings, etc. 

More to come.

Thank you Alice Davis, John Canemaker, World Famous D.E., and others for the stories.

Related posts:

The Wonders of Nature's Wonderland [ PART 1 ]
Marc Davis and Disneyland's Rivers of America Rehab
America Sings
Carousel of Progress Like You’ve Never Seen It
Diana Lai: An Original Enchanted Tiki Room VIP Hostess
Jungle Cruise Commercials
EYE CANDY: National Geographic Aug '63
EYE CANDY: National Geographic Aug '63 [Part 2]
ABANDONED DISNEY: Country Bear- Max

The Wonders of Nature's Wonderland [ PART 2 ]

[Updated 10-6 with audio and a new photo]

Back in June we brought you a look at one of Walt Disney's masterpiece attractions, Mine Train Thru Nature's Wonderland.  In Part 2 we focus on one of the coolest examples of "Backyard Imagineering" we've ever seen. 

Listen to this as you go!*:

The Living Desert

 A comment was posted on Part 1 by Sam Towler who brought our attention to his miniature scale model of Nature's Wonderland with lighting and moving parts that will blow you away.

"This is my documentation of my miniature recreation of the long gone Disneyland attraction, Mine Train Thru Nature's Wonderland. This is a selectively compressed model railroad, modeled in On30 scale at 5' X 7.5' that I have been working on since 2005; even after almost 5 years of work, I'm still not finished."

"I started the layout when I was a sophomore in high school with basic skills and over the years the layout has been improved and reworked in drastic ways to match my ever improving model making skills. In fact, since I started rebuilding the layout, I've actually created a whole new layout, piece by piece."

Bear Country

Rainbow Caverns

Cascade Peak

NWRR Blog

http://nwrr.blogspot.com/

Sam's blog takes you through a detailed look at the creation of the model.  This jaw-dropping project has me giddy as a school boy.

Stay tuned for The Wonders of Nature's Wonderland Part 3.

*Audio provided by Hoot Gibson who bought a record with these rare recordings on it.  Purchased at Sid's (Disney-MGM Studios) 1990.  Thanks Hoot.

Related posts:

The Wonders of Nature's Wonderland Part 1

Disneyland Skyway in Your Backyard?

Swiss Family Treehouse Model

LEGO Disneyland

2 Fantastic Disneyland Scale Models

Frito Kid and Deeee-licious Fritos!

 
 
Click to hear the Frito Kid speak!

From 1952 until 1967, the Frito Kid was the official mascot of Fritos corn chips.  In the 1950s and 1960s, at Disneyland's Casa de Fritos, guests could pay a nickel for a bag of chips to be dispensed by this elaborate vending machine.  Upon inserting your nickel, the Frito Kid figure would come to life, turning his head, licking his upper lip, slowly moving his eyes side to side.  He would call to the unseen miner, Klondike, to send a bag of chips up the mine.  Klondike would respond with an echoey voice sounding like he was deep in the corn chips mine.  A wax-paper bag of chips would slide down the trough.  A number of different audio tracks would play so each customer heard something different from the last.  (Audio samples above).

Frito Kid:  "Someone else knows what’s good.  Another bag of Fritos, Klondike!"

Klondike:  "Okay, comin’ right up. One bag of crisp, salted Fritos."

Klondike even implies that these salted chips are good for you.  He does it to a tune similar to "Jingle Bells":

Frito Kid:  ♫   "Dig those chips, dig that gold, dig those chips of corn."  ♫   

Klondike:  ♫   "They are dark and salted too, Fritos best for you."  ♫   

Other chips were sold in normal, non-animated-vending-machine ways but I can't imagine many kids ever passed up the chance to see and hear the interaction between this miner and cowboy as they deliver chips down a wooden-like mine chute.

Casa de Fritos

Casa de Fritos originally opened the month after the opening of Disneyland in 1955 next to Aunt Jemima's Pancake House in an area called New Orleans Street.  The Frito Kid setup stood just inside the front door.  It was popular but rarely photographed making it one of the most mysterious product-pitching mechanical corporate sponsor mascots of any Disney park, much like the even more mysterious and rarely photographed Florida Orange Bird of the Magic Kingdom.

Casa de Fritos moved northward in July of 1957, deep into Frontierland to a larger location next to Rainbow Caverns Mine Train.  Found in that location now is Rancho del Zocalo Mexican Restaurant. A few architectural remnants still remain.  In the photos above (upper right and lower right) you can see a little of what still exists.  The archway with broken adobe and exposed brick was once the main Casa de Fritos entrance, now an entrance to a dining area.  The adobe/brick oven is still there today but with tables and chairs in front.

When the restaurant moved, the Frito Kid went with it.  As seen in these photos, the Kid was moved from the right of the mining trough to the left.  The mine and mountain were modified significantly, if not completely replaced.  The stand with potato chips and other products did not survive the move.  And who are those guys above the mountain?  Are they in a knife fight?  And why are they there?  I'm dying to know.  Do they have something to do with the bandits from the Frito Kid mini comic books? (Photos further below)

Where is the bag of chips the Frito Kid is supposed to be holding?  Did it fall on the chute?  Is that why there are two bags on the chute?  Did that older kid take it?  How come he sometimes has four fingers and sometimes five?  Was his yellow, curvy hair modeled after a Frito chip??  Is the Frito Kid related to Richie Rich?... or could they be the same person???  So many questions.

"Fritos Served With All Dishes"

A combination plate for a buck?  Ice cream for 15cents?

"Spaghetti and Chili", is that Mexican?

Check out the Frito Kid hamming it up with his Golden Horseshoe Revue friends and "friendly rival", Pecos Bill in this Pepsi-Cola/Fritos promotional piece.

Look!  Fritos can be used for bait to lure unsuspecting bandits out of caves.  Who knew?  And what is that cool thing on the left?  Looks like a toy but at second glance you'll see that this statue is rather large.  I'd like one.  And my wife loves old junk like that too... not.

It's not easy to forget the Fritos mascot who followed the Frito Kid, the Frito Bandito.  The character was voiced by the great Mel Blanc.  Close your eyes and you might think you are listening to Speedy Gonzales- also a Blanc character.  Some call the Fritio Bandito racist.  I call him hilarious.  How can you not like his mild threats made in the name his love for corn chips?

♫   "Aye, yii, yii, yiiii, oh, I am the Frito Bandito. Give me Frito Corn chips and I'll be your friend. The Frito Bandito you must not offend."   ♫

My dad still loves to sing the sond, accent and all.  Sadly the Frito Bandito never made it to Disneyland (that I know of).

In 2007, in celebration of Fritos' 75th anniversary, the Frito-Lay company released limited anniversary edition packaging with old brand and image of the Frito Kid, even though the Frito Kid was not introduced until 20 years after the Frito chips made their debut.  Still fun.

If you have memories of the Frito Kid machine at Disneyland, do tell!  If any of you have video or photos not seen here, please send.  I'd give my right eye for behind the scenes photos of this thing.

Image credits:  Ozarklabrdoodles, Tiki Ranch, Daveland, Miehana, Ladypuppy1939, lplocharsk, Frito-Lay, Jtons7880, and myself.

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UPDATE:

Hoot Gibson posted a comment below that raised my eyebrow.  Does the mountain behind the Frito Kid not look like Splash Mountain???... and the original location is oh so close to that of Splash Mountain....  Hmmmmmm.  What do you think?  (The Splash Mountain model photo is one I recently took at the Opera House and it happens to be the same angle and sort of similar scale).

Related post:

Frito Kid Mysteries Continue