Peter Pan Shield

Some designs don't make the cut. As Peter Pan attraction guests leave the loading area of the Shanghai Disneyland version, they fly through a gate designed to block the view of the first scene. A simple shield with the attraction title was used as a placeholder during the design phase, and the team leadership complained every time they saw it. Every time they complained, we (at Studio Z) explained that it was a placeholder and that a design incorporating the characters was still to come. This design was intended to reflect the early Fantasyland attraction's character murals. With the new design complete, we spent time with the mechanical engineers to figure out how the gate would split open and not cut Pan and Tinker Bell down the centerline. They would remain on the same side as the Neverland pirate crew, symbolizing the difference between the fantasy world and the children's reality.

Sadly, the design did not make the final cut, and I suspect it was a budget concern, although we were told they didn't like the design. Additionally, they claimed that all characters would have to be redrawn by an approved Disney character artist. Things changed between the 1990s, when I worked on Paris Disneyland, and 2013, when China Disneyland was under design.

For Paris Disneyland, in addition to art directing and designing the three dark rides (Snow White, Pinocchio, and Peter Pan), I also drew all of the character murals, tapestries, and stained glass windows for the land. These included those found in the Cinderella restaurant and Sleeping Beauty castle--not to mention the dark rides.

The shield shape remained with a nondescript pattern. It was a missed opportunity since these are the only gates that guests often stop and stare at before beginning the adventure. Nevertheless, I'm happy to share what might have been.

Theme Park Design – Shopping Districts

Shopping districts have become popular nearby some major theme parks.  These districts offer theme park guests an opportunity to continue their entertainment experience, after the park itself has closed.  These districts offer the park operator another marketing opportunity as well.

Universal Studios Hollywood was the first to try such a district under the name of City Walk.  The district is positioned to force park guest to pass through it both coming to, and going from, the park.  The shopping district is filled with unusual shops, restaurants and architecture.  The unique mix of retail is planned to compliment the park without competing with local area malls.  The park operator can operate the shopping district, or lease the space to other retailers.  The most important consideration is making sure that the mix of shops and prices match the tastes and budgets of the park guests.  The clientele of some high-end shops may look down at theme parks as low-end purveyors of crassness.  These are not the tenants you’ll want.

Disney saw the potential of City Walk and added Downtown Disney to the mix at Disneyland, Paris and Disneyland resort in California.  At Walt Disney World, Disney already had a Shopping Village in the Lake Buena Vista area that was first expanded to include the nightclub entertainment of Pleasure Island, and later, with more additions, it became Downtown Disney.

One downside of these shopping districts can be the lack of attendance during the park’s operating hours.  A related downside is the evening operation of the shopping district where there may not be a demand.  Also, nightclubs and establishments serving alcohol may not be compatible with the theme park’s image, or the desired clientele.  Where gambling is legal, gaming can be provided.  Gaming brings a whole new set of considerations to the mix.  Will gaming cause families to separate, leaving children unattended in the park?  Will children, left unattended in the park, be safe?  Many questions need to be answered and studied prior to these decisions.

For preliminary design purposes the shopping district, for a theme park expecting 3-5 million annual visitors, should add an additional 40 acres to the overall site plan.  I have shown the comparative acreage on the map, but I have not positioned the shopping district as strategically as possible.  Approximately 30 of the acres will be devoted to additional parking, with about ten acres left to the shopping district itself. 

Today, it is important to perform a very comprehensive feasibility study, covering all aspect of the theme park program.  Due to the sudden change in the US economy the shopping district may not be as good of a choice as it was only a few years ago.  Discretionary spending is down across the nation and it may remain low even after the economy recovers, due to new spending patterns.  It will be difficult enough for the new theme park operator to generate park visitations.  The wise operator may choose to provide the real estate for a future shopping district, without adding the capital expense of construction to the theme park’s first phase.  A strategic master plan could allow this extra acreage to serve as future expansion for the shopping district, or for the theme park, or hotel.

The theme park basics discussed here are extremely general.  Always consult with experts, regarding your specific needs, before making any significant investment into land and/or design.  Feel free to contact me.  I’ll be happy to assist you in your efforts.

Welch’s Grape Juice Bar

I got an interesting comment on yesterday’s post: How about a rendering of the Welch's Grape Juice Stand's Mural? I know...probably a pipe dream!

Well, that all depends.  If you are looking for a rendering of the interior of the Welch’s Grape Juice Bar, including the mural, here it is (still in progress).  On the other hand, if you are looking for a rendering of an Eyvind Earle style forest, complete with a procession of centaurs and centaurettes, drawn as a three-dimensional model, then I might not be the best guy.

The drawing program that I use is called Google SketchUp.  This wonderful program is actually available for free downloads here.  The program is great for drawing 3-D models of buildings and other architectural shapes.  I’ve been able to do some remarkable things with this versatile drawing tool (see the House of the Future).  But 3-D people and animal shapes are something all together different.

The best drawing program for people is Poser (check it out here).  I had an older version of the program that I seldom used because it only let me build people.  The problem is that I usually design things.  The people, that I could build, floated in space.  Scenery could not be added.  As I understand, it is easier to import 3-D props and scenery into Poser today. 

But for me, I still enjoy drawing people by hand.  Also, as you review the work on my blog, you’ll notice that most of my people are stylized cartoons in one form or another.  I’m usually working hard at matching a particular animator’s style.  Trying to do so in 3-D may not be the best use of my time since most of my character work is used in 2-D art.

Still, recreating this wonderful scene in 3-D would be a great challenge for someone.

In the meantime, here is the juice bar with the mural in place.  (I work pretty fast.  This is just a few hours work after I read your question.)  A grape-arbor-like sign still needs to be added over the counter.  Then the real detailing would begin.  Cash registers, juice machines, cups and ice bins are just a few of the props needed to make the scene feel real.  Then I’ll need to finish out the exterior too, at least as far as my rendering can see.  Finally, I’ll probably add some people; but they will be 2-D cutouts that always face the camera.

It just occurred to me that perhaps you might want a line drawing, or painting, of the mural.  Simply copying the work of Eyvind Earle would not be something that I would enjoy.  I’d prefer to match his style and create a new scene, for a new purpose.  If you want to enjoy Eyvind’s original art then you might want to go here.

Please let me know just what you’re looking for.  After all, my job is making dreams come true.

Pinocchio Attraction

The Pinocchio attraction was also one of my responsibilities for Disneyland park, Paris. Again it needed a new ride vehicle and track layout, but when it came to the show far fewer changes were made. The drafting for the show was done by show set designer Cliff Welch. I supervised his work and provided art direction. I made a few minor changes to the characters on the loading area mural (to keep the characters true to model and correct perspective), but otherwise the show remained almost exactly as for Disneyland.

The scenery for this show was fabricated in California while Snow White and Peter Pan were built in Paris. I couldn’t be in both places at once so Cliff supervised the work in California while I was in Paris. For installation Cliff came to Paris to supervise all three of the shows.

This photo is from a completed black-light scene in Pinocchio. Both the models and full-scale show scenery had to be painted under black-light conditions. The black-light paint gives off an eerie luminescence that gives the illusion of depth on simple flat surfaces. In a black-light ride the entire set is flooded with the same level of ultra-violet light. Every shadow and lighting change on the set must actually be painted onto the surface. The post and corbel next to Pinocchio is entirely a two-dimensional set flat, as is the potbelly stove. The puppets behind Pinocchio are painted on the wall.

The trick with a black-light ride is to decide what needs to be dimensional and what can be flat. During fabrication there were times when even the painters had to touch something in order to figure out if it was 2-dimensional, or 3-dimensional.

The entire mood for a black-light scene is created from the artist paintbrush, just as it had been for Walt Disney’s animated classic features.

Snow White Vehicles

For Disneyland park, Paris, all of the dark rides required larger vehicles that seated more guests and the task of redesign fell to me. In the case of the Snow White vehicles the redesign was far simpler than for Peter Pan. The idea was simply to stretch the vehicle and add an extra row. However, since the sightlines had been so well improved in Peter Pan by stepping the seats it was decided to do the same here.

Because the new Snow White vehicles would have three rows it was not possible to have a 6-inch difference between each row. Instead each seat is only 3-inches higher than the one in front of it (still a great improvement).

An almost identical vehicle is used for the Pinocchio attraction with a different front panel.

The vehicle design has worked so well that it is currently being used in the Walt Disney World version of the Snow White attraction. A number of other influences from the Paris attraction can be found in the WDW attraction as well.

This photo shows a close-up portion of the loading area model for Snow White, along with the unfinished model of the ride vehicle. These kind of rough models are often used along with the show model to add a sense of scale.

Snow White Loading Area

This is the finished show model of the load/unload area for the Snow White attraction at Disneyland park, Paris. After drawings are completed (or sometimes while drawings are still in production) a show model is created to provide the construction crews with a clear understanding for the look of the finished product.

I art directed this model and designed every element here, with the exception of the castle wall (left over from the Disneyland design). Off to the left is a podium ride operator’s control console. The console was designed to have a look similar to elements that the Dwarf’s had carved, like the organ in the cottage.

This model also shows the simplified version of the Dwarf’s cottage and it proves just how understated the cottage became in the overall design. No attempt is made to hide the fact that the trees and other elements are set flats, giving the area a pop-up book look.

Snow White Mural

For the Snow White character mural I designed a layout similar to the one that was originally at Disneyland in 1955. The Disneyland layout was similar to advertising art released when the Snow White film first came out in 1938. I worked from both of these sources, along with animation research, in order to create art that kept all characters true to the original model form.

The setting was a forest glen with the castle in background. The same castle is recreated again inside of the ride at the finale scene for continuity.

The very talented Julie Svendsen painted the artwork pictured here. Her father was Julius Svendsen a Disney animator and writer from the early days. Again, I created the original line drawing for Julie to paint from and I art directed her (although she is so talented I mostly visited to admire what she had already done).

Snow White Drawings

I was supposed to art direct the Snow White ride, revise the ride track, and design new vehicles. Someone else would do all of the drafting. The problem was that the two people hired for the job didn’t work out – and along with them went the time and budget. The task of drafting the entire ride fell to me – in addition to my responsibilities to Peter Pan and other attractions.

Normally for drafting we estimate one draftsperson, per sheet, per week. (If the drawing package needs 52 drawings that’s 52 weeks – if you want it done sooner you add drafters.) Now, it doesn’t take that long just to draw the information on most sheets. Some take less, but some sheets will actually take longer because they are so complex – one week is just the average. Next, no one simply drafts a sheet straight through from beginning to end – there are meetings, and approvals, and study sketches, and research, and all of that takes time. In the end the average is always one sheet a week.

I had six-weeks to finish an entire ride. There was not a single sheet usable from the other drafters. A dark ride drawing package is usually around 70 sheets. In eight-weeks I produced 60 drawings single-handed, while continuing with my other duties. Management still wondered what took me so long and why I was late.

The package was so well planned that construction bids for Snow White continually came back at very low prices – in fact, lower than the company estimators had expected. There was no missing information, just clear concise information in an easy to understand format.

Pictured here is a typical drawing from the package. The plan is placed at the bottom and, in this case, an elevation of the mural is at the top. There are about six sheets in this scene with most other drawings simple illustrating the painting line work guides and profile cuts. I designed the mural and executed the artwork myself.

Dwarf's Cottage

I had come to Imagineering to work on the dark rides. Since I had so much previous experience with dark rides, in addition to Peter Pan, I was to work on the redesign of Snow White. Like Peter Pan the direction was simple: just like Disneyland, only bigger vehicles… oh, and by the way, no Dwarf’s cottage in the load unload area.

What? No Dwarf’s cottage? The first scene inside of the ride is inside of the Dwarf’s cottage. How’d we get there?

It turns out that the cottage was a bargaining chip already given away before I had arrived. Disneyland had a dimensional cottage in the loading area that was expensive to build. For Europe the cottage would be recreated in a retail store, so no cottage in the ride. I was left to figure out how to replace it.

We knew that we wanted a mural with all of the characters represented (unlike Disneyland) so that would take up quite a bit of space. But we still needed a way to get into the show. It turned out that the real problem was not one of having too many cottages represented in the park; the problem was budget. I needed to design a cottage that would cost no more than (and be as simple to construct as) set flats. I decided that the entire loading area needed to look more like a pop-up book created from layers.

The cottage could be as simple as two set flats creating a corner, and a roof on that side creating a valley. I produced drawings that showed how simple the structure would be; yet the finished product appears to be more complex thanks to minimal dimensional elements and paint.

In addition to designing the simplified cottage for the ride I was also elected to design the more elaborate cottage for the retail shop along with a number of animal characters in a clothes-washing scene.

Presented here is one of my hand drawings for the Dwarf’s cottage from the Snow White ride. In fact, this is the only drawing for the cottage. By keeping the design simple I was able to put all construction information for this piece onto a single sheet.

Peter Pan Flight

When design for Disneyland park, Paris (then known as Euro Disneyland) began, I transferred from Disneyland International to Walt Disney Imagineering. Because of my experience with Peter Pan Disneyland (Fantasyland 1983) I was a perfect choice to do it all over again for Europe. I was assigned to the Fantasyland team headed by Tom Morris.

The direction for the dark rides (as Peter Pan is known) was to exactly copy what we had done in Disneyland. The only change was a requirement for larger capacity vehicles – that’s all. Well, there are just a few little problems with that idea: first, a larger vehicle needs a longer loading station; second, a larger vehicle needs a larger turning radius. These two factors meant that the entire ride had to be enlarged and the track layout had to be redesigned. Every piece of scenery had to be repositioned, or enlarged, or both. This could not be a copy – but it had to look like one.

My first priority became track change and facility wall changes. These two changes allowed me to make some minor changes to the overall attraction not possible with the original. As the walls were moved I was able to restage the Mermaid Lagoon finale scene for a better view. For the ride track I was able to sneak in a little fun.

In the film, the Darling children learn to fly in their nursery with the help of Peter Pan and some of Tinker Bell’s pixie dust. Before the children get the extra help from the pixie dust their first attempt at flying ends with a fall onto the bed. The feature film has 77 minutes to tell every detail of the story. In a dark ride I have a minute-and-a-half to do the same thing. Story points must be compressed for a ride.

The Nursery is the first scene of the ride, and even though guests have flown in the window to get here, I wanted to give guests the feeling of learning to fly. So just as the vehicle leaves the Nursery, and the safety of a soft bed to fall upon, I added a little thrill. At Disneyland the vehicle simply climbs over the Backyard and higher still over London. For Paris, I added a little dip just outside the window before the vehicle starts its climb. The dip is just enough to give the guests a feeling of falling before gaining the confidence necessary to fly off to Neverland. It was just a few notations on paper, but I knew exactly what those notations would translate into for a ride experience.

After Tony Baxter (the parks overall Art Director) took his first ride he reported back that the dip outside the window was, “much better than the one at Disneyland”. I laughed and told him, “That’s because there isn’t one at Disneyland”.

I added another little prize into the Nursery. At Disneyland there are many pictures on the wall (created just for the ride). One of those pictures is a map of Neverland that I designed based on the film. The color choices for the Disneyland attraction does not read well from the ride vehicle and the art was lost in blur. To correct the error in Paris, I simply painted the original art myself. As always I used the film as a guide and incorporated all of the information from two maps into this one. A tissue paper tracing of the map was crumbled, then dry-mounted (wrinkled) onto Bristol board to add texture. The painting is a combination of watercolor and cel-vinyl paints. It measures approximately 18 x 24 inches. A reduced copy hangs in the attraction in a custom frame.

UPDATE:
This image is the most popular image on my blog--by a long shot. As of today (October 3, 2015) it has had 15,764 views. Compare that to the next highest post at 1,951 and you can see that this is a well liked image.

I have also received many requests for clean reprints of the image. Wouldn't that be nice? Sadly, I don't own the original artwork, nor the rights to that art. I am able to present it here under the terms of fair use because it is a representation of my work and it is properly copyright protected for the owner. The original art is a work-for-hire owned by The Walt Disney Company.

Now for those that would still like a clean print I am in the business of making dreams come true. Of course the truth is "that which is too easily obtained is regarded too lightly." So here is how to make your dreams come true. The original art is housed at Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) in the Information Research Library (IRC). I couldn't say who is in charge of that department today, but I can say that the original art was there in January of 2013. Sometimes WDI will print and sell copies of art from its library in the parks and other outlets. The IRC does not decide which artworks to make available, but they do know where to direct your requests.

If you want to make your dreams come true start by writing a polite letter to: IRC c/o Walt Disney Imagineering, 1401 Flower Street, Glendale CA 91201 USA

Request the name of the person, or department that decides what art to reprint. Post a comment here once you find a contact person--that will make it easier for others. Feel free to send a link to this blog. Tell all of your friends. With enough interest this dream can come true. All it takes is faith and trust... and you making a proactive effort. Good luck.