Based on your interest, here it is. A tribute to Eddie Sotto’s vision through Main Steet, USA (France) on 14 March 2026, with a guided walk using a booklet, followed by a possible Town Square gathering 🎟️ Registration required, limited spots 👉 More info www.eventbrite.fr/e/1979888702406

Flex alert! Needless to say “Disneyland Handcrafted” is an amazing bit of filmmaking that parlays 70 y/o “industrial” construction footage—from deep in Disney’s vaults—into a powerful work of cinematic poetry. I was happy to be part of the “Brain Trust” involved, but it’s all Leslie Iwerks & team!

Disneyland Handcrafted, Part II

Pilgrimage.

The full spiked 60 Minutes CECOT package, clean & subtitled. 1/5

Great summation of the extraordinary life of Eddie Sotto! He was lightning in a bottle!

Words are insufficient for me to summarize the extraordinary life of the brilliant Eddie Sotto, even after a day of writing notices of varying lengths. Although I knew this day was approaching, I still don’t know where to begin. Eddie had been signaling it to me in the most paradoxical, “Eddie” way…

Randomly came across Disney artist Frans Van Lamsweerde in one of those posts that casually boasts, “My father was an artist at Disney.” And my follow up, “What was his name?” Then the unfamiliar name, followed by a Google search. And then, “Holy Cow!” Pictured here are his private Christmas cards.

Ughh… RIP Rob Reiner, one of the very best in the business.

In reference to my peanut brittle comment, this photo crop on the left was taken in 1967 approx where the Mobil Station on 535 is, near WDW’s LBV entrance, looking east. And to answer an expected followup question, the legs belong to Welton Becket. Stuckey’s was there for years.

An original Walt Disney-era concept for Project Florida finally becomes a reality!

I wonder if they found any peanut brittle.

As it appeared in my day. Too bad I didn’t know who William Pereira was at the time, I bet he would’ve showed me around! Our school bus passed it every day.

It's hard to imagine that architect Bill Pereira, who gave us the futuristic LAX icon, Transamerica Tower, CBS Television City, etc, and who masterplanned much of the Irvine Ranch incl UCI & Newport Center, maintained his last office for 20 years in this barn on a former buffalo ranch in Newport.*

I’m excited to announce that I’ll be speaking at the Walt Disney Family Museum on 02/28/26 about the origins of Walt Disney Imagineering (WED Enterprises). I'll reveal some new details & personalities involved with planning Disneyland that might surprise you! I hope to see my Bay Area friends there!

Here’s a mystery to try and date. This hung in the Golden Horseshoe from when to when? It appeared in the film Summer Magic in 1963. The artist, Jim Schaeffing, says it was painted for the Golden Horseshoe. People remember it hanging more recently there, but it’s gone now, when was it removed?

Here’s an IAAPA Fun Fact! In olden days, IAAPA (then known as NAAPPB) was almost always held in Chicago. The reason? Proximity to Riverview Park, a 72-acre amusement park run by William B Schmidt, whose industrial & safety innovations made his park worth an annual visit by his peers.

So, thanks to Chris Merritt’s incredible “Book of Marc” my memory has been jogged re this scene I haven’t thought about for 40 years. IIRC, I was asked to place this scene into an environment after the figures on the right were deleted due to budget…

I also posted this on X but does @ProgressCityUSA have the Marc Davis sketch for this scene? I barely remember doing these crude sketches and can’t remember exactly why. I’m sure I didn’t ideate any of this, but perhaps I helped lay it out. My memory of working on World of Motion is sadly piecemeal!

I’ll start:

You might be surprised to know that the Skyway Station was actually expanded along the back in the 1960s. You might also be surprised to know that Walt’s son-in-law, Bob Brown, “art directed” it. Imagine going from designing part of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion to this “barn!”

“We get our ideas from anywhere, but most mostly The Andy Griffith Show.” -Walt Disney

I try to only post obscure anniversaries, so here’s one: 61 years ago, Oct 26, 1964, a curious episode of The Andy Griffith Show aired. The timing was perfect, and thus an iconic theme park sight gag was born!

Can you believe it? This guy is 94 years old today!

Lunch with Mike McCracken. His father Michael (in the b&w photo) was one of Blaine Gibson’s key sculptors at Imagineering from 1967-1979 and sculpted some of the most iconic figures in the parks. He left to do freelance work on films and the occasional odd job like this version of the Big Boy.

Come see all the good stuff we kept IN the film on October 19th as part of the 2025 Newport Beach Film Festival.

Scary looking in the classic close-up, especially knowing that this was probably taken around April with only 2 months to go!

Inside this humble warehouse on Apopka Vineland Rd, the gothic towers and ornamentation for Cinderella Castle were created. Eleven years later, the stately king palms standing in front were transplanted, along with others, around Spaceship Earth. Photo by John Kemp

In 10 days, "Bob Gurr: Living By Design" will be at the Newport Beach Film Festival (October 19th). If you haven't seen our film yet, we hope to see you there. If you have seen it, do us a wee favor and share one of these cover photos with a handy QR code linking to the festival box office.

In this case it WAS freshly paved, but not that hot. You can see where I tried to press my tennies into it.

October 1, 1971. It was so hot that day that my Red Ball Jets sunk into the freshly poured pavement.

October 1 Rituals

Epcot, September 30, 1982

So this was unexpected: I shared the link of Joe's 1980s Disneyland photos with Tim O'Day and...THIS IS TIM O'DAY AS MERLIN! He said he doesn't have a lot of photos of him from this time and it's priceless. 🤗 Disney history is still being uncovered before our eyes!

The back side of where it all began.

KC, where it all began, before it began all over again in LA.

Sunset over Walt Disney’s boyhood farm, Marceline, MO.

Best photo op ever?

Heading to Marceline. Meanwhile, in Burbank…

Come out in October to my old hood, Newport Beach, for a showing of Bob Gurr: “Living By Design.” Venue couldn’t be more appropriate, it was on this block that Bob crashed a prototype Autopia car into the back of the Newport Beach Police Station!

Tickets are now on sale for "Bob Gurr: Living By Design" at The Newport Beach Film Festival on October 19th!! newportbeachff2025.eventive.org/films/689ba1...

Circling back on The Boatniks (as one does) one of my best friends and “partners-in-Disney-crime” growing up, Steve Willson, was a paid extra in the film. His parents belonged to the yacht club, and the casting was assigned through that. I was so jealous. Steve on the left, his brother, right.

Also bizarre to think that one of these people (Marvin Davis) was the masterplanner of the entire Phase 1 of Walt Disney World as well as the "city" version of EPCOT.

Coincidentally, just spotted this pic on FB; on the left is Norm Tokar, director of many infamous Disney live-action comedies of our youth! This is actually on the set of Leave it to Beaver, where Tokar honed his directing skills prior to joining Disney. He originally was an actor on Broadway.

Definitely gets the trophy for Best Themed Penny Press! Walt Disney World, Magic Kingdom, Town Square Firehouse.

This just in from Facebook:

Growing up in Newport, you always knew when Disney was in town (not The Love Bug, BTW).

Disney Omnibuses should hit city streets more often.