28 years ago this week, on July 11, 1987 to be exact, the Disney Gallery opened in Disneyland above the Pirates of the Caribbean entrance. The space was originally being designed as a space for Walt Disney to entertain guests and dignitaries, however all worked ceased after Walt passed away in 1966. When the Disney Gallery opened, it gave Guests the chance to visit this previous inaccessible area, and to see unique Disneyland artwork and artifacts, with new exhibits regularly. I remember the gallery as a wonderful relaxing escape from the hustle and bustle downstair, with multiple rooms, a quiet outdoor seating patio, and the friendliest of Disneyland Cast Members. I thought you’d enjoy some of my old Gallery photos. While the Gallery no longer resides in that area, there is still a Disney Gallery by the lobby of Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.
Category Archives: Scott Wolf
RIP Disney Legend Blaine Gibson
by Scott Wolf
It saddens me to tell you that Blaine Gibson passed away yesterday at the age of 97. Blaine was a true Disney Legend in every sense of the word. Beginning as an inbetweener on the Pluto cartoon short, “Bone Trouble,” and then on “Fantasia” and “Pinocchio,” an as an assistant animator on “Bambi.” Blaine then sculpted for Disney. He did the carousel horse heads in “Mary Poppins,” the pirates and ghosts for Haunted Mansion, and Pirates of the Caribbean respectively, the dolls for it’s a small world and even the Partners statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse.
This is a photo of Shani and me with Blaine and another Disney Legend, Harriet Burns at the Disney Studios. Blaine and Harriet were dear friends who both lived near each other in Northern California until Harriet’s passing in 2008.
Blaine was so kind and maybe the most humble person I’ve ever met! It was great fun talking with Blaine about his Disney days, and I’m so grateful he let me record some of those conversations! It is my pleasure to share this conversation with you: http://blog.mouseclubhouse.com/interview-blaine-gibson-haunted-mansion-pirates-if-you-had-wings/
Interview: Blaine Gibson (Haunted Mansion; Pirates; If You Had Wings)
I just posted my interview with Blaine Gibson on my Mouse Clubhouse website. In this conversation, Blaine, Disney animator-turned-sculptor, discusses some of his work including the Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, and If You Had Wings. CLICK HERE for the interview
Disney-Pixar Inside Out at Disney California Adventure
Seen above, the new Disney-Pixar film “Inside Out” is represented as part of the pre-parade before the Pixar Play Parade in Disney California Adventure.
Did you know that “Inside Out” now holds the record as the biggest opening for an original movie in history, topping the previous No. 1 original movie, “Avatar,” by more than $13 million, with $90,440,272 million in domestic box office opening weekend. The film opened Friday, June 19, 2015.
Cranium Command at Epcot
by Scott Wolf
With the release of the new Disney-Pixar film, “Inside Out,” which focuses on the “voices inside your head,” for some of us, it is bringing back memories of a former Epcot attraction with a similar concept, so I thought I’d post a couple of my photos from it.
Cranium Command was housed inside the Wonders of Life Pavilion at Epcot at Walt Disney World. The pavilion celebrated life and, through entertainment, educated about the human experience. Other attractions within the pavilion included The Making of Me, a short live film starring Martin Short which delicately tells the story of human creation, including hilarious animated segments of the inner body workings of conception, and Body Wars, a flight simulator, like Star Tours, which brought guests on a journey through a human body, rather than outer space, to find and destroy a splinter.
In Cranium Command, guests would enter the brain control room where a young Audio Animatronic boy named Buzzy, helmed the controls. His mission was to keep another young boy out of trouble.
In the photo above, you can see Buzzy within the boy’s head, and through boy’s eyes when he first meets a beautiful girl.
Cranium Command featured an all-star cast with Charles Grodin as Left Brain, Jon Lovitz as Right Brain, George Wendt (Norm from “Cheers”) was the Stomach, Bobcat Goldthwait portrayed the Adrenal Gland, and Dana Carvey and Kevin Nealon were the heart’s Right and Left Ventricles (reminiscent of their characters, Hans and Franz, from Saturday Night Live).
Interview: Jack Gladish (His career; Walt Disney; Disneyland and World’s Fair attractions)
Jack Gladish worked as an engineer, responsible for submarines, dinosaurs, railroad locomotives and much more. Attractions include the “Carousel of Progress,” “Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room” and much more. During his career he headed the plastics and fiberglass shops at the MAPO department of Walt Disney Imagineering.
I just posted my interview with Jack Gladish on my Mouse Clubhouse website. In this conversation, Jack discusses his career, helping to create attractions such as Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln for Disneyland the 1964/’65 New York World’s Fair. CLICK HERE for the interview
Interview: Jeff Hoffman and the Disney Legends Awards
I just posted my interview with Jeff Hoffman on my Mouse Clubhouse website. In this conversation, Jeff, who began his Disney career selling merchandise at a Disneyland shop and ultimately became vice president of Disney Worldwide Outreach, discusses the history of the Disney Legends Awards, CLICK HERE for the interview and lots of photos of the Disney Legends Award ceremonies.
The World According to Goofy parade at Disneyland 1992
by Scott Wolf
Parades are a longtime tradition of the Disney theme parks, with the first on Disneyland’s opening day. Here’s some photos I took of The World According to Goofy parade at Disneyland in 1992. The lavish parade represented Goofy in various settings including the Italian “Renais-sauce,” “Egyptian Daze” and running for president of the United States. I’d vote for him!
Interview: Wally Boag (Golden Horseshoe Revue; Tiki Room; Absent-Minded Professor)
I just posted my interview with Wally Boag on my Mouse Clubhouse website. In this conversation, Wally discusses his time from 1955 to 1982 in the Golden Horseshoe Revue in Disneyland, writing the script and voicing a character for Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room, working as Fred MacMurray’s stunt double in “The Absent-Minded Professor” and more. CLICK HERE for the interview and more photos
Wally Boag – Disneyland News
by Scott Wolf
That’s Wally Boag, star of Disneyland’s Golden Horseshoe Revue with Hollywood legend Pat O’Brien. At this newsstand in Disneyland, guests could purchase “The Disneyland News” newspapers, and get their name personalized in the headline! Scott will be posting an interview he did with Wally very soon, and I’ll give you the link as soon as he does!