Walt Disney made up plans for Disneyland as he went along during the yearlong construction blitz in the mid-1950s that his critics mocked as impossible and predicted would become a spectacular failure, according to a new documentary about the making of the Anaheim theme park.
Disneyland Construction Supervisor Joe Fowler said work began in July 1954 with virtually no plans for the park in the new “Disneyland Handcrafted” documentary by filmmaker Leslie Iwerks that debuted Thursday, Jan. 22 on the Disney+ streaming service and YouTube.
“We built Disneyland with probably not 10% of the plans to start with,” Fowler said in the new “Disneyland Handcrafted” documentary. “The plans were developed as we went along.”
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Walt wasn’t familiar with blueprints, design plans and other technical drawings when construction began on the park, according to Disneyland Chief Art Director Dick Irvine.
“When we started out, Walt didn’t know how to read a plan,” Irvine said in the documentary. “It wasn’t soon until he not only could read a plan, he could read it better than all of us.”
Walt Disney surveys construction of the Storybook Land Canal Boats attraction at Disneyland. (Courtesy of Disneyland)Building Disneyland was all about learning on the job and getting the work done, according to Disneyland Vehicle Designer Bob Gurr.
“Every job that you work on with Walt is different and you figure out what you’re going to do and how you’re going to do it just as you get started with it,” Gurr said in the documentary.
ALSO SEE: ‘Disneyland Handcrafted’ changes everything you think you know about Disneyland
Walt Disney crosses the drawbridge that serves as the entrance to the castle in what will be the heart of Disneyland, in Anaheim, California, on April 16, 1955. (AP Photo/David F. Smith)Gurr designed the Autopia cars and Main Street U.S.A. vehicles for Disneyland without much of a plan or supervision.
“We had no project manager. Therefore we didn’t need any coordinators,” Gurr said in the documentary. “The Xerox machine hadn’t been invented yet, so we didn’t publish anything. All we did was just do the work.”
ALSO SEE: Meet the ‘unsung hero’ who helped Walt Disney build Disneyland
Walt Disney tells a visitor, Associated Press’ Bob Thomas, where the two Disneyland trains will stop to take on passengers for the trip around the grounds. Railway Station in the background will be the first sight of Disneyland for visitors. The planning, design and construction of Disneyland is among the topics covered in the new docuseries “The Imagineering Story.” (File photo by the Associated Press)Walt would give direction, offer feedback and ask for changes as each project progressed, according to Gurr.
“Walt never gave a thought that he was overloading people,” Gurr said in the documentary. “It was like, ‘Well, OK, we’re just doing it.’ So you do all this stuff at once. You didn’t dilly-dally on decisions.”
ALSO SEE: ‘Disneyland Handcrafted’ takes viewers on Walt Disney’s wild ride
Walt Disney surveys the Anaheim property that would become Disneyland before the park opened in 1955. (Courtesy of Disney)Walt was widely criticized by other amusement park operators for spending too much money and going into too much detail with Disneyland, according to the documentary.
“I think Walt was convinced that if his guests were exposed to good taste, good quality and good design they would subconsciously perceive this,” Disneyland Landscaper Bill Evans said in the documentary. “Not as a consequence of being educated in landscape design or in architecture or anything else, but they would subconsciously know the difference between good and bad.”
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