Main Street U.S.A.

As you enter Main Street a sign welcoming you states "Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow and fantasy". An appropriate way to greet you  to the most magical place on earth. Like all visitors to Disneyland when they first get there today we journey to the world of yesterday, a beautiful place called Main Street.

Main Street is strongly based off of Walt's childhood years in town of Marceline, Missouri. The five years he spent here were times he would always remember with great fondness. Because of this it was only natural to base part of Disneyland off this place. However this was not the only town taken into account when forming Main Street. Much of the area is designed after Ft. Collins, Colorado. While Walt never lived there, art director Harper Goff (who was also the director for the live action feature 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea) did live there. Because it tapped so well into Walt's personal nostalgia, he had a strong fondness for Main Street. In fact rumor has it he would come to the park before it opened just to drive the Carnation milk truck around Main Street.

Naturally since Walt had such a fondness for trains, Disneyland has a railroad, that appropriately begins in main street. The thought of using trains as transportation occurred to Walt as soon as the idea for Disneyland did. The Disneyland railroad has been in the park since opening day and it will always be there. Trains aren't the only vehicles in Main Street though, there is also a fire engine, an omnibus, and a horse drawn trolley (as a horse lover myself this is my favorite). Most of these were designed by a man named Bob Gurr, who also designed the bobsleds for the Matterhorn and Casey Jr. Since this is the world of yesterday he naturally needed to keep in mind the old fashioned way of doing things and he did so beautifully.

If you are a Disney buff like I am, you probably also love looking at the windows in Main Street. You can see in these windows the names of various Disney legends. These include Ken Anderson (art director on many Disney films), Marvin Davis (who designed some of the early sketches for Disneyland), Claude Coats (a background designer for many Disney films and one of the main workers on The Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean), Don DaGradi (Story artist for various Disney films), Blaine Gibson (animator for Disney films and later sculptor for Disneyland), Peter Ellenshaw (matte artist for many live action Disney movies), Richard Irvine (One of the designers for Disneyland), Fred Joeger (made miniatures used for live action Disney films), Emile Kuri (designer for Disneyland), Wathel Rogers (animator for various Disney films and help develop the park's animatronics) and Robert and Richard Sherman (songwriters for Disney films and for It's a Small World). Look for these names closely next time you go.

Main Street is an incredible way to start and end a day at Disneyland. It is so well done it makes those of us who never never lived in such a place feel nostalgic for it.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used
The Imagineering Field Guide to Disneyland by The Imagineers.

The Haunted Mansion

The Haunted Mansion is of course one if the most popular rides at Disneyland. In fact in 2003 it would even receive a movie based off of it. It's popularity is well founded it is a fun ride, with a great atmosphere, and as much a joy to look at as it is to ride.

The ride started being made shortly after Walt passed away. The main creators of this ride would be Marc Davis and Claude Coats. Both of these artists had previously worked on various animated Disney films. Marc Davis was an animator who had worked on such films as Snow White and the Seven Dwarves  Bambi, Cinderella, Peter Pan, Sleeping Beauty and 101 Dalmations. His biggest claims to fame were helping design the character of Bambi, as well as being the supervising animator for some of Disney's most popular characters like Tinkerbell, Cinderella, Cruella De Vil and Maleficent. He was also one of Walt's nine old men. Claude Coats was a background artist who worked on such films as Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, Cinderella, Peter Pan and Lady and the Tramp. They both had very different ideas about the ride. Marc Davis wanted a more lighthearted and humorous ride, while Claude Coats wanted a darker more scary ride. The ride would end up being a mixture of both.

For a movie buff like me one of the coolest things about this ride is the organ. This organ was not created for this ride but rather for Disney's brilliant film from 1954, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Also of note is the song Grim Grinning Ghosts, this song was written by X. Atencio, who was an animator fir Disney films such as Fantasia, Toot, Whistle, Plunk, and Boom and The Truth About Mother Goose. He became a song writer because Walt said he would be good at songwriting. The song is sung by Thurl Ravenscroft who performed the song You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch for the classic TV special.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Recourses Used
The Imagineering guide to Disneyland by The Imagineers