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.
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