Monthly Archives: July 2019

Heroes of the Haunted Mansion: Yale Gracey

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Yale Gracey joined the Disney Company in 1939 as a layout artist. He worked on “Pinocchio,” “Fantasia” and “the Three Caballeros.” In 1959, Walt Disney set Gracey up with Rolly Crump and gave them a large room on the second floor of the animation building. They were instructed to come up with effects for the Haunted Mansion.

As the son of an American Consul, Gracey grew up in various places and had to learn to entertain himself. He filled his days with “Popular Mechanics’ and the book set called “Boy Mechanic.” He also practiced magic.

Gracey had no formal training in special effects, but his curiosity often led to him building miniatures to see if he could get an effect to work. According to Bob Gurr (Kurtti, p. 72), Gracey was given the time and space to tinker without deadlines, and Walt was fine with whatever new thing Gracey invented.

Gracey projected the face of the Magic Mirror on everything in the room one day. It led to the development of the Madame Leota effect (Kurtti, p. 73). Gracey also put the Pepper’s Ghost effect to use in the Haunted Mansion to create the Ballroom scene. Gracey died under mysterious circumstances in 1983.

Gracey tried to do new things. He tinkered, and he followed his curiosity. You can do the same thing. Follow your curiosity and create something new.

Sources: “The Haunted Mansion: Imagineering a Disney Classic” by Jason Surrell.

“Walt Disney’s Imagineering Legends and the Genesis of the Disney Theme Park” by Jeff Kurtti.

For more on creativity and the Haunted Mansion, get “The Haunted Mansion Is Creativity” online or at the Candy Cane Inn in Anaheim.

For more on Disneyland and Creativity, order “Disneyland Is Creativity.” For deep thinking about the Disney Company, check out “Penguinate! The Disney Company.”

You can also find more articles about Disney, Disneyland and creativity at our archive website, www.penguinate.weebly.com, and on our blog. If you would like to get even more articles about creativity, join our Patreon and become a Penguinator.

Disneyland Doubles Down on Star Wars

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The opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge was either handled correctly or greatly misfired depending on who you talk to. With limits placed on annual passholders, a complicated reservation system that required many guests to stay at the Disneyland Resort hotels, and fears of overcrowding keeping other guests away, Disneyland’s first half of June was light on crowds in the park as a whole. Wait times for HyperSpace Mountain rarely rose above an hour. Other favorites had manageable wait times from 35 to 45 minutes, and many Fantasyland attractions had walk-on wait times of 5 minutes.

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Check out my Interview at the Sweep Spot!

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I was interviewed by Ken Pellman and Lynn Barron from The Sweep Spot for “The Haunted Mansion Is Creativity!” My newest book uses the history and structure of the Haunted Mansion, just in time for its 50th anniversary, to illustrate creativity principles.

Ken and Lynn are former cast members from Disneyland. The Sweep Spot is a podcast that talks about all things Disney, including current events. The two hosts have written “Cleaning the Kingdom” and will be releasing their second book “Cleaning the Kingdom: Night, Day Past and Present” on July 17. Visit their website and check out their books, t-shirts and Patreon.

During Podcast 263, I am at about the 30-minute mark for stories about the Haunted Mansion, Journey Into Imagination and creativity. After my interview is Alastair Dallas, author of “Inventing Disneyland.” Check out the podcast and get some books!

What Is a Stuffed Animal?

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A stuffed animal isn’t just a toy that sits on the shelf alone. It’s a series of stories that unfold over time. It is surrounded by friends, and central to the friend group is the person who has adopted the stuffed animal and its friends.

Stuffed animals can spark the imagination. They allow the person to create stories around the group interaction. These stories help the person deal with situations that may be painful or confusing. These stories may also help the person find a place in the world.

Each animal in the group will have its own personality: the confidante, the antagonist, the shy one… The imagination soars with each new story that the stuffed animal inspires and becomes a part of.

Our handmade stuffed penguins are built to last and made to be cuddly, warm and friendly. Our sincerest hope is that, as the person grows, our penguins will be there to listen, to provide playful encouragement and to be a friend for a lifetime of memories.

Children know the power and pleasure of stuffed animals. If you’ve forgotten, let our penguins help guide you back to childhood and all the wonder it can bring. If you haven’t forgotten or you have a child in your life who needs a soft friend, our penguins make the perfect gift. Find the penguin that is right for you or a friend and embrace your inner child.

Endgame Spoilers: ‘Black Widow’ Doesn’t Have to Be a Prequel

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There are few things more annoying than a prequel. Even if it’s a character that I care about, prequels lack the necessary tension and drama. Instead of being worried whether or not a character will be able to survive his or her trial, the outcome is already certain. There’s no reason to be worried that the character will die or face other drastic consequences. Black Widow and Scarlett Johansson deserve better than that. Unfortunately, all signs point to the Black Widow movie as being a prequel. After all, Black Widow is dead. She traded her soul for the soul stone and that trade was “an everlasting exchange.”

Why and how would a stone require a soul? In order for the information on the deal to be transferred to the Red Skull and enforced by the stone, the stone itself must have a consciousness. It must be a living entity. Unless Vormir, the stone’s home, is the living entity that guards the stone.

If the stone is a living entity, it is clearly evil. It desires a living sacrifice in order for others to access its power. That soul for a soul exchange and the disposition of the stone could be the subject of the Black Widow movie.

The stone could just require the soul to power it up. However, other versions of the soul stone have included a soul stone universe where all the souls that were sacrificed reside. Black Widow could realize she’s trapped in an alternate universe and work to find and fight her way out, possibly with the help of Gamora.

It would be an interesting story line to explore and with obstacles that Black Widow would be more than capable of overcoming. Imagine Marvel’s next villain being the Soul Stone Irregularity. Of course, the Black Widow movie doesn’t have to take place in the current MCU at all; the multi-verse and alternate timelines open up so many story telling possibilities.

Disney’s ‘Aladdin’ Could- and Should’ve Had a Bollywood Cut

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One of my friends say that he was waiting for the Bollywood version of Disney’s Live Action “Aladdin,” and it’s a brilliant idea. After all, isn’t that where movies in the cinema should be headed? By filming different versions of the film with the same actors and changing parts of the film to elicit greater responses in different cultures, movie companies could reap millions of more dollars. And the Disney Company has already set the precedent with Captain America: Winter Soldier.

Steve Rogers has a list of things he needs to learn about, and it was different depending on where the film was viewed. Of course, it didn’t remain a secret, and fans posted the lists online, which garnered more free publicity for the film. Did it lead to more views? Who knows, but it certainly showed that film companies could alter movies based on different audience expectations.

So, a Bollywood Disney’s “Aladdin” doesn’t have to be a cheap imitation. The film already showed that its actors could dance, and it had random musical numbers inserted into it. All that would’ve had to happen is for the script to be adapted to Bollywood styles, and Disney has the assets in India to do that. Sure, Disney missed out on pioneering in the movie world this time. Maybe, they’ll do better next time.

For more on the Disney company including “Frozen 2” plots that Disney probably never considered, get “Penguinate! The Disney Company.”

The ABCs of Creativity: Space

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Space may be the final frontier, but for people who want to be more creative, it’s the first place to start improving creativity. The first thing your space requires is comfort. When you’re creating, you’re already going to be facing the hardships that come with making something new. There will be failures and mistakes. There will be things that you do that you don’t like. There will be times when you aren’t doing anything. This is all part of the creative process, and none of it is particularly comfortable. Making your space comfortable for you will at least allow you to be in that space, and it may even help you like being in that space.

The space should also be safe. You don’t need people telling you what they think of what you’re creating. Your space should limit contact with naysayers and negativity. Let your free-flowing creativity grow and keep it private until you’re ready for feedback.

A space can be something as simple as a laptop or a diary. It can be a physical space where friends and family know not to interrupt the process. Wherever the space is, make it yours, make it safe and make it comfortable.

For more on creativity and space, check out “The Haunted Mansion Is Creativity” and find out how Walt Disney gave Rolly Crump and Yale Gracey space and time to come up with effects for the Haunted Mansion. Available online and at the Candy Cane Inn in Anaheim.

“Disneyland Is Creativity” explores the berm’s relationship to space and creativity.

“Penguinate! Essays and Short Stories” will help you improve your creativity, too!

Join us at Patreon for more articles on creativity and penguins!  

Penguins Available for Adoption July 2019

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For every penguin that gets adopted, we will donate $1 to the Global Penguin Society!

  • Blue Barry Penguin
  • Penguin Cottontail
  • Sally Penguin
  • Blue Penguin
  • Paul and Paula Penguin
  • Penelope Penguin
  • Queenie Penguin
  • Playful Penguin
  • Parker Penguin
  • Preston Penguin
  • Apple Penguin
  • June Penguin
  • December Penguin
  • April Penguin
  • May Penguin
  • Scarlett Penguin
  • Ragetti Penguin
  • Lotta Penguin w/Scarf
  • Steve Penguin
  • Espresso Penguin
  • Mikey Otto Penguin
  • CherryBeret Pie Penguin
  • CranBeret Penguin
  • Black Currant Penguin
  • RazzBeret Penguin
  • Peppermint Penguin
  • Hazel Penguin
  • Scrooge McPenguin
  • Partridge Penguin
  • McQueen Penguin

Heroes of the Haunted Mansion: Ken Anderson

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Ken Anderson was laid off by MGM in 1934. He was married and spent a month “living on the beaches and eating canned beans and what-not” (The Disney Family Album). He applied to the Walt Disney Company at the urging of his wife Polly even though his education was in architecture. Anderson’s additional accomplishments include work on “The Goddess of Spring,” “Ferdinand the Bull,” and “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”

Anderson was the first imagineer to really work on the Haunted Mansion as an attraction. Harper Goff did a drawing of a haunted house as part of the Mickey Mouse park Walt Disney was considering in 1951, and Marvin Davis gave a haunted mansion a place in Disneyland that never materialized.

In 1957, Anderson wrote his first storylines for the Haunted Mansion. He researched houses in the south and went to the Winchester Mystery House to look at group movements and timings. His storylines included a captain/pirate who killed his new bride, a ghostly family that kept the mansion from being renovated, a tour led by Walt Disney, and a mansion that used the Headless Horseman and the classic monsters of literature.

Anderson suffered a stroke after the release of “101 Dalmatians.” He lost the ability to move and was left blind by the stroke. He had “absolutely no control” over his body. He came back with the inspiration from a grove of trees and worked on Shere Khan for “The Jungle Book.”

Ken Anderson worked for Disney for 44 years. He is one of the few unsung heroes of the Haunted Mansion. Without his first treatments and ideas for the inside, we may not have the classic attraction that exists today. Let his example help you improve your work situation, perseverance and creativity.

Sources: “The Haunted Mansion: Imagineering a Disney Classic” by Jason Surrell.

“The Disney Family Album: Ken Anderson” aired on the Disney Channel in 1984. Accessed at https://youtu.be/mSPnwK2yPtQ

“Ken Anderson; Disney Art Director, 84” in the New York Times. Accessed at https://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/19/obituaries/ken-anderson-disney-art-director-84.html

For more on creativity and the Haunted Mansion, get “The Haunted Mansion Is Creativity” online or at the Candy Cane Inn in Anaheim.

For more on Disneyland and Creativity, order “Disneyland Is Creativity.” For deep thinking about the Disney Company, check out “Penguinate! The Disney Company.”

You can also find more articles about Disney, Disneyland and creativity at our archive website, www.penguinate.weebly.com, and on our blog. If you would like to get even more articles about creativity, join our Patreon and become a Penguinator.

The Genius of the New York Knicks Free Agency 2019

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The New York Knicks are three steps ahead of everyone in the NBA, and no one has realized it. While everyone is laughing about the Knicks free agent acquisitions during the first day of free agent negotiations in the NBA, the Knicks will ultimately be the ones to have the last laugh.

The Knicks announced their free agents Taj Gibson, Bobby Portis and Julius Randle as they missed out on top tier talent like Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Fans booed. The rest of the NBA made thousands of jokes at the Knicks expense. These three players play the same position: power forward, and its one that has also been filled by current Knicks player Luke Kornet. Here’s why the Knicks are at the next level.

Teams had success with “the Twin Towers” concept of playing two centers like Ralph Sampson and Hakeem Olajuwon or David Robinson and Tim Duncan. Two centers led to better defense and better shooting percentages.  Teams had success with small ball like Don Nelson’s Warriors. Playing three guards provides more ball-handling and more speed.

But no team has played three power forwards on the floor at the same time. Basketball is a game of innovation. The time for the next evolution of basketball has arrived, and the New York Knicks are just a little quicker at getting there than everyone else.