Jim Hill
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The easy answer would seem to be that "Magic Mountain," "Pleasure Island" and "Freedomland" didn't catch on with the public because they lacked that Disney magic. Yet not every theme park that C.V. worked on turned out to be a total failure. His "Six Flags Over Texas" park - after a somewhat shaky start - will celebrate its 40th anniversary this year, while his "Warner Bros. Movie World" theme park begins its 10th year in operation in Australia this June.
So what exactly happened with those other three theme parks? For that matter, what exactly happened to Wood once he left Disney's employ in 1956? There are dozens of amazing tales associated with C.V.'s colorful life story. Some of these include the relocation and reconstruction of the fabled London Bridge at Lake Havasu, AZ. in 1971 as well as the creation of the world's tallest fountain in Fountain Hills, AZ. in December 1970.
All this - plus C.V.'s appearance in that B-movie classic, Miami Supercops as well as his lifelong interest in psychic phenomenon. This is not the sort of guy you can sum up in just a few words. Like the true Texan that he was, C.V. Wood always seemed a little larger than life. Even in death (Wood passed away on March 14, 1992 from cancer), this colorful character still casts a rather large shadow. These days particularly, given that the Walt Disney Company seem to like to pretend that C.V. never existed.
Well, with Disneyland's 50th anniversary rapidly approaching, I'd like to rectify this situation, folks. I'm hoping that - someday soon - I'll be able to pull together the definitive story on C.V. Wood. Something that will finally give all us Disneyana fans a real sense of who this guy really was as well as some understanding about what his role in the creation of Disneyland might have been.
However, in order to do this properly, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to ask for the help of all your LaughingPlace.com readers. If anyone out there has any piece of information they'd like to share about C.V. Wood - no matter how seemingly insignificant - I'd love for you to come forward with it now.
Over the next few weeks, I plan to taking all those odd story threads and trying to pull together a coherent, accurate picture of who the "The Master Builder of Disneyland" might have been. I should warn you, though, folk that C.V. seems to have been a real mass of contradictions. A man who claimed that Walt Disney thought of him as a son in 1955, only to be booted out of the company in 1956. A guy who spent the next 36 year of his life trying to cash in on his association with the construction of Disneyland project yet still struggled to escape Walt's shadow.
All this - plus the guy evidently made one really mean pot of chili.
All in all, this should add up to a pretty fascinating story. Provided - of course - that you folks help me fill in all the holes. If you've got any great C.V. Wood stories - or have any idea about who I might get in touch with or where I might go to learn more about "The Master Builder of Disneyland" - now's the time to drop me a line. Please send along any and all stories and/or info source suggestions to the e-mail address listed at the end of this article.
By the way, before I forget, thanks to all of you who were kind enough to sent along suggestions as to what my new LaughingPlace.com column should be called. Doobie and I will compiling a master list of all your proposed titles later this month. We'll then be carefully reviewing all our options.
Remember - whoever comes up with the best name for my new LaughingPlace.com column wins a free Emperor's New Groove Deluxe DVD set. This includes the snazzy set of four lithos that the Disney Store is offering all customers who pre-order "Groove." All of this for free - provided you come up with a great new name for my Disneyana news column. The contest closes on April 30, 2001. So send in your suggestions today!
Discuss It
Related Links
- Freedomland U.S.A. Unofficial Site
- Pleasure Island Unofficial Site
- Warner Brothers Movie World Official Site
-- Jim Hill
Jim Hill can be reached using the Talkback form below or by emailing him at [email protected].
Jim Hill is this guy who lives 'way out in the woods of New Hampshire. (Hey, it's not like he wants to live there. But the Witness Protection Program has got rules, you know.) He has one beautiful daughter and three obnoxious cats. When he's not looking for real work, Jim writes about the Walt Disney Company and related matters for LaughingPlace.com, AmusementPark.com, "Orlando Weekly" and Digital Media FX.
The opinions expressed by Jim Hill, and all of our columnists, do not necessarily represent the feelings of LaughingPlace.com or any of its employees or advertisers. All speculation and rumors about the past decisions and future plans of the Walt Disney Company are just that - speculation and rumors - and should be treated as such.
-- Posted April 10, 2001