An Interview Tim O'Day
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LP: You’ve interviewed numerous people, who really stands out as an incredibly fun person to have on stage?

O'Day: Different people for different reasons. I have to say one of my favorites are the Sherman brothers. Let me add something. I’m sincerely humbled by the fact that I’m on the stage with the Sherman brothers or Alice Davis or John Hench. When I was a little kid I would come out here all the time to the park. When I was a kid I would run to the Tinker Bell toy shop at the hotel and look for that preview book of Disney World being made and I would see pictures of Marc Davis or John Hench or Alice Davis working on corrections. And now to be on the stage with these people - sometimes I know I get this kind of deer caught in the headlights look because I’m thinking to myself “my God I’m on the stage with these people that I’ve idolized as a kid.”

They are all fun for different reasons. The Sherman brothers, they are just a heck of a lot of fun. They have great stories and the whimsy and the imagination of their songs and the stories that go with it and their singing is just a crack up . You sit up there and emcee this and have the entire audience singing It’s a Small World. Alice Davis, bless her heart, always has a story that you know there’s a big wink behind it. John Hench, I love John. John has a great viewpoint on every thing that’s Disney. I wish John would do a lecture series of some kind because his take on Disney is really interesting and his philosophy behind Mickey and the imagery of Mickey was great. Marc I used to love because Marc would put his hands on his tummy and he would have this chuckle and in answering things he would say “Well like I say so anyway”. That’s the way Marc would continue a sentence.

Herbie Ryman, that's one thing I regret more than anything if I have any regrets in my career so far: Herbie was just always a kick to be around and then to walk the park with Herb Ryman was a lot of fun and he would point things out and talk about things. He was almost child like even though he was in his 70s maybe even early 80s at that time. He just had this child like wonder about him and one night I was doing a TV remote here in the park and I think we were doing it from the balcony of the Disney Gallery. Herbie came to be one of the guests on the show and he said “can you come out to dinner afterwards” and I said, “Herbie I can’t, I have to do this next remote at 9:00” and he kind of had this sad puppy dog look on his face and he said “come on, I want to take you to dinner.” I said, “I can’t leave.” That was actually the last time I saw him before he went in the hospital. I always kick myself. I should have just walked off the job at that point to go to dinner.

Ilene Woods is a kick because of her great stories. Mary Costa scares me. I’m just kidding Mary. We always have a blast. The great thing about all of them is first of all, they are all very nice people. You couldn’t ask for a nicer group of people. There’s always a sense of fun. I’ve never seen anybody turn away a guest or be too busy. Everybody is gracious. I feel humble to be around them. A long and rambling answer to a very simple question.

LP: A lot of people enjoy these events, but they seem to have taken the place of Annual Passholder events. Passholder events were aimed at the Park enthusiasts and were much less expensive. These events are much more geared towards merchandise and are much pricier. I’m guessing you have nothing to do with that, but can you talk about that?

O'Day: Not really. You’re right I have nothing to do with that. Personally I don’t think I ever went to any Annual Passholder parties. I know there’s always a discussion about them. They take into consideration the prices and the frequency of events. They have this Advisory Board here at Disneyland. I think that’s great that they’re taking people’s opinions and listening to people. I think if anybody has any concerns or wants to see things changed they should let Disneyland know. But I know the feedback for these type of events has been very, very good. But I know it’s a concern for the folks here at the park, about the frequency and the prices. They very much take that into consideration. If anybody has any ideas I’m sure they’d like to hear them.

LP: What’s coming up beyond Pirates?

O'Day: We’re working on the Disneyana show for September. The theme at Disneyana this year is “It’s a Small World” so we’re working on some things for that. Nothing is solidified yet but I’m sure we’ll have some kind of big presentation at Disneyana and that’s always fun. The Walt Disney Art Classic mini-convention, the NFFC. It’s always a kick for me to go either as a guest or host of a panel discussion. It’s always fun to be around people. I have to admit I’m a closet collector myself. Some people collect figurines and art work and things like that. I tend to collect CD’s and books and such. I’m very excited about the CD collection with the Pirates event. I absolutely love the Haunted Mansion CD. I think the merchandise they did for the Haunted Mansion event and Pirates - I’ve seen a little bit of the Pirates stuff, it’s going to be equally as good - I think it’s great. We’ve already started working for Disneyana for next year when it comes back to Disneyland. That’s already starting to take shape. So that’s good.

Note: Tim later gave further clarification that next year's Disneyana convention being held at Disneyland has only been talked about and is only a rumor -  nothing official has been determined?