Carolwood's Imagineer Appreciate Day,

Carolwood's Imagineer Appreciate Day
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Bob Gurr was Imagineering’s "wheelman:" if something in Disneyland has wheels, Bob probably worked on it. Bob was the driving force behind Autopia, Monorail (Disneyland and Walt Disney World), Matterhorn Bobsleds, Flying Saucers and the Main Street, USA omnibus, antique vehicles and fire engine. Bob was a key member of the team that created the original Abraham Lincoln Audio-Animatronics® figure for the 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair, and the Ford Motor Company's Magic Skyway attraction. Some of Bob’s more famous non-Disney work includes King Kong at Universal Studios Hollywood and the pirate ship at Treasure Island Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Roger Broggie, Jr. is, not surprisingly, the son of Roger Broggie, the first Imagineer. Roger began his Imagineering career working in the studio machine shop with his father. Among other projects, he worked on the Lincoln show at the 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair. He worked on Country Bear Jamboree and other opening day attractions at Walt Disney World. He completed Lilly Belle II in 1995, which was featured at Tokyo Disneyland’s Disney Gallery as part of a display honoring Disneyland’s 40th Anniversary.


Michael Broggie

Michael Broggie held a short ceremony around noon in front of the barn, in which he made a special announcement, introduced the Imagineers mentioned above and invited them to make a few remarks to the audience if they wished. He announced that the Carolwood Pacific Historical Society will bury a time capsule at Walt’s Barn on December 16, 2002, that will be opened on that same date in 2052. The contents of the capsule will consist of items donated or suggested by Imagineers. All Imagineers were invited to participate.


Michael Broggie and Marty Sklar

Marty Sklar was the first Imagineer to speak. He spoke about the importance of Walt’s Barn to Imagineering; that it was, in fact, the founding place of Walt Disney Imagineering and all of the Disney parks. He also mentioned that he thought other parts of the world will receive Disney parks as time passes.

Bob Gurr remarked that only Walt saw the Big Picture. He gave some insight into how Walt ran things when he mentioned that Walt would have the Imagineers working on small projects with no knowledge of what the other Imagineers were working on, and they wouldn’t see how everything fit together until it was all brought together. He also said that he and the other Imagineers didn’t think that they were building a legacy or making history when they were working on Disneyland and its shows and attractions; they were just doing their jobs and building what Walt wanted.