Bob Welbaum: Bruce Gordon and David Mumford: A Tribute to Two Legends
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Yet although they will be most remembered by NFFC members for their joint accomplishments, they were two very different people. David was the straight man. He came across as more serious, more meticulous. When it was time to throw objects into the crowd, David would occasionally come off the stage to personally hand out the pieces of candy, or leaves, or whatever the item was, just to make sure everyone got one.
Of the pair, David was the team player and especially considerate of others. What fascinated him was the way he could design something in two dimensions, then see it translated into something solid, something real that people could enjoy.
Lingering illnesses are difficult for everybody involved, and reactions can vary widely. David�s reaction was actually frustration. He had so many ideas, so much left undone, so why was he stuck flat on his back in a hospital bed?
Bruce appeared more jovial, the jokester with a bit of a paunch. But there was so much more there. Tony used the term �ornery� as one description. �Bruce told you what he thought,� Tony related. This is a quality that normally won�t endear one to management, unless they�re astute enough to realize the value of an honest opinion. Tony said he and Bruce would �fight like cats and dogs.� People would occasionally ask him why he would allow Bruce to talk to him that way, and he�d say �Because it�ll be better. It�s going to be fantastic.�
And if you listened closely to their presentations, Bruce�s irreverence was constantly popping through his jovial exterior. Here are some classic examples:
During the 1995 Special Edition Disneyana Convention, Bruce and David presented a slide show on �40 Years of Theme Park Design.� Speaking to a larger audience at a company-sponsored function certainly didn�t change Bruce�s style. During a segment entitled �A Sense of Reality,� they explained how Walt wanted Disneyland to educate as well as entertain and demonstrate future technologies. One of those attractions befitting this description was the since-removed Skyway. The explanation went like this:
David: It�s hard to believe, but the Skyway was one of those first pieces of technology, that Walt actually envisioned the Skyway as a future mode of transportation. He saw the new shopping centers that were opening up in the �50s and thought with these huge parking lots you need ways to get people from the back of the parking lot to the stores. So he actually saw this as a transportation vehicle.
Bruce: Right, right. We didn�t, so we took it out.
Then a bit later, while describing how developing the ride system for Ford�s �Magic Skyway� at the 1964 New York World�s Fair directly led to Disneyland�s PeopleMover, came this:
David: So imbedded in the track underneath the car was a series of motors with little rubber wheels that would actually push the vehicle. Believe it or not, this turned into�
Bruce: If you haven�t guessed by now, yes it�s the PeopleMover! Another attraction we don�t run in the Park.
David: On weekends, right?
Bruce: Right, only on weekends. We charge less during the week. Oh, no we don�t.
Despite his candid nature, Bruce did talk to the press. And if you interviewed him, you�d better be prepared, because he could turn the tables on you in a flash. At the 1998 NFFC Convention, �The Bruce and David Show� talked about Disneyland�s New Tomorrowland. David surprised Bruce with a little interview film clip to illustrate Bruce�s danger to interviewers. (This also proved they didn�t hesitate to try to embarrass each other in public.) Bruce was describing the New Tomorrowland�s design philosophy:
Bruce: �So when you come here , you�ll say �This is a great place! I�d love to live here!�
Interviewer: It�s probably a good idea that all of us, most of us at least, are going to be living in some kind of Tomorrowland.
Bruce: We�re all going to live in the future, there�s no doubt about that.
Perhaps their greatest legacies are their long lists of individual accomplishments in Disney theme parks. During the work on the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, Bruce realized this was the submarines� last chance. So he insisted all the tests be done in the lagoon itself, right in the public spotlight where everyone would see. He knew that would start the ball rolling, and soon the project did have a momentum all its own, right down to the �We�re Imagineering a New Attraction� sign.
Carole Mumford with her replica of David's starfish
plaque.
David�s greatest accomplishment was undoubtedly Tokyo DisneySea�s Mermaid Lagoon. His wife Carole remembers him saying �The joy should be in doing the work, the reward is hoping the public enjoys our efforts,� and that was especially true with Mermaid Lagoon. David put his heart and soul into it, but unfortunately never saw it completed; he was brought home before it opened. But don�t worry, a couple of Imagineers, in the dark of night, slipped in a starfish in David�s likeness. It�s his trademark grin and his favorite �thumbs up� gesture, overlooking the Lagoon, placed as high as anyone could reach. Plus a plaque with an identical starfish hangs in the halls of Imagineering. Carole knows, because she was given a replica.
What more fitting legacy could there be? And I think that�s exactly the way both of them wanted it.
Special thanks to Carole Mumford for contributing to this column, and to the NFFC for providing biographical information.
Discuss It
-- Bob Welbaum
Bob Welbaum is a longtime Disneyana fan and NFFC member from the Dayton, Ohio area.
-- November 4, 2009