Remembering David Mumford
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David and Carole Mumford
David Kent Mumford passed away on January 20, 2003 at the age of 46 at St. Joseph's Hospital in Burbank after a valiant fight with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and paraneoplastic pemphigus. David was a well-known to Disney fans because of his books - especially Disneyland: The Nickel Tour - and his numerous appearances at Disneyana conventions. He was clearly a huge Disney fan himself and always very comfortable in this community. Along with fellow Imagineer Bruce Gordon, his "Bruce and David Show" were an annual favorite at the NFFC Convention. David's presence will be missed.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Ryman-Carroll Foundation, 315 West Ninth St., #806, Los Angeles, CA, 90015, in David Kent Mumford's name. The Foundation’s number is (213) 629-2787.
Following is a summary of David's Disney career from a memo sent to Walt Disney Imagineering employees:
As a senior principal show set designer, David oversaw
the production of working set drawings for Disney theme park attractions. David’s
most recent project was Journey into Imagination with Figment at Epcot, on which he
was working in Florida last spring before he became ill. But battling illness could not
diminish David’s Disney contributions -- he diligently read all the proofs for his
upcoming book Ellenshaw Under Glass from his hospital bed, according to his
co-author, project director Bruce Gordon. (The book, which tells the story of matte artist
and Disney Legend Peter Ellenshaw, will be published in March of this year.) In their
spare time, David and Bruce co-authored and co-edited several books including
Disneyland: The Nickel Tour; A Brush With Disney: An Artist’s Journey;
Walt’s Time: From Before to Beyond (with Jeff Kurtti); and Walt Disney
Imagineering: A Behind the Dreams Look at Making the Magic Real (with Kevin Rafferty
and Randy Webster).
David joined The Walt Disney Company in 1974 as a ride operator on the Submarine Voyage
at Disneyland. His 23-year Imagineering career began in 1979 when David joined WED to work
as a show set draftsman for The Land at Epcot. Over the years, David was involved with a
number of attractions including Alice in Wonderland and Aladdin's Oasis at
Disneyland, The Living Seas at Epcot, and the Cinderella Castle Mystery Tour and
Star Tours for Tokyo Disneyland, among others.
Before his Epcot assignment, David served as art director for Mermaid Lagoon at Tokyo
DisneySea. “We just invented the stuff that doesn’t exist,” said David
about designing Ariel’s undersea world in three dimensions. “Things like
underwater light fixtures just aren’t on the market, so we created them from pure
fantasy.”
Since childhood, David was a Disney aficionado, collecting all sorts of trivia and
memorabilia. His expertise as a Disney historian is well known throughout the Company and
was put to use when David served as associate producer on the 1989 Disney Channel special,
“The Disneyland Story.” He was a featured speaker at many Disneyana conventions
and co-wrote a number of articles for national magazines, including the Disney Magazine.
He also contributed to WDI’s internal publications, most recently as an online
columnist for the WDI 50th anniversary series.
• • •
LaughingPlace.com asked a few people who knew David to contribute their thoughts:
Bill Cotter, Author
Usually I enjoy writing, especially on Disney-related subjects. The words
usually flow easily, and writer’s block is something for the other guy. This
week, though, I hate writing. How, no matter how eloquent or clever can one be,
how could you put down on paper all of your impressions and memories of someone
you’ve known and admired for more than 20 years?
That’s the problem I’ve been facing as I try to do justice to David Mumford. Not only did he do so many things over the years, but most of all he was just so damn nice.
I’ve been working in the entertainment industry for over 20 years now. Along the way I’ve realized that most people who succeed in the field have egos larger than the Matterhorn - even Disneyland’s scaled-down version. Talent may help, although in some extreme cases it seems that may be optional. With David, though, he was 180 degrees in the opposite direction. Always calm, always professional - always a gentleman. You would really have to have known the man to realize how willing he was to listen to someone else and not have to be the focal point of the conversation. The fact that he got as high as he did in Imagineering is more of testament to his talent that most people can truly realize.
As I write this I’ve been trying to think of the first time I met David. I’m pretty sure it was at Disneyland, where we had formed a film club for employees as a way to get some of the treasures out of the vault and back up on the screen. David was a new employee - I think as a ride operator - and he started showing up at these monthly gatherings. After a while he started adding to the discussions and it was apparent that he had a real love of all things Disney. Even at that early stage he had quite the encyclopedic knowledge of the Park, and an appreciation of the design elements behind it.
Most of the time I was working at the studio, but I did a brief stint at WED - still hard for me to call it WDI - during the Epcot design days. By that time David had landed a spot there and was working nearby as everyone was trying to figure out what could be done by Opening Day. Well, one thing they decided couldn’t be ready in time was the attraction I was working on, and I was pretty depressed to realize all of the designs, models and work were for nothing. I remember David trying to cheer me up by saying that some of his work had ended up on the scrap heap as well, but to not give up. I asked if it bothered him to see projects canceled like that, and his answer was something to remember - “Just seeing people enjoy one thing I created makes up for all of the ones that never got built.�?
Well, luckily, David - and the rest of us - did get to see many of his dreams realized. He added to the legacy of all of the Disney Parks, to the written history of the company, to the entertainment at numerous conventions and shows. But most of all, he added to the lives of those who were fortunate to work with him, or to know him at even a social level.
And he did it all while staying a nice guy.
Jeff Kurtti, Author
David Mumford was not just a great creative mind, a great source of information, or a
great Disney fan--he was a great guy. He was able to take his personal passion for Disney
and transform it into a successful career--and then make all of us who shared his passion
the beneficiaries of it.
I regret than in leaving us, we will no longer have David's remarkable resource and generous spirit to call upon. But through his projects for Walt Disney Imagineering and the irreplaceable volumes The Nickel Tour, Walt's Time, and A Brush with Disney, like so many of the great Imagineers that came before him, David will leave a resonant element of himself that will be felt for generations to come.
Leon Janzen, Publisher, The E-Ticket Magazine
We knew and worked with David for nearly the entire sixteen year span of The “E”
Ticket magazine. David was one of our “charter readers,” since we knew him from
collecting Disneyland souvenirs at the local swap meets. As a Walt Disney Imagineer, he
was always professional, and as a Disney fan, he was enthusiastic, positive and outgoing.
More than that, David was our personal friend. He spent much time with us over the years,
sharing his knowledge of Walt Disney and the Disney theme parks, introducing us to others
within the theme park industry, providing insights and suggestions which without a doubt
improved our publication and helped keep us moving forward. He was in the hospital when he
helped us with the current issue, providing some facts about the Jungle Cruise ride which
went into the article. He was invaluable … a warm and sincere person who will be
missed by a larger number of people than he would have expected. Jack and Leon
Janzen, The “E” Ticket Magazine.
Dave Smith, Walt Disney Archivist
I think I was the first person that David met at Disney, back in the early 1970s. He came
to visit the Archives, and we became friends. I was deep in a project of trying to watch
every single Disney film, and in those days they were only available on 16mm. I had a
projector at home, and David would frequently come over in the evenings to watch the films
with me. Once each month we would get together on a Sunday morning and tour the Rose Bowl
Swap Meet. David's eagle eyes helped me spot many interesting items which we acquired for
the Archives. Through the years I mentored David as he went to college, then came to work
for Disney. As a designer at Walt Disney Imagineering, David, with his tremendous memory
and interest in Disneyland history, became their resident historian, and as such worked
very closely with the Archives. His interest and love for Disney never waned, and he
helped share his enthusiasm through the books he wrote with Bruce Gordon and his talks at
Disneyana conventions. He was a gentleman, and he will be missed.
• • •
LaughingPlace.com columnist Michelle Smith also shared this
David Mumford story - one of our favorites:
David Mumford was, if I recall correctly, about eight years old. It was a Sunday evening,
and his family had gathered around the television to watch Walt Disney, who was showing
off some of his Imagineers' wonders for the upcoming World's Fair in New York. As Walt
spoke, the curtains behind him parted to reveal the battling dinosaurs from Fantasia.
At that moment, David decided that he was going to be an Imagineer when he grew up. He worked at Disneyland as a teenager, operating the Submarine Voyage, and finished high school. Upon graduation, he called WED Enterprises, which is now known as Walt Disney Imagineering, and asked the woman who answered the phone the best way to get a job there. "Well, we're hiring architects right now." after some research, he learned that Cal State San Luis Opbispo had a fantastic architecture program, and he enrolled. Upon graduation from college, he was hired at WED to work on their newest theme park, then in development, EPCOT Center. They told him that he'd be working on the Universe of Energy show, and took him to see the model of the first scene he'd be working on. The scene was covered with a curtain, which parted to reveal...
...those same dinosaurs he saw when he was a kid. To say that he will be missed is a great understatement.
Your Thoughts
If you'd like to share any thoughts on David Mumford, you can do so by clicking here and posting in our Discussion Boards.
These will be compiled and given to David's widow, Carole.
“The joy should be in doing the work, the reward is hoping the public enjoys our efforts.”
-- David Mumford,
in early 2002, on what he’d learned in all his years at Imagineering
-- Posted January 24, 2003