Rudy, Jerry, and Me

By: Matt Parrish

The melodic atmosphere of Disney parks is undoubtedly my favorite part of each trip.  In spite of a swarming Main Street or teeming lines at popular attractions, I’m fairly adept at ignoring congestion and enjoying background music as I make my way from land to land.  Incidentally, it was the winter of 2006 when I first discovered Radio Buena Vista on Live365.com.  I was working weekends at a radio station and I was pretty bored, but the minute I pressed play… I was hooked.  This is where my viral Disney experience began and it worked to spawn my yearning to record a show with my brother. 

Today, my appreciation of Disney through the “interwebs” is quite diverse.  I enjoy chatting along with Betamouse live shows, catching up with Mike and the gang on the Be Our Guest podcast, completing my honey-do lists to the sounds of MouseWorld Radio, or conversing with Wedway Radio listeners on Twitter.    

I think most people agree that music makes Disney a little more unique.  I think it’s also the reason why I never fell in love with Universal Studios.  I love Universal films and I enjoy many of the attractions at the theme parks, but the music is fragmented.  On the other hand, Disney music seems to flow together seamlessly, park to park, land to land.

So in staying true to my Disney music theme, I have to tell you how stoked I was when I decided to run 6 miles to the Rudy soundtrack a few months back (one of my favorites – thank you Sean Astin).  It had been a few years since I put this score on my iPod, but I decided to take an inspiring run on the treadmill while envisioning myself sprinting through the Notre Dame gymnasium in search of some personal aspiration (yes, I’m a geek, but I’ll use any excuse to get through miles 3 and 4).

It was near the end of the first mile when I heard a familiar galloping and clacking of orchestrated tones right smack dab in the middle of the Rudy theme.  It took a second for me to place this acquainted sound, but then it hit me.  Soarin’! I proclaimed in my head.  I was so excited, I nearly fell off the treadmill.  I may have even yelled it out loud.

Now, I was fully aware that Jerry Goldsmith had composed the music for Soarin’, but somehow I forgot that he composed and conducted the Rudy soundtrack.  From that point, I think I was hooked.  I looked through iTunes and found just about every Jerry Goldsmith score I could find.  These days it’s as if Jerry scored the sequences of my life as he did the arrangement of Rudy Ruettiger’s.

So, maybe like you, I guess the cool thing about living a Disney life far away from the theme parks (through podcasts and broadcasts) is that the music always takes you back to the park.  Sometimes unintentionally.

Here are a few Goldsmith scores I recommend for a drive to work or a run on the treadmill:

1. Hoosiers
2. First Knight
3. Rudy

Disney and Bradbury: Parallels

By: Matt Parrish

On a recent episode of Wedway Radio, Nate and I discussed the parallels between Walt Disney and Mark Twain.  After recording the show, I cracked open an old D23 Magazine which featured an intriguing look at Ray Bradbury (another author mentioned on the Mark Twain episode) as a creative force behind Spaceship Earth and the EPCOT Center. 

As a huge fan of both Disney and Bradbury, the article left me with more questions than answers.  What was Bradbury’s impact on The Walt Disney Company through the decades?  What was Bradbury’s relationship with Walt like?  Why is there a Halloween Tree (the Bradbury Tree) in Frontierland at Disneyland?  How did Something Wicked this Way Comes, a popular novel from Bradbury, become a major motion picture for the Walt Disney Company?  Why are there so many ties between these two creative men?

In attempt to answer my own questions, I thought I might investigate further into the friendship between Bradbury and Disney…a friendship that worked to inspire a complex approach to the future simplified through “behavioral optimism,” which is to say behavior that achieves optimistic objectives day after day (like crossing tasks off of a to-do list) as quoted by Bradbury in an interview on the Disney Treasures: Tomorrowland DVD about Walt’s own personality. 

Obviously, both men were fans of the fantasy genre and the future, and they both created mediated entertainment reflecting their individual passions.  Likewise, Disney and Bradbury were storytellers and entertainers who used symbolic characters to captivate the minds of readers and viewers.  On the contrary, though, Walt used mediums like television and films to enhance his storytelling, while Bradbury, admittedly, was a skeptic of modern media dating all the way back to his creation of Farenheit451, a story written to describe how television might destroy an interest in reading literature.

You should know by now that I like to personalize things, so I must tell you my own backstory relative to these legends.  My love for Disney probably needs no explanation. I grew up with Disney films and theme parks and, if nothing else, both remind me of family and nostalgia.  To add a bit, Disney is more than just attractions and shows for me…it’s a way to experience my past, present and future cohesively.

Bradbury, similarly, has always been one of my favorites and each time I uncover another factoid about his life, I begin to appreciate his legacy a bit more. 

Between Walt, Ray and me…we all seem to share a common heritage.  For instance, Bradbury was born 60 years to the day before me (shared birthdays mean something, right?); he was also born in the Midwest (same as Walt and me) and his approach to the future is one of intellectual optimism, a concept I understand in a tech-driven world. 

Finally, Bradbury, like me (and you), was also a fan of Walt Disney…and, according to my research, that’s where the relationship began.    

It’s possible an interview with Bradbury about Disney would be the only way to uncover new information about the pair (an attempt I’ve made recently), but there is enough information out there to get a fairly accurate idea about the friendly relationship between the two.

Where did it all begin?  An interview with Bradbury on the Disney Treasures: Tomorrowland reveals

“I was walking down the street in Beverly Hills and a man walked by with so many gifts he couldn’t seem to hold them all.  And then I saw it was Walt Disney!”

Seem humble enough?  Mouseplanet.com blogger Wade Sampson also suggested (2007),

“Bradbury and Walt had informal talks about Disney's involvement in the 1964 New York World's Fair as well as plans for Epcot.”

As you well know, Nate and I have  done oodles of research and conducted many interviews about Walt Disney’s involvement in the 1964 World’s Fair (Magic Skyway, Progressland, Great Moments…, It’s a Small World, etc…), but where does Bradbury fit in?

Like Walt Disney, in 1962 Ray Bradbury was also tapped to play a contributing role at the 1964 World’s Fair in NY for the America Pavilion.  While Bradbury’s role at the Fair wasn’t nearly as extensive as Walt’s, it certainly made an impact.  As Bradbury biographer, Sam Weller (2005), declared:

“It…portended a new, burgeoning role for Ray – as a cultural consultant for the rocket age.”

Interestingly, just as Walt’s Disneyland TV series featured several Ward Kimball directed shorts on man in space in the 1950’s, that worked to reinforce man’s desire to experience the cosmos in the decade that followed, Bradbury became a beacon of the space age amid the landing on the moon and through the 1970’s.  And just as Walt had grown up with a fondness of World’s Fairs (remember the 1893 Fair in Chicago where his father had been a construction worker?), as a boy Bradbury attended the 1933 Fair in Chicago that celebrated “A Century of Progress.”  The latter is one of those ties that is purely coincidental but, in my opinion, and is the launch pad for the Bradbury and Disney futurist link. 

More in the "future"…

Fleas! (part II)

Mid-to-late 70's lunch box (tin)

It's spring time (finally!), and it's also the time of year for fleas and other insects.  If you have pets or kids, you know that fleas are awful and quite annoying.  For me, however, fleas are how I spend my free time and it's probably appropo to continue a series I started in January.

The lunch box above was released in line with a parade featured at Disneyland and Walt Disney World around the Bicentennial.  My understanding is that this box was available for about a five year span and featured the fab five celebrating the event.  Here is a quick bit on the America on Parade celebration at the parks.

Roger Rabbit Rebate Sign 1990-ish (Sorry, this rebate is no longer available)

Remember these?  Yeah, this sign was associated with the release of the critically acclaimed Disney classic Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  I know this isn't something that you might collect, but I loved this movie and I remember how popular it was on VHS in 1990 and 1991.  I've seen this sign at multiple fleas over the last year so it was probably featured at several retail marts.

World Showcase Glass (circa early 90's) featuring Germany

In the 1990's, collectibles remained the rage at WDW and sets of glasses were very popular. The Disney Co. offered a set of glasses for all of the World Showcase pavilions (with Mickey dressed in traditional garb for each country), but were sold invidividually pavillion-to-pavillion.  I found the one above with a France glass at a flea and would have purchased more if they had any (Norway, anyone?)

American Film Magazine - August 1982

I was so jazzed when I found this magazine because it was chocked full of information on Disney's plan for live action films in the 1980's (pre-Eisner).  Obviously, most of the emphasis was on the upcoming release of Tron, but the article hammered Disney's attempt at attracting teens and tweens.  The focus was on movies like "Tex" and other authentic live action films that were moving away from the style of live action pictures of the past like The Love Bug and The Parent Trap.

Obviously, American Film Magazine (and Disney, for that matter) whiffed on the upcoming success for Disney films in the early to mid-80's, but it was very interesting to read the editorial from film insiders who believed they were on the right track.

Have a great week!

- Matt: Wedway Radio Team 

The Wonderful World of Flea Markets

By Matt Parrish

(A charming Mary Poppins board game, circa 1964, I bought for Nate)

During this time of year (winter), there isn't a whole lot to report from Southwest Missouri.  The area is known for its serene outdoors, beautiful streams, clear lakes and green parks, and while those aspects of the region make this a wonderful place to live, work and raise children...there is another staple to life here that adds a bit of enjoyment for townies: the flea markets. 

Flea markets might be second only to Walmart on this side of the tracks and, thus, it is my pleasure to begin a very peculiar, somewhat unique series on my findings of long-forgotten and especially rare Disney merch from the many flea markets I stumble upon.

So, with all that said...I guess I'll admit it, I'm a flea market junkie.  On my days off, I peruse up and down isles of "one man's trash is another man's treasure" hoping to find something cool from my childhood that might stir up some nostalgia or a piece of forgotten Disney history I can add to my collection.  I mostly stumble upon books and records from Disney publishing, but occassionally I find some really cool stuff...

(Vintage, 1940's, Donald Duck chalk figure - 18 inches)

(Vintage, 1940's, Pinocchio chalk figure - 18 inches)

(You guessed it...1940's Snow White chalk figure)

I love the three 1940's chalk figures above because it's a credit to how forward-thinking Walt and the gang were with regard to merchandising.  On episode 55 of Wedway Radio, Nate and I discussed how long the Disney company had been merchandising and it dates back to the days of Walt's work on Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoon shorts (pre-Snow White).

There is some discrepancy about whether or not the chalk figures were actually produced by the Walt Disney Company, but for our purposes it's really cool to see how far back authentic or replicated merchandise dates.

The 1960's were years full of Disney merchandise and movies and it's safe to say that Mary Poppins probably stood out above the rest.  At the beginning of the post you see the Mary Poppins board game.  This is an original I found and purchased for Nate at a local flea market.  The game board and game pieces are truly unique and reflect the style and artwork of that era.

(1964 Mary Poppins Game board and Bert piece)

Disney Park touring and podcasting is only a small part of the Disney life I lead.  From the hum of the Rocketeer theme in my Honda to perusing eBay looking for maps and Disneyland merchandise on my iPhone, it's safe to say I have some Disney "issues," as I'm sure you can relate with.

My final picture is a set of trading cards themed from Walt Disney's Dick Tracy live-action film, released in the summer of 1990.  Nate and I have a special place in our hearts for this movie because we saw it on opening night and were hoping for good things.  You could also say Disney was hoping for great things, as well, based on the Dick Tracy's Crime Stoppers attraction planned for Disney-MGM Studios which never came to be   To tell you the truth, I didn't realize the movie was pummeled with horrible reviews until I was older.  During the summer of 1990, this movie was the biggest thing in my life.

(Dick Tracy trading cards, circa 1990)

Well...I expect you will see many cool items in this blog series.  I hope you enjoyed the first installment!

-Matt

The Wonders of "new" Life: Part One

  By: Matt 

My latest trip to Walt Disney World afforded me the unique opportunity to tour what was once my favorite Epcot Center pavilion, The Wonders of Life.  Sponsored by MET and featured on episode 35 of Wedway Radio, the Wonders of Life pavilion was a fan favorite and housed e-tickets like Body Wars and Cranium Command, as well as many interactive attractions serving all ages. 

The Wonders of Life pavilion opened its doors daily from October 1989 until its closure in January 2007, and I was fortunate to experience it during one of its final days in 2007 (unfortuanately, I did not have my camera) and recently during a Food and Wine exhibit in November, 2010 (an instance where I did have my camera). 

During my first trip back, several things stuck out that I did not notice during my last visit in 2007.  As a matter of fact, most of my epiphanies came from the approach.  For example, I never noticed how hidden the pavilion was to park guests walking by.  Now, without proper signage and a missing double-helix sculpture (the pavilion's eye-catching icon), the pavilion is much less obvious today...but overall, there was nothing pulling you in.  There was no grand entrance from the outside and no truly unique architectual style that said...come in, come in...the Disney Imagineers have an amazing, biological world of wonder inside. 

I'm not saying the view from the pavilion to the commons area of Future World West wasn't beautiful (and vise-versa), with adult trees and two pretty pools of water, but it definitely did not have the wonderment of The Living Seas approach, or the daunting nature of Horizons building.

  At close-view, the pavilion does have some unique, architectual qualities about it.  It is also beautifully painted and treated.  Overall, though, I still don't find it as fascinating as the Land or Imagination pavilions.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               On a related note, the approach within the trellis area of the pavilion was somewhat plain, as well.  Concrete floors and flowers adorned the walking path, and the actual entrance was merely a few double-doors and an electric-door entrance for disabled guests.

Due to space limitations, I'll update you on the inside of the pavilion in Part Two of this series.  I'll take a look at what currently stands before the que areas and exits of each attraction inside a pavilion you once knew as The Wonders of Life.

To read more from Matt check out The Odyssey