Editor's Note: It's Disney and more third Anniversary this month and i have great articles for you. Alas, as i announced on Monday this month will also be probably the last one for D&M. More about this in yesterday's article. In the meantime, enjoy today's article with rare pictures of the making of POTC!

Pirates of Caribbean Behind the Scenes - Part Two

Here is the part two of the Pirates of Caribbean Behind the Scenes article, and this one is a brand new one. All the pictures include in this article are rare Imagineering pictures which were reproduced in a hard to find Pirates of Caribbean brochure released in the 70's. In this 50 pages collector's, readers can see Marc Davis at work...



Or plenty of Marc Davis artwork like this one...



Also include, pictures of Walt Disney like this one with one of the POTC Audio-Animatronics.



The brochure also include great shots of the original Disneyland attraction and lot of pictures of WDI legendary Imagineers creating the ride.

We will begin by the sculpting of POTC figures, with, on the picture below, WDI sculptor Blaine Gibson with the pirates heads.



Again, Blaine Gibson, sculpting a figure for the POTC model.



Another pictures of a WDI sculptor named Joe Kaba.



On the picture below, Peter Kermode, WDI sculptor who took over after Blaine Gibson left Imagineering.



On the next picture Imagineers Blaine Gibson, George Snowden and Mark Davis with a pirate sculpture.



Then it was time to dressed the different figures. On the first picture below, Alice Davis is taking care of the "red hair".



On this next picture, Bob Sewell and another Imagineer take care of a dog who is part of the show...



While Leota Toombs is finishing the make-up on one of the pirates head...



And Imagineers Dave Schweninger (left), John Franke (center) and Roger Broggie, Jr (right) put in place one of the Audio-Animatronic figure.




Next step, the Animatronic animation. On the picture below, a WDI Imagineer working on a pirate's head.



Below, Imagineer Roger Broggie checking the metal structure of a pirate Audio-animatronics.



As we know, nothing could have been done without the big 1960's computers system, here is WDI Imagineer Legend Wathel Rogers in front of them.



Imagineer Ken O'Brien with a Pirate's animated head.



Meanwhile, X Atencio and George Bruns are finalizing the famous song "A Pirate's life for me"...



...and Imagineer Bill Justice studying prints from a film of an actor performing the auctioneer pirate that will be used for the animation of the Animatronic pirate.



But Pirates of Caribbean it's also fantastic decors. On the next picture, Imagineer Colin Campbell is working on the model of the "Wicked Wench".



Later, other Imagineers will build a real size "Wicked Wench"...



While another one gives the final touch on one of the cannon...



Or another paints on the parking lot the little boat on which drunken pirates will stand in a scene of the attraction.



On this last picture shoot when everything was put in place in the ride building, Disney Legends Claude Coats and Fred Joerger.



Pat Burke recalls a story from Fred Joerger: "I often met Fred at Barone's Pizza after work with another co worker and Fred would tell stories about Walt. He said Walt's death was a "Great" shock back in 1966 as they were trying to get the new Disneyland Pirates of the Carribean attraction done and open. Walt always came around for the final walk abouts for adjustments and changes, but he was not able to do this due to his sickness and death. So Fred said he and Claude Coats, the field Art Directors, would have to go ahead and fill in for Walt and look at the ride as he would have done. As they say the show had to go on. So Pirates became the first show opened after Walt's passing."

We will end with a picture of this double-page from the brochure showing the famous Pirates of Carribean fun map showing the different scenes of the ride.




Thanks to leave a comment or discuss this article on D&M english forum on Mice Chat

All pictures: copyright Disney Enterprises Inc.

It's Disney and more Third Anniversary...and probably also the last one

It's Disney and more's three-year anniversary this week, and I have some good news and some bad news for you. Let's start with the good news: To celebrate our third anniversary, I will have some great articles for you in the next two weeks. Also, I will introduce not one, but two new D&M sections, and one of them will be a tribute to a great man and will have rare stuff you've never seen before. That's not all, as I will also disclose one of my most secret projects: a BIG Dinosaur attraction concept that I designed with Imagineer Jeff Burke seven years ago. And believe me, it's a real E-Ticket, the kind of ride that would cost $150M at WDI!

Now for the bad news: This third D&M Anniversary will be probably also the last one, because one month from now I will stop Disney and more. Nothing will disappear and the site will remain like it is, a fantastic source of theme park artwork and pictures, but I will stop doing articles every day as I have done for the last three years. I might come back from time to time for a special report when a new attraction will open, and chances are I will not be able to resist adding the Shanghaî Disneyland renderings to the D&M artwork collection when they become available!

There are several reasons for my decision, the first one is that it's exhausting to do articles every day in a language which is not your native language, and it's especially exhausting when you're as much of a perfectionist as I am. I also want to do something different with my life. But I have enjoyed very much doing the site during these last three years, and I want to thank all of you who have been so faithful to D&M. Last month D&M had a new record of visits with more than 120,000 visits, around 4,000 visits per day, which is really good considering that I don't really advertise the site. I want to thank Mice Chat and Disney Central Plaza who were the two D&M forums, and also Screamscape, Disney Report, Blue Sky Disney, the Disney Blog and many others who kindly posted links to D&M during these three years.

Those of you who have lived the Disney and more adventure since the beginning will probably remember it as a great experience. All I've tried to do was a really good theme park website, something as close to the ideal as possible, and a true tribute to WDI Imagineers - just like I did with my DLP book. And, as I know that sometime I have transgressed - though not too far, as I know where the not-to-be crossed "red line" is - I sincerely want to thank Walt Disney Imagineering for letting me post D&M articles for the last three years without censorship.

One of my reader kindly told me six months ago "Keep the Momentum, Alain!". Well, with more readers than ever, it's not the momentum which is leaving me, it's me who is leaving the momentum! Anyway, don't go away during this last month as you'll discover great articles, starting tomorrow with rare Imagineering pictures in part two of the Pirates of Caribbean "behind the scenes" article!

100 Pixar Characters scales, all on the same image !

100 Pixar Characters scales, all on the same image, this is what Chilian designer Juan Pablo Bravo has achieved, and you can discover this on the amazing 7600 pixels image below. Double click on the picture, and double click again on it when you arrive on the picture's page. Enjoy!



Picture: Juan Pablo Bravo

Inside The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Video

It's Easter today, and here is something you should enjoy: the first video filmed inside the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Islands of Adventure! It was part of yesterday's Ellen DeGeneres show and Ellen along with two kids had a walk-through inside this new land.

Although they didn't filmed the "Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey" ride you'll see the village and its shops, a bit of Hogwarts Castle and the Flight of the Hippogriff ride. What Ellen is doing is not very interesting but we don't care as these images offers the best look yet into the highly awaited new land.




Picture and Video: Copyright Universal Studios, Ellen DeGeneres show

Pirates of Caribbean Behind the Scenes - Part One

Let's have a look back at the origin of one of the best E-Ticket ever made, which, just like the Haunted Mansion, is an attraction we can ride forever...So, here is a special POTC "behind the scenes" article, with artwork, photos, and great videos where Walt Disney will introduce you to this beloved attraction. And on monday i will post the part two of this "POTC behind the scenes", a brand new article including rare pictures of Imagineers creating the ride!

You probably have already heard about it, but some of the early concept of the attraction had it designed as a walk-through instead of a flume-ride, as you can see on the rendering below



As everybody knows Marc Davis designed most of the scenes of "Pirates" and here is a selection some of his great renderings.



























Here is Walt with Marc Davis, Blaine Gibson and one of the first Audio-animatronics...



And here he is with Claude Coats who created the fantastic settings of the attraction.



Some great pictures of the attraction, the Disneyland version.









This two part Youtube video is from a 1960's Disney TV show for Disneyland 10th Anniversary and Walt introduces the future Pirates of Caribbean attraction to a young Disney ambassador.







Let's end with this great painting done by John Horny for the Disneyland Paris Blue Lagoon restaurant.




You can find much more renderings in the great Jason Surell book - the best book ever written on "Pirates of Caribbean" - a "must have" if you don't have it yet!



Artwork, photos and videos: copyright Disney

All my thanks to freedogshampoo and MegaRob64 for the youtube videos