Stories of the Magic

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In this episode we conclude my much-delayed interview with Imagineer Bob Gurr. In part 1, we talked quite a bit about some of his memories of Walt Disney as well as his work on Disneyland, including clearing up some confusion about some specific terms. Towards the end of that first half we started talking in more depth about his work after Disney, as Gurr Design.

In this episode, Bob talks about…

• Whether he has an estimated life span for attractions when he works on or builds them, using the Monorail as an example
• A bit about the short-lived Viewliner attraction at Disneyland
• Whether there’s a difference in how he designs one-shot pieces or attractions versus ones that are supposed to last a long time
• The flying saucer he created for the 1984 Olympics
• The lighting rig for Michael Jackson’s “Victory” Tour
• A very little bit about his work on the interior of President Eisenhower’s aircraft
• Being a glider pilot for 50 years
• Whether he’s afraid of heights
• Some of the interesting little projects he got to work on over the years that he doesn’t usually get to talk about
• What he learned about himself and how to approach these challenges and how they shaped him personally and professionally
• The one job he bid on and got that didn’t turn out as planned
• His thoughts on how to help kids be more engaged in learning
• How to help a child use the interests they have to learn the things they need to know
• What he never gets asked that he wishes people would ask him
• What inspires him
• His advice to you for following your dreams—it’s unlike anything any of my guests have shared before
• How to develop your curiosity
• Shameless Plug Time

Find Bob:

• MiceChat
• Facebook (Fan Page)
• D23
• “Talks at Google” Interview

Podcasts Spotlighted in this Episode:

• Tales from the Mouse House Disneyland Podcast

I want to hear from you, so please email me, leave a comment below, or call the Listener Feedback line at (734) 23-STORY.

If you call in, don’t worry about having to sound perfect. If you ask me to, I’ll edit out any mistakes so you sound as good as you possibly can. You’re even welcome to start your entire story over again and I’ll use the “take” you want! If you want to submit a story anonymously, for whatever reason you may have, email it to me and tell you me you wanted it shared that way. I’ll read it on the podcast, but keep your name private.

Thanks for listening!

Subscribe by RSS.

Subscribe in iTunes.

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Music and voiceovers provided by Rick Moyer.

Some product links in this post are affiliate links.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Android | RSS

In this episode I finally get to share an interview with you that began many months ago. In March of 2015, just a few days before my daughter was born, I interviewed Disney Legend and Imagineer Bob Gurr by Skype video. Unfortunately, the video stopped recording about 1/3 of the way through, but I didn’t know it until we were all done. Fortunately, Bob was very understanding about the technical issue and was willing to re-record. Of course, my daughter was born less than a week later, and that put all the podcasting stuff completely on hold for a while. Long story short—if it’s not too late for that—we finally had a chance to do that re-recording in early December, and now I’m sharing part 1 with you!

In this episode, Bob talks about…

• How he got started working for Disney and what he did at first
• The first time he met Walt Disney
• Walt’s lack of formality and the way he talked to people
• The “bad word” I said, and Bob’s correction of me
• The way projects got started and were developed
• How they knew when they were done—or done enough—with a project
• How he became involved in the Matterhorn Bobsleds development and some of what he did on it
• The place of the Matterhorn in history, and how it came to be
• Omnimover—the ride system used in the Haunted Mansion, for example—and it being an overused term
• The difference between an Animatronic and an Audio Animatronic
• The first time he realized they were doing something really special
• What he loved most about what he did working for Disney
• A preview of a Bob Gurr documentary coming out in 2016
• The first project he had as Gurr Design after he was no longer working for Disney in 1981
• Some of the jobs that first one led to, like a 24-foot dragon for Universal Studios’ Conan the Barbarian show and a 30-foot tall King Kong
• How you get the job for these out-there requests
• Whether he’s taken any jobs that were more than he could handle
• If he’s ever disappointed when  an attraction he’s designed closes

Find Bob:

• MiceChat
• Facebook (Fan Page)
• D23

Podcasts Spotlighted in this Episode:

• Skywalking Through Neverland (Disney/Star Wars podcast)

I want to hear from you, so please email me, leave a comment below, or call the Listener Feedback line at (734) 23-STORY.

If you call in, don’t worry about having to sound perfect. If you ask me to, I’ll edit out any mistakes so you sound as good as you possibly can. You’re even welcome to start your entire story over again and I’ll use the “take” you want! If you want to submit a story anonymously, for whatever reason you may have, email it to me and tell you me you wanted it shared that way. I’ll read it on the podcast, but keep your name private.

Thanks for listening!

Subscribe by RSS.

Subscribe in iTunes.

Subscribe on Stitcher Radio.

Music and voiceovers provided by Rick Moyer.

Some product links in this post are affiliate links.