Disney Avenue Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Hello my friends and welcome to one of the most exciting shows in the history of the Disney Avenue Podcast. Today's guest is no stranger to the Disney community and has always been a man on the move. For nearly 40 years, he has helped move countless Disney theme park guests aboard vehicles and ride conveyances of his own design. As he's often stated, "If it moves on wheels at Disneyland, I probably designed it." And he certainly has. He has developed more than 100 designs for attractions ranging from Autopia and Matterhorn Bobsleds to the Disneyland and Walt Disney World Monorails. He is the one and only Bob Gurr.

Bob has an amazing new documentary coming out soon titled, Bob Gurr: Turning Dreams into Reality which we'll be discussing among other highlights from his storied career working with Walt. You can learn more about the film and how to buy yourself a copy by clicking HERE.

And, as if having Bob on the Disney Avenue Podcast wasn't enough, legendary former Imagineer Tim Delaney, who was our very first guest here on the show, is joining us today as a very special cohost. Teaming up with a big named former Imagineer like Tim Delaney to interview the great Bob Gurr has not only created a spectacular show for our listeners to experience, but has been a dream come true. And so friends, it is with great pleasure and excitement to welcome Bob Gurr to the Disney Avenue Podcast.

If you enjoy listening to the show and hearing from Disney Legends like Bob Gurr, please please please head on over to iTunes and leave us a quick rating and review to help us spread the word to other Disney fans around the world. Thank you for tuning in and spending some of your precious time with us.

Welcome back to another exciting episode of the Disney Avenue Podcast. On today's show, host Keith Mahne is joined by MiceChat CEO Dusty Sage for an amazing interview with Disney Legend Charlie Ridgway. Before Charlie was hired as a cast member under Walt, he promoted Disneyland as a news reporter. During 1954-55, while the Park was still under construction, he authored some of the very first articles about Disneyland to appear in any of the major metropolitan newspapers. He also covered Disneyland's grand opening celebration on July 17, 1955. Eight years later, he joined the Park's publicity staff in 1963. Charlie helped launch the opening of Walt Disney World in 1971, Epcot Center in 1982, Disneyland Paris in 1992, as well as other special projects for celebrations such as Donald Duck's 50th birthday and so much more. Charlie shared some truly amazing stories with us on the show so be sure not to miss this one.

After more than 40 years with the Walt Disney Company, Charlie retired in 1994. He would go on to consult on special projects, including the launch of Disney's Animal Kingdom and the Disney Cruise Line. Charlie published his fantastic memoir, "Spinning Disney's World," in 2007 that is a MUST READ for any Disney fan so be sure to grab your copy HERE. Charlie became a Disney Legend in 1999 and it is such an honor to have him join us on the show today.  With that said friends, it is with great excitement to welcome Disney Legend Charlie Ridgway to the Disney Avenue Podcast…Enjoy.

You can help support and follow the Walt Disney Birthplace Project by clicking HERE.

The Disney Avenue Podcast would like to thank our producer Geren Piltz and our graphic designer Brian Vermillion for their contributions to this show!

The Disney Avenue Podcast is back with this month's show featuring another fantastic interview with Disney Legend, Walt Disney Archives founder and former chief archivist David Smith! Dusty Sage, of MiceChat.com, teams up with host Keith Michael Mahne for another amazing show. It was a wonderful conversation and a whole lot of fun.

Walt Disney Archives founder and former chief archivist David Smith officially joined The Walt Disney Company on June 22, 1970, but his Disney roots are even deeper.

A fan of Disney films throughout his youth, Dave explained in our interview, "I grew up in Southern California, and so my appreciation of Disneyland began as a child." In 1967, he had become interested in compiling an extensive bibliography on Walt Disney. With approval from the Disney organization, he spent more than a year researching all Disney publications and productions.

When the Disney family and Studio management decided to attempt to preserve Walt Disney's papers, awards, and memorabilia, it was natural for them to contact Dave to do a study, and make a recommendation which established the guidelines and objectives of the Archives. Dave was selected as archivist, and in the years since the Archives was established it has come to be recognized as a model among corporate archives in the country. Dave is regarded as the final authority on matters of Disney history.

The Disney Avenue Podcast is pleased to present our interview with the legend himself, Dave Smith...Enjoy!

Born in Southern California in 1952, Ron was born to be a performer.  He was a puppeteer, ventriloquist, magician and actor, who was fascinated by Walt Disney's Disneyland and so was born his dream of one day performing at the park. Ron got his first theme park job in 1970, and over the ensuing 40 years he's done it all – writing, directing, consulting, managing and performing for multiple production companies and in eight theme parks and five themed restaurants across America.

Some of his roles were as the comic in Disneyland's Golden Horseshoe Revue, King Henry 8th in 1520 A.D. Medieval Restaurant, the strolling Dreamfinder in EPCOT Center's Journey Into Imagination, creative supervisor for Universal Studios Florida's Celebrity Look-Alikes and historical re-enactor in Titanic, the Exhibition. Today, Ron makes his home in Central Florida where he keeps busy writing, acting, doing voice-overs and consulting on media and themed entertainment projects.

Ron has a wonderful book out called From Dreamer to Dreamfinder that you can purchase here at Bamboo Forest Publishing or from Amazon.

The Disney Avenue Podcast is honored to have him on the show with us today and so, without further ado, the Disney Avenue Podcast presents Ron Schneider…Enjoy!

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The Disney Avenue Podcast returns with a wonderful Christmas Special that is sure to get you in the Holiday spirit. Disney historian and author Jim Korkis joins host Keith Michael Mahne for a wonderful interview on Walt Disney featuring some amazing and rarely heard Christmas stories from his life. Jim is the ultimate "go-to guy" on Walt Disney and we couldn't think of a better person to have on this Christmas Special. Jim tells us about Walt's love of the Holiday Season, what Christmas was like for Walt as a child, about a special gift to Lillian that inspired a classic animated movie, and so much more. So get cozy by the fire, grab a warm cup of hot chocolate and enjoy this Disney Avenue Podcast Christmas Special...Merry Christmas everyone!!!

After you listen to the show, please make sure to check out Jim's wonderful books at themeparkpress.com and Amazon. They make the perfect Christmas gift for any Disney enthusiast!

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The Disney Avenue Podcast would like to thank Geren Piltz for his contributions to this show!

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The Disney Avenue Podcast returns with a fantastic interview with Walt Disney Imagineering's original "designing woman" Alice Davis. Married to Disney Legend Marc Davis, she enjoyed a fashionable Disney career of her own, designing and dressing animated figures for such beloved Disneyland attractions as it's a small world and Pirates of the Caribbean.

One day, she received a call from her former art instructor and future husband, Marc. He needed a costume designed and created for Helene Stanley to wear for some live-action reference footage being filmed to inspire his animation of the lead character Briar Rose in Sleeping Beauty. That job led Alice to design costumes for Disney's live-action motion picture Toby Tyler.

In 1963, Walt Disney recruited Alice to contribute her skill to the attraction it's a small world for the 1964-65 New York World's Fair. Collaborating with art designer and Disney Legend Mary Blair, Alice researched, designed, and supervised the creation of more than 150 highly detailed costumes for the Audio-Animatronics children of the world.

During this time, Alice also formulated costuming procedures, set up a manufacturing base, and developed quality control refurbishing techniques, which established the standards for three-dimensional characters in rides and shows created by WDI.

In 1965, she translated the pirates' attire from Marc's original drawings of the shiver-me-timbers cast and crew into clothing designs and patterns for all of the costumes featured in Pirates of the Caribbean. Two years later, when the attraction opened at Disneyland, guests were dazzled by the animated figures and their colorful, textured pirate-wear. Later, Alice contributed to General Electric's Carousel of Progress and the Flight to the Moon attractions.

Married in June 1956, Alice and Marc enjoyed a Disney fairy-tale-romance-come-true for 44 years until Marc's death in 2000. Alice has continued to consult for the Company, and remains a frequent face at Disneyland events. She was honored with a window on Main Street, U.S.A. at Disneyland—next to her husband's window—on May 10, 2012.

The Disney Avenue Podcast would like to thank Geren Piltz for his contributions to this show!

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On this episode of the Disney Avenue Podcast, host Keith Michael Mahne and Dusty Sage of MiceChat.com team up for another amazing interview with the one and only Rolly Crump! Words may not fully describe this man, but one thing is for certain, he was a true "original," even among Imagineers as Rolly drew forth genius in others.

Born Roland Fargo Crump on February 27, 1930, in Alhambra, California, Rolly took a pay cut as a "dipper" in a ceramic factory to join The Walt Disney Studios in 1952. To help pay bills, he built sewer manholes on weekends. He served as an in-between artist and, later, assistant animator, contributing to Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, and others.

In 1959, he joined show design at WED Enterprises, now known as Walt Disney Imagineering. There, he became one of Walt's key designers for some of Disneyland's groundbreaking new attractions and shops, including the Haunted Mansion, Enchanted Tiki Room, and Adventureland Bazaar.

Rolly served as a key designer on the Disney attractions featured at the 1964-65 New York World's Fair, including it's a small world, for which he designed the Tower of the Four Winds marquee. When the attraction moved to Disneyland in 1966, Rolly designed the larger-than-life animated clock at its entrance, which sends puppet children on parade with each quarter-hour gong.

After contributing to the initial design of the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Florida, and developing story and set designs for NBC's Disney on Parade in 1970, Rolly left the Company to consult on projects including Busch Gardens in Florida and California, the ABC Wildlife Preserve in Maryland, and Ringling Brothers & Barnum and Bailey Circus World in Florida, among others.

He returned in 1976 to contribute to EPCOT Center, serving as project designer for The Land and the Wonders of Life pavilions. He also participated in master planning for an expansion of Disneyland until 1981, when he again departed to lead design on a proposed Cousteau Ocean Center in Norfolk, Virginia, and to launch his own firm, the Mariposa Design Group, developing an array of themed projects around the world, including an international celebration for the country of Oman.

In 1992, Rolly returned to Imagineering as executive designer, redesigning and refurbishing The Land and Innoventions at Epcot Center. Rolly "retired" from The Walt Disney Company in 1996, but continued to work on a number of creative projects. He was inducted as a Disney Legend in 2004 and released his autobiography, It's Kind of a Cute Story, in 2012.

Get ready for a truly amazing show... you just might hear a "cute story" or two...

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The Disney Avenue Podcast would like to thank our producer Geren Piltz and our graphic designer Brian Vermillion for their contributions to this show!

On this special Halloween edition of the Disney Avenue Podcast, host Keith Michael Mahne interviews famous psychic medium to the stars Michael J. Kouri. Michael has some very interesting stories to share with us and you'll particularly enjoy the ones about his claimed interactions with Walt Disney. It's the perfect Halloween episode and it's going to be like nothing you've ever heard before. Michael was a pleasure to speak with and aside from being a medium, he is a huge Disneyland fan and frequent visitor of the parks. He has a very intriguing new book about to come out on Halloween day called, The Ghost of Walt Disney and Me, and you can purchase that directly from his website icghosts.com. So keep an open mind, dim the lights down low and enjoy this Halloween edition of the Disney Avenue Podcast...

The Disney Avenue Podcast would like to thank Geren Piltz for his contribution to the sound quality of this show.

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On this episode of the Disney Avenue Podcast, Dusty Sage of MiceChat.com joins host Keith Michael Mahne for a fantastic interview with the lovely Kile Ozier! For over 25 years, Kile has been masterfully creating and producing amazing experiences that really seem to connect with the audience on intimate and profound levels. Some of his work include Universal Islands of Adventure, Epcot, the TEA Next Gen initiative and so much more. You may have heard him recently on the Season Pass Podcast where he did a truly touching and eye opening interview and you can find that show link below. I've really come to admire and respect Kile and we hope you enjoy his life stories and his infectious personality as much as we have. Enjoy!

The Disney Avenue Podcast would like to thank our producer Geren Piltz and our graphic designer Brian Vermillion for their contributions to this show!

Kile Ozier Website

Kile Ozier Blog

Kile Ozier Season Pass Podcast Show

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On this episode of the Disney Avenue Podcast, host Keith Michael Mahne has a wonderful conversation with famous author, Disney historian and the "go to" guy on Walt and all things Disney for that matter, Mr. Jim Korkis. Jim has one of the best personalities around and is full of fantastic stories and insights on Walt and the company. Be sure not to pass this one up!

After you listen to the show please make sure to check out Jim's wonderful books at themeparkpress.com and Amazon.

The Disney Avenue Podcast would like to thank Geren Piltz for his contribution to the sound quality of this show.