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Feature of the Month

Herb Ryman: A Brush with Disney

Herb Ryman: A Brush with Disney

Excerpt from: A BRUSH WITH DISNEY

About thirteen years ago, famed Disney artist Herb Ryman explained in an interview that he had never allowed himself to specialize in any one field of artistic endeavor. If only he had specialized, he said, with a smile on his face, he'd have gotten a lot more money for his artwork.

Well, Herbie's loss was the world's gain. Last October, Camphor Tree Publishers of Santa Clarita California brought out a new and beautiful book titled "A Brush with Disney: An Artist's Journey Told Through the Words and Works of Herbert Dickens Ryman." It was edited by Bruce Gordon and David Mumford and research was provided by Irene Naoum. It can be ordered online at www.ryman.org.

The book contains a great many reproductions of artwork he created for Disney, including Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Tokyo Disneyland and Disney Paris. As Marty Sklar, vice chairman and principal creative executive of Walt Disney Imagineering wrote in an introduction, "Name the Disney Park project from the first illustration of Disneyland in 1953, to the first visualization of Walt Disney World in 1968, to the first depiction of Epcot in 1979, to the first designs for Tokyo Disneyland in 1980, to some of the earliest concepts for Disneyland Paris in 1989; the public's first view of each came from the pencil, pen or brush of Herbert Dickens Ryman."
Beyond his work for Disney, however, the book explores many of the artist's other creative ventures - equally appealing, and remarkable in their variety -- including an odyssey with the Ringling Brothers Circus from 1949 to 1951, and leading up to his death in 1989.

The book also features long excerpts from the artist's writings and journals, including the tale of his first involvement in Disneyland:


Tale of his first involvement in Disneyland

"It was about 10 A.M. on September 26, 1953, when Walt called unexpectedly. When I remarked that he was at the Studio on a Saturday morning he commented, "Yes, it's my studio and I can be here anytime I want."

I was not working at the Disney Studio at that particular time because in 1946 I had gone back to 20th Century Fox. I had deserted Walt, which was a very criminal act (at least he thought it was). However, I was curious, and flattered, that Walt would pick up the phone and call me. I had no idea what he wanted.

He asked how long it would take me to get there. I said if I come in the clothes I'm in now, it'll take 15 minutes, but if I have to get dressed, take a bath and shave, it'll take 30 minutes. He said, "Well, why don't you come as you are. I'll be out front waiting for you." So, I drove over to the Studio and sure enough Walt was out in front, standing there.

We went into the Zorro building. Bill Cottrell, Dick Irvine and Marvin Davis were there, all friends of mine. Walt said, "Herbie, I'm in the process of doing an amusement park, we're working on it right now." I asked, "Where is it going to be?" He said, "Well, we don't know. I've got Harrison Price at Stanford Research working on where it ought to be." I asked, "What are you going to call it?" He said, "Well, I'm going to call it Disneyland." I said, "Well that's a good name. What is it that you want to see me about?" He said, "Well, my brother Roy is going to New York on Monday morning. He's going to New York to see the bankers. Herbie, we need $17 million to get us started."

Walt had sold his insurance policy and his house in Palm Springs trying to get the money together. "You know the bankers, they have no imagination. They can't visualize when you tell them what you're going to do, they have no way of visualizing it. So, I've got to show them what we're going to do before we can have any chance of getting the money." I said, "I would love to see what you're going to do. Where is it?" He pointed at me and said, "You're going to do it!" I said, "No, I'm not. You're not going to call me on Saturday morning at 10 A.M. and expect me to do a masterpiece that Roy could take and get the money. It will embarrass me and it will embarrass you." Walt asked the other guys to leave the room.


More of the Disneyland project

We were alone. Walt paced around the room with his arms folded, kind of paced back and forth, then went over and stood in the corner, kind of looked back at me over his left shoulder with a little kind of a sheepish smile, like a little boy who really wants something. With his eyes brimming, he asked, "Herbie, will you do it if I stay here with you?" I began to think, well, he's very serious about this, and Walt, after all was my friend, and so I said, "Sure, if you stay here all night tonight and all night Sunday night and help me, I'll stay here. I'll see what I can do."


Our agreement cheered Walt , and he sent out for tuna fish sandwiches and malted milks and we started to work. Marvin and Dick and Harper Goff had a lot of preliminaries and groundwork on other parks that Walt had conceived of, which were very small things. So, all of this was sort of put into the hopper. Walt had showed me plans from many well known Los Angeles architects, which he had relegated to the garbage pile. These architects went to so much work figuring out sewers and electrical specifications, but they were unable to capture the vision that Walt was trying to achieve. Finally, he turned to his own people. He explained to me that Disneyland was to be a world apart. Entering its portals was to leave behind the mundane hum-drum everyday world. This was my assignment. I got a great big piece of paper and started to work on the drawing. When it was finished, Walt gave it to Roy who went to New York and got the money from the bankers. Later, Walt called me and said, "We are going ahead with this. Are you interested in helping us?"
And I said, "Sure. Of course I am."

I have remained with the Disneyland project and have been proud to be considered one of its originators. My many years' work in the motion picture industry has no doubt been of an invaluable help to me.


More of the Disneyland project

We did not consider Walt Disney to be absolutely infallible, nor did he consider himself to be so, but he has demonstrated so repeatedly his prophetic wisdom in the realm of public entertainment that we have no sense of weakness or inadequacy when we are overruled in some controversy under discussion.

His manner of thinking seemed to be "What will people enjoy the most?" "Can they be educated at the same time they are being amused?" or "Will what they see here make them happier and better people?" and "Will they go away with more respect for America and its heritage?"

Whenever I went to the park, I was very aware of the contributions I had made as I'm also aware of contributions by Bill Martin, John Hench and all who were playing in Disney's orchestra. I have no personal egotism about anything that I have done because I have, only by my talent, by my drawings, by my illustrations, aided and assisted in the salesmanship of an idea. Sometimes they were my ideas, but that's immaterial. The result is there and I'm always delighted to see that the mechanism works.

The names on the Main Street Windows are the people to whom Walt wished to give credit, the people who helped him create Disneyland. For instance, there's a wonderful name up there, my friend Ken Anderson. He sells bait and tackle. Of course, Ken was one of the great fly fishermen in America. And my name is there, with John Hench and with Peter Ellenshaw. And that's what we do, we give art lessons.


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