list_text=          In 1953, Walt Disney asked Herb Ryman to sketch an idea for an amusement park that would appeal to both children and adults. Over a single weekend, Herb took a small carbon pencil and illustrated Walt's dreams on paper. Within two years, those dreams were transformed into reality and Disneyland became the first theme park of its kind in the world.
          Herb had an uncanny ability to intuit Walt's ideas into drawings. Perhaps, because, like Walt, he was a child at heart. Marty Sklar, president of Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) once said, "Herbie was like our own little Tinker bell at WDI. He was always sprinkling pixie dust on everyone and he never grew up. He had a tremendous curiosity for everything and everybody."
          Born June 28, 1910, in Vernon, Illinois, Herbert Dickens Ryman graduated from Chicago Art Institute, with honors, before moving to Hollywood in 1932. He worked as a storyboard illustrator at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio on such classics as "Mutiny on the Bounty," "David Copperfield" and "The Good Earth." The latter film, about China, inspired Herb to take a year off and travel the world, in 1937, recording his impressions in a sketchbook.
          The next year, back in Los Angeles, Herb met Walt Disney for the first time at a gallery exhibit of his work. Walt was so impressed with the paintings on display that he invited Herb to join The Walt Disney Studios. While Herb went on to serve as an art director for such feature-length animated classics as "Fantasia" and "Dumbo," Disneyland became the centerpiece of his Disney career. Among his contributions were designs for Main Street, U.S.A., Sleeping Beauty Castle and New Orleans Square. In 1988, his 1964 painting of New Orleans Square was selected by the State Department for display at the U.S. Embassy in Paris. Herb also contributed concepts for the Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, and for attractions featured at the 1964-65 New York World's Fair, including Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.
          A prolific artist outside of Disney, Herb produced watercolors, oil paintings, acrylics and charcoal sketches, which were collected by such people as Mrs. William Guggenheim, Cecil B. DeMille and John and Lionel Barrymore.
          Herb retired in 1971, although he returned a few years later, as a full-time consultant sketching numerous conceptual drawings for EPCOT, including the American Adventure and the China pavilion. He also developed the popular Hall of Presidents at Walt Disney World and the Meet the World attraction at Tokyo Disneyland.
          On February 10, 1989, Herb Ryman died in Los Angeles, while working on ideas for Disneyland Paris, including a European version of Main Street, U.S.A.&