October 2011 marks the 40th anniversary of the opening of the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. The Vacation Kingdom has seen a lot of changes over the past four decades and the editorial staff at Imaginerding wants to celebrate the unique and rich history of the resort with a series of posts.
When I reviewed the two-disc DVD Magic Kingdom: Imagineering the Magic, I mentioned the Imagineering Art Gallery on the second disc. There are 42 images, in all, and I wanted to share some of my favorite shots. A few of them have been featured in the Art of Walt Disney World by Jeff Kurtti and Bruce Gordon. Some of them I had not seen before.
Enjoy!
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| An interesting angle of Main Street USA. |
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| The Crystal Palace and an early concept for the Swan Boats. Notice the large gazebo structures to the left. |
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| The bridge to Adventureland. When we were watching the DVD, my oldest son thought it was Aladdin and Jasmine at the bottom. Dorothea Redmond. |
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| The Jungle Cruise…and knee socks! |
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| A more familiar piece of concept art. The entrance to Liberty Square. |
Related articles
- Bibliography of Walt Disney World Books (imaginerding.com)
- Your Guide to Walt Disney World 1978: Celebrating 40 Years of Walt Disney World History (imaginerding.com)
- DVD Review: Magic Kingdom Imagineering the Magic (imaginerding.com)
- Celebrating 40 Years of Walt Disney World: The Making of Disney’s Animal Kingdom (imaginerding.com)
- Celebrating 40 Years of Walt Disney World History: Haunted Mansion Details (imaginerding.com)
- Book Review: Disneyland Paris – From Sketch to Reality (imaginerding.com)
Don’t forget to stop by our site and leave some Disney Geek love!
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Fabulous. Thanks for posting.
Chris,
I was wondering if you had ever picked this up. There is one for Disneyland, too.
I think you would enjoy it, but you know most of it, anyway.
Hi George,
No, I never picked these up — maybe the next time I’m at the resort.
I really enjoyed seeing the concept art, especially the pieces not published in the Kurti/Gordon books.
– C.