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Episode 48: Our LIVE 1 Year Anniversary Show - Part 1
47 Plays1 year ago
Back on May 1st we celebrated the 1 year anniversary of the show by inviting back some of the guests who have made it such a spectacular year! From Imagineers and Authors to Animators and the Voice of Goofy himself, we had a blast catching up with our new friends! We streamed the celebration LIVE on FB and Youtube and now present the audio of that celebration here. We had such a good time that we went well over 2 hours so thought it best to split the show in 2 - so be sure to check back next week!
a VERY BIG THNK YOU to our special guests: Bill Farmer, Jeff Barnes, Brian Collins, Terri Hardin, Jerry Rees, Donald Ballard, Bill Cotter, David Block, Mel McGowan, Philo Barnhart, and Joseph Yakovetic!
DISCLAIMER: We are not an affiliate of the Walt Disney Company nor do we speak for the brand or the company. Any and all Disney-owned audio, characters, and likenesses are their property and theirs alone.
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Transcript
Introduction & Guest Overview
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to Sharing the Magic, the podcast that takes you on a journey through the enchanting worlds of Disney. Each week, we're joined by a special guest, whether they're a magician creating moments of astonishment or a Disney expert sharing the secrets behind the magic of the happiest place on Earth. Together we'll uncover the stories, inspirations, and behind the scenes tales that bring these worlds to life. So, get ready to be spellbound and transported to a place where dreams come true.
00:00:57
Speaker
All right. Is this it? Are we live? What an intro. Yeah, we're live, I think. Right. Like everyone, get your ah get your friends, get your family, everyone. Get on YouTube. Get on Facebook. or The Facebook page, not the group, the Facebook page. OK, yeah. ah We got to be clear.
One-Year Anniversary Celebration
00:01:17
Speaker
We're on the page and on YouTube. Jeff, guys, Lindsay, Anne Marie, Tina, Brian, the man behind the curtain. Rachel, we have more people coming. We're super excited. It's a party. It's a party. yeah It's an anniversary party. It's our one year anniversary party. I can't believe it. And I'm actually right now admitting into the conversation our ghost host, our leader, Barry. So he will be popping on. There's a second. But there he is. The audio is connecting, so we are getting ready for this. Oh, how wonderful. Super excited. Barry, are you there?
00:01:53
Speaker
No. No. Barry, we are live. We're so excited that this is our first time doing something like this. I'm excited. This is awesome. What do you think, Barry? What kind of feelings just pop up in your mind? A year, a year from now, we were just, you know, we were just a little, little podcast and and we we were just, did our very best to We all did, but Barry was actually a season podcaster and then and then he's sort of the guy that has sort of ah raised us up and we've had a wonderful year. Barry, what do you what kind of feelings do you well feel? You know, it's it's. I guess it's very subjective because, you know, a lot of times the podcast feels like a soap opera. I mean, you have, you have these extreme highs all the time of yay, we got this guy's coming on or yay, we got this guy's coming on boo. This person said, no, they don't want to come on. You know, it, it, it it makes it kind of, I mean, it's sad.
00:02:58
Speaker
I mean, it's, you think of it, you think of all the, I mean, not sad in a bad way, it but sad and, you know, it's a year already. Yeah. It's like you're throwing a good party. And when somebody you're like, Oh, I invited that person to the party. You know, they didn't show up, but man, we were sure wish they would have came.
Podcast Origins & Challenges
00:03:19
Speaker
Right. And and I think it's funny because when we started the the podcast and when we originally started, it was Matt. It was Jeff. It was Lindsay Annie. It was Lindsay Tara. And it was Jason.
00:03:36
Speaker
yeah And when we started, we didn't start right away. You know, we didn't start recording right away because we ended up planning out what we were going to do because we wanted to be the people that we were so prepared when we were going into it. We wanted to have um our ideas. I remember those practice runs. Yeah. yeah and and and And it was like, and it was like, okay, this is probably what two to two or three months before we actually went live. Yeah. And like, like, like a month will go away. And we we were like, we're one month closer. Yeah. So getting, getting to when we, um, when we did our first episode, which ended up being a rerecording episode because of some issues that we had. the
00:04:26
Speaker
Yeah. Yeehaw Bob Jackson. That was, yeah that was it. Right. So we had, we had Bob Jackson on and he came on and it, if you don't know about Bob Jackson, his big thing is, you know, he's at Port Orleans, Riverside, you know, um, it's a sidekick humor, very whimsical music that he plays and things like that. So when he came on, it was, um, I mean, we were we were so excited. None of the music was coming through when Bob came out and it was um he'd start playing and we're all looking at each other like, uh, you know, and he'd blow his, he'd blow his horn and nothing would come out on it. And I know it was so disheartening, right?
00:05:10
Speaker
Yeah, ah and it was fun. It was fun, though, but it was fun. It was it was a lot of the blast. Right. And Lindsay, right. The way we looked at it was we got like a private concert from from you. Yeah, exactly. Do it again the next day. Yeah, it was great. So what happened is we and we ended up we got through the end of the episode and Jeff's like, this stinks. We can't use this. So he's like, Barry, reach out to Bob and see if he can come back on again. You know, we were thinking, you know, maybe the the next week or something. So I reached out to him and, and lo and behold, he was like, I'll come on, you know, the next night. So we ended up recording a Monday and we ended up recording on a Monday because he does a show at ah yeah Riverside. yeah So he was already booked at night. So he came on Monday. So we ended up doing a Monday, Tuesday show to get our first episode out.
00:06:03
Speaker
And I think that is a perfect snapshot of just the wonderful guests we've had. You know, we've never had a bad guest. We've never had a bad guest. They've all been just wonderful to interview and to hear their stories and wow. A year has already flown by. And I am super excited to get our celebration underway.
Evolution of Hosts & Guests
00:06:26
Speaker
We have a ton of awesome friends from the pod that have agreed to come back and celebrate with us. So Barry, why don't we quickly just, how about you introduce some of the co-hosts? Because that has changed over the course of the year. There are some of us from the beginning. We have made new friends along the way. And let's get some of our guests in. Let's get it going. I agree, Matt.
00:06:46
Speaker
ah So, so like I said, I mean, we, we started, we started with, with our basic core group and, you know, through time, uh, people have left, you know, like life takes a toll on you. And, and, and one of the big things that we've always said on this podcast was, you know, this is just a hobby for us. you know, we we don't make any money off of this, things like that. So we've always had that mantra going into. So, you know, through our early months, you know, we had other people on, we we were getting to the point now where, you know, life was actually um happening. So we ended up getting new people like we have Anne Marie, we have Brian, we have Rachel, we have Christina.
00:07:31
Speaker
And we have Joey, that's also on. And we had Tara, she's not here, but she was an original. Am I missing anybody, Matt? That is the crew. They all do wish they could be here. You know, like Barry said, schedules sometimes get in the way of that. Uh, they may pop in a little bit later, so hopefully, so but they all do send their, their love and celebration with us. And they are very excited to see where this goes for the next, hopefully more than one year, but we're going to take it one year at a time, I guess, bear, but let's, uh, let's start bringing in some of our friends who we missed over the past year.
00:08:06
Speaker
because they're the ones that really make are making our show for the listeners because everyone loves hearing from them. So yeah, ah we have a few in right now. A couple more may be popping in and out. I'm going to just kind of slowly let them in as they entered the queue because they've all been waiting patiently. Yeah. So ah yeah scar I think first up we have ah Joseph Yakavetic in right now. And the interesting thing, Barry, about about Joseph is his episode actually is not out yet ah because he's one of our most recent recordings. But this was the first one in this great the waiting room to be with us tonight. So great it was super exciting to to have him here. And here here he is, Barry.
00:08:49
Speaker
Hi, Joseph. Hey, it's as great to have you back. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to be on your episode that's going to be coming on. So Joseph, first of all, thank you for coming on, sharing the magic and and sharing your stories with us. You know, one of the big things is that we're always looking for the diamonds in the rough, the people who want to tell their Disney stories and you are one of them. So why don't you go ahead and for the people who are listening, why don't you go ahead and give a refresh refresher on what what you've done for Disney?
Guest Stories & Disney Journeys
00:09:22
Speaker
Oh, golly. I started with Disney as a portrait artist and kind of moved around from there doing caricatures and then
00:09:32
Speaker
Years later, I worked for the Disney stores designing the stores when they were all different and they had different windows. I did the windows and the soffits inside and fabricated things. And then from there, I went on to work with entertainment, doing concept art, and then work for working with Disney Publishing. And then working at the Main Street timepieces, the Watch Shop, doing art watches because of my experience with publishing and ah performing. And then also started doing live sketches for Disney. And that eventually got me to working with them in fine art. And
00:10:13
Speaker
Through all of that, a little bit of designing sets, costumes, props. And ah in fact, I'm currently illustrating costume designs for Disney on Ice for next year. That's awesome. So Joseph, um i saying right as you were coming in that yeah ah you're one of our more recent um recordings, your episode actually hasn't even come out yet. We haven't aired it yet. It's coming out in about two weeks. oh god But you were you were the first one to sign in ah into our waiting room to get onto the show. So I was like, oh Guys, Joseph is here. He's ready to go. And we have a ton of people. I'm actually bringing in another another guest, Terry Hardin Jackson. So, yeah Joseph, again, thank you for being here. We, we so you know, stay on. We're going to be chatting. You probably know some of the other guests who are here. So we'd love to hear those stories. um But we are. I can't wait to get your episode out because we had a lot of fun. I'm very excited for everyone to get the chance to hear that.
00:11:14
Speaker
So yeah, Joseph, so while while while we're waiting, you know i I think there's so some some of the things that you post on your on on Facebook is just incredible. I think you know just so but some of you animators and artists just blow my mind. And it's just it's just crazy to to see what you're doing. And I thank you for all your hard work on that. thank you All right. And next up we have Terry hard and Terry, this is Barry. Again, here's another episode that, um, I wasn't able to be on this. this this just working I've seen it. I've seen it a trend here. a little trend yeah So, you know, hopefully, hopefully when we get a file on, you know, that's another one. So we can just, just keep going.
00:12:02
Speaker
But Terry was on, we we dedicated the whole month of August for the the Women in Imagineering series. So we were covering some of the lesser known people that worked for Disney and wanted to give them some some credit where credit was due and Terry was one of them. So Terry, why don't you go ahead and let us know what you've been up to. um Currently, I've been up to one thing, and I'm very proud of it. I designed this Star Wars pin, and this pin is for a charity event that I'm very passionate about called Children's Hospital of Orange County Chalk, and people can get this pin by using a link that I can provide them.
00:12:48
Speaker
and they click on that link they go to my page they donate thirty dollars and write the word pin in and make sure i know who you are and where i saw you and i'll make sure you get one they're limited to a hundred and over sixty five are gone so it's doing really really well and um this is all charity this is one of the reasons it goes directly to my um page is so people can feel confident that it's all going to the charity event. So I can put something in the chat or whatever, but but it's ah it's ah it's an amazing it's an amazing piece. i was I'm really proud of it and really happy that that it's taking care of a charity that I really believe in. So that's what I've been doing.
00:13:35
Speaker
Terry, the last time you were on, you you also showed us some cool stuff that you were working on. You showed us that that chess set that we were waiting to hear more and more about. And every time you come on, you're like, look at this cool thing that I did. And I'm like, I love it. it's so You know, it's really, really nice because I am semi-retired and every artist knows that you don't completely retire. But retirement is really lovely because I've realized that it means creating art without a deadline. yeah And I'm just a little bit excited about that. I really, really like just creating to create and taking my time and and enjoying the whole experience without worrying about meeting a deadline. So I love that quote so much.
00:14:20
Speaker
Yeah, yeah it giving it yeah, without a deadline. And it's just magical. This has been the chess set is coming along. um The challenge with the chess set is that, as you know, we lost Roli. So now that we don't have captain or captain, you know, it people are trying to figure out What exactly we want to present and does she feel the same way his wife about that. So I'm just chugging along without a deadline that, you know, making them and.
00:14:55
Speaker
And, uh, knowing that they will get produced, but how we just at this point, we're not sure. So it's just lovely. Thank you for having me. Thank you for coming back. Oh yeah. i'll matt you like it's It's great. It probably would have been a lot better if I was actually here for that first episode. But harry Terry Terry's just real quick. I know we're going to introduce a a friend of ah Terry knows as well. Philo. But um Terry, you had the the honor of being our longest single episode because we had was to talk about the longest single episode. And it was it was so much fun. We just kept going. And it was great. It was such a great conversation.
00:15:38
Speaker
We did, Matthew, and that happens with a lot of podcasters. They go, well, come back and do a part two. And I say, of course you can. There's no and cram at all in one in one. And thank you. So if our listeners didn't get a chance to hear that, Terry was back on episode 15. So she was one of our our earliest ones. But we do have another guest that has joined our our celebration here. Barry, we got Philo. Yeah, ah like I said, and another episode I missed, but Philo and I have been, have been, have been three for them pretty good, pretty good friends on Facebook. So, Philo, my friend, how are you doing tonight? I am doing very well. Thank you. Why don't you have your picture up, Philo? I don't know. Oh, the video is off.
00:16:25
Speaker
here very oh there was so much better honey like to see you again actually yeah most seen This is the most I've seen Terry in a couple years now. I know. And semi-retired, now I can come out and see you where you are, right? and I agree with you. Being semi-retired is great for deadlines. There is no such thing as a deadline. Yay. Last time I saw Philo, I had hair. <unk>s right you Wow. and And I want to take and I want to take it off the record. I was here for the final episode, just so everyone knows that. So i love but yeah you released today.
00:17:08
Speaker
so philo ah So why don't you let everyone know what you've been up to? What have you been doing? um Well, enjoying my semi-retirement. But i'm I'm working up a book cover from my friend Gary Summers, who's written a Broadway show called
Creative Projects & Collaborations
00:17:26
Speaker
Beasties. And it's a science fiction rock opera, of all things. But this is the novelization. So I've been working on a cover for him and attending conventions and the usual thing. the the usual semi-retired thing. That's right. So if Philo, let me let me ask you. I see that Donald Baylor has come in. So let me i me ask you real quick, Philo. So what what's the time frame for your rockhopper? I mean, what's the what's what's the end date for that? Oh, you mean for me personally or? um Well, before for it to come out. Yeah. Oh, the show um is still being
00:18:06
Speaker
developed. But in the meantime, he's brought out the books and um the demo soundtrack, which is um for sale on his site as well. Great. During some notable rock singers. That sounds so good. I keep getting Rocky Horror Picture Show and all that every time I hear hear it. So I'm kind of excited about it. All right. So like I said, next up, one of my favorite episodes that we've done so far, it's been about the Disneyland Hotel and my good friend, Donald Bell is here. Don, how are you doing, buddy? Doing great. Nice to see everybody. I don't see you again. Yeah, good to see you.
00:18:53
Speaker
So let's see. So everyone listening, just so you know, Donald episode was episode 27. So you can go back and listen to episode 27, all about the Disneyland hotel, which was so cool. Oh, it was amazing. And like every time I see like episodes and, Disney Plus. I'm like, we had them on our show. We had them on our show. And and one of the big things is like, I like to say that our our podcast is edutainment because you both get education and entertainment. And yeah every time you guys come on, I'm just overwhelmed. yeah donald ah So why not? ah What have you been up to?
00:19:31
Speaker
um I'm working on a third book and um I have a graphic artist now for that. And it's gonna be on the Disneyland Hotel in the 1960s. And it was the most dynamic decade for the hotel. um I have to find a way to whittle down 1400 photographs because that's what I have currently slated to use in that. And I have to somehow reduce that. And um of course, you mentioned the behind the attractions episode seven on the hotel. That was a lot of fun. I'm doing a Facebook page Disneyland Hotel the early years and posting a lot of vintage photos and material on that.
00:20:16
Speaker
And there's another project that I'm working on that I'm not allowed to talk about yet, but it's um about Disneyland's opening day. um I have film footage in color filmed by Jack Rather on yeah July 17th, 1955. And um it's something related to that, a project related to that. Exciting. Oh my gosh. So a whole bunch I have so many more books that I have to buy and now I have to wait for this i just his project to come out.
00:20:47
Speaker
Okay. it one just wanted and It's not a book. the the the The opening day stuff is not a book. Okay. oh Okay. I'm really thinking that Disney Plus needs to come up with ah like an American Pickers but for Disney. I can just imagine going into ah all the stuff that Donald has, you know, because every time he says all that, And all you, and all you Disney people. I mean, I can just imagine just just picking your brain for an hour and then still wouldn't even scratch the surface. so
00:21:23
Speaker
Yeah, I have, my wife calls it her kitchen. That's my collection. Cause I never rebuilt her kitchen. I kept buying Disney stuff and she's still waiting for me to redecorate her kitchen. but i i But I also have some of the hardbound books available. I think I have seven left. um If anybody wants to get hold of me, get ahold of me through my website or email or or something, smoke signals, whatever you want to do. but We'll put links up. ah Donald, thank you so much for coming out. I know that you said you might have to pop out at some point, but we we really do appreciate you coming back on and and and chatting with us and teasing us with these projects. I'm sure every one of you that's on right now and all the rest of our guests, you have something up your sleeve that we don't know about, but we will refrain from trying to get it out of you. Well, I don't know if Jeff will, but we'll try to refrain from getting it out of you. I know everyone knows me. You guys are awesome. Thank you. You guys are amazing. And Bill, thank you. Bill's here. I can't shut up. but butop All right. So our next guest, I am going to let Jeff introduce. Oh, my God. That's Jeff. So we trip over his mic soon enough. So, Jeff, go ahead. more No, man.
00:22:37
Speaker
yeah um makes it Maybe I will. So oh this is the Disney legend, Bill Farmer, who if if we go back into ah her old interviews, I was just tripping over myself. Oh, my goodness, Bill Farmer. the And and I remember so I'm wearing a shirt that I gave Bill Farmer. Well, that's where that came from. Yeah, it came from me. Yeah. yeah you Back in Lexington. Oh, Lexington. Love that shirt. Well, it came from Lexington, Kentucky. And that's when I met Bill the first time. And I was so nervous. And I was like, this is Bill Farmer. And and um and I remember I said, Bill, I got I got a shirt for you. Hope you like it. And and and Bill's like, I had nobody ever brings me shirts. And that's true. And I told Bill, I said, you know, my great, great cousin was Pat Butram.
00:23:26
Speaker
And so he was right. And so was a I met him just when we did a goofy movie, but he was a great actor. yeah He's a fun voice to do as well. He is. He sure is. And, and that got me just really, I, you know, I grew up imitating Pat Buttrum because I knew he was sort of in my family. And, and then when I found out you were, you know, you love Pat Buttrum too. I i said, Oh, maybe I can do the goofy voice too. Well, I don't know. And I.
00:23:58
Speaker
I always say I said, you know, I had a dog that I bought a little Labrador. ah This is the story of how I ah kind of fell in love with your voice. And I had a little Labrador and I ran out of he loved it listening to Disney songs. And i I ran out of songs to sing him. And then so I started doing goofy. And I'm like, ah oh, well, OK, well, this is this is wonderful. It's just a goofy dog. So. Oh, man. He's a good doggy. He doesn't talk, but he does chew a lot of things. he does um
00:24:37
Speaker
Well, I love your doggy. Yeah. But he was a new one. He's a new one. He's been I was a rescue. We've only had him his first birthday will be in the middle of May. And so we've had him since October. And he's just, you know, a dog without a house. It's just a shell of its former self. So. Yeah. But this guy is like, you know, chewing on my hand right now. And the one I've ever met. But Yes, it's a dog's life after it sure is. And Bill, your your kind your conversation with me was just so meaningful and it was just so heartfelt. And it was the first time where it was, like you know, when I ah people said, did you do your goofy voice for Bill? Because I I think I I think I said this to you, Bill. I said, there's nobody in the world that studies. I don't study goofy's voice. I study your voice.
00:25:31
Speaker
passionately, intentionally. There's been so many nights staying up to 3 a.m., where I'm like, I don't want to because your voice, your voice is the goofy voice. And and for me, you know, Papatram, there's a lot of overlap. There's like. You know, that's just like, well, they will share from non name here, like highs, but then goofy is there's a little highs and lows and highs and i a lot of you know that's exactly how to do it. You've got to go way up there and down, own down to. Yeah. And you are just the goofy voice. I think the world of you. I got another shirt for you, Bill. I got to send you this. guy This has it has goofy and Pluto on it.
00:26:16
Speaker
Oh, my God. Yeah, we always forget Pluto, but he's a great character. and And you do that, too. So I'm going to I got to send this to you. I'm going to shut up. I love you, Bill. You are my hero. I i just think the world of you. and And thank you so much doing what you do. And so go I'll turn it over now. OK, now like an idea. yeah those of you listening bill was ah out of all the guests we have tonight bill you were our earliest guest you were on episode number three
00:26:46
Speaker
ah you were one i ah you were one of the first guest we had where all of a sudden a lot of people that were listening were like Oh my God, you got Bill Farmer on the show. And then everybody else after like we started getting more listeners and it was, oh, I saw Terry, I listened to Terry Hardin. And you know, it was, it was so great to have you on and we super appreciate it. Stick around. You know, I know Jeff's going to want to talk to you. Oh, no, no, no, no. I got to respect Bill's time. that' all We do have another guest that just popped on. I know he's going to be with us for a little bit. And it's also a special
00:27:18
Speaker
day, I believe. Mm hmm. Ooh. Happy your birthday. mail Hey, guys. birthday What a birthday party. Thanks, guys. I was going to have such an illustrious, illustrious birthday party together. We we we kept it a secret. We didn't tell. So how's it going, Mel? Why don't you tell us a little bit what's been going on and a little bit about yourself and that so for the people who haven't heard our ah the episode yet. Oh sure. Yeah, I've just been ah drawing like the wind man when I'm not flying kind of in between trips from ah Columbia, Medellin, Columbia and heading to
00:27:58
Speaker
Italy next week and actually heading to Sacramento tomorrow, but we are with Storyland Studios and we've got a bunch of Motley crew, former Imagineers and Universal creatives and everybody and their mother you know kind of designing theme parks and sit future cities around
Design & Inspiration in Disney
00:28:17
Speaker
the world. So we we just kicked off another Epcot in Florida last week, a thousand acre master plan for a a city that could and should be. And we're just having fun following Walt's footsteps and you know learning from the brain damage of the masters that trained us up. so
00:28:35
Speaker
but ah Mel, I, after we recorded, I started following you on Facebook and I can't get over like how many different places you've been to and all these different projects you're working on. And you're like, yeah, we're building a city. And I'm like, just building a city. it's yeah No, it's no big deal. Well, designing is different than building, but it takes right we've got a small army, we've got about 150, again, team members on on the Storyland crew. But yeah, it did that is a hip of the spear compared to what it takes to get this stuff built. So for those of you again, listening, if you want to catch Mel's episode, that was episode 33. Uh, and it was another great episode. Every one of our, I can't, I say it the same thing. I know I'm repeating myself. I apologize to all of our guests, but and you just hold up a sign great Great to be with you guys.
00:29:27
Speaker
We appreciate it so very much. And on your birthday, like, again, thank you for taking the time on your birthday to come come back and support us and be here and celebrate and all our guests. Oh, my goodness. Like, well, keep me younger. Right. Well, what what do you expect for an 18 year old? Come on. I mean, that's right. Yeah. That's how I stay 18. Sleeping on planes and being on my gas number. Yeah. And Mel, ah before we jump off, why don't you give everyone your podcast so they can follow you on that? Yeah. Thrilled to a themed attraction ah podcast. Again, we've got to get you on there, Terry. It's a bunch of former Imagineers. and That would be lots of fun. Yeah, we've had we had a blast with Don and Tony Bruno from the Disneyland Hotel where I actually started my career when I was still in film school as well. But yeah, it's a an honor to be on on yours and love to have a couple of guys on ours. so All right. Our next guest, you also can find him on Disney Plus shows as well. Bill Cotter, how are you doing tonight? Doing fine. Another beautiful day in paradise.
00:30:41
Speaker
worried ice is not a bad place to be a right, I reckon. So Bill, why don't you go ahead and let the people who are viewing in and some of the people who haven't heard the podcast where you've been up to you and what's your future plans? Well, ah look lots of things going on right now. Folks that I'm not familiar with, that I did a and went to the 64 World's Fair a lot as a kid, which is what led to my going to work for Disney later on. And this happens to be the 60th anniversary of the World's Fair.
00:31:14
Speaker
and you know you try to think people would notice it, but everybody's sort of like, oh, it's right now. So as as soon as I might have to take a break from this, because I got a photographer coming over, take pictures of me and some of my World's Fair stuff for a Long Island newspaper, but all sorts of World's Fair celebrations and things going on. And not just ah enjoying, you know, my own trip down memory lane when I was 12 years old, and, you know, the whole world was bright and and sunny and I still waiting for my undersea hotels, but yeah.
00:31:48
Speaker
yeah the So if you wanted to catch the episode that is back on episode 28 that we had Bill on. So again, Bill, thank you so much for coming on. Matt is so on. It's like you're a history teacher or something, Matt. It's like that, right? No, all our history. I wanted to be able to plug where they can go back and listen to all of our guests and hear the whole story if they haven't had the chance or not the whole story, part of the story. I know we say it when we record with you, but we have to have all of you back because I know there's a lot more story that we can get out of all of you. yeah And Barry, I love all of our guests. We just let somebody in that created a story that I loved and I know I spoke a lot about it when we recorded our episode.
00:32:35
Speaker
Who might that be? I was waiting for you. I knew exactly where you're going to go. So we have Jerry Reese. I was super excited when I had Jerry Reese's great when Larry told me that you were going to be one of our guests. And I was like, oh, I can't wait to talk about this because it was a movie that I loved when I was growing up. And of course, that's a brave little toaster, but I'm super excited to ah that you're here and you're back with us. And how have you been? What have you been up to since we last chatted? Good pleasure to be here amongst all these wonderful people. Gee, creativity pouring off the screen. it's Amazing.
00:33:12
Speaker
I've just been continuing to pursue the illusion of life everywhere. Story, character, emotion, human connection. And there more and more tools are evolving to help us do that. And I'm just diving in and trying to shape all of them to be our next canvas. Hey, Matt, I got a crazy thought.
Podcast Philosophy & Education
00:33:31
Speaker
You know, we have we have all these guests. We have all these people here. And it just occurred to me that some of these people might actually know some of these people. Yeah. Right. Yeah. So bring in. Let me bring in our last two guests that we have because we do have more waiting. Yeah. But but I know that some of you know each other. So before we go any farther, we had a person in the live feed.
00:33:57
Speaker
Mr. Farmer, they want to know what your dog's name is. Yes. My dog's name is Skipper, and he's actually a rescue. He in ah and a sibling were put in a dumpster by someone that kind of had lost it, been rescued. And through a long series of events, ah we were without a dog. We lost our a dog about a year, a year and a half ago. And and my daughter-in-law knew that we were looking heard about this dog that was putting this dumpster and we came over, we fell in love and he was running around the front to front lawn and he's just captured our hearts and ah most of our ah ah furniture too. by
00:34:41
Speaker
And he's just ah adorable, but he he's such an odd mixture. I even have to have it written down. We did a DNA to find out what kind of dog he is. And he's such a mutt. It's just incredible. ah Let me see. I can read the DNA thing we did. We get in a saliva ah a sample was part of his part. We've done that because. but According to this, he is 21.5% American bully, 20.5% Chihuahua, 14.9% French Bulldog, 10% Bulldog, 8.2% Maltese, 7.5% Poodle, 7.2% American Pit Bull Terrier, and about 10% other things. other Wow. well He's interesting. He's definitely a mutt. and Yeah, we we' call them Hines 57. Yeah, exactly. They're d the best. I'm not sure. That's great.
00:35:44
Speaker
So for those of you, just so you know, Jerry Reese's episodes were actually that was our first split episode ah where we we did take our cue from Terry's because we crammed in three hours. week We could split these probably. So Jerry's episodes were back on 17 and 18. But Barry, we did just hear another so mystery voice enter the chat as our next guest has joined us. Yeah, I'm kind of thinking he's probably some sort of former Imagineer and he gives people tours around Disney, I think. It's Mr. Brian Callens. How are you doing, sir? I'm doing great. Thank you very much. So glad to be among this distinguished group. Yeah, hopefully you see some of the people that you know here. So Brian, what have you been up to?
00:36:33
Speaker
Well, most recently, interestingly enough, I am now teaching full-time at the University university central of Santa Florida. So I go from, ah you know, my normal life to also being professor Collins, but teaching courses, we offer a degree in themed entertainment and attractions operations and management. So I get to teach the next generation everything, I learned about product development theme parks and new emerging technologies and all kinds of just really cool stuff. So that's been, that's been really kind of fun for me.
00:37:13
Speaker
I love when teachers pop in, when you go back to teaching. ah You can't guess I'm a teacher. So I'd like to when i hear some of that. But so you have to go all the way back to episode 10 to catch our our interview with ah Brian, another one of our earlier guests. And thank you again for coming back. um I mean, almost a year later to celebrate with us. So Yeah, today's kind of a melancholy day for me. It's the, what, 33rd anniversary of the studio's opening day writing. And one one of my um favorite projects I got to work on was plusing the script and then the staging and the great movie ride, which unfortunately is no longer with us. But I've been seeing all kinds of wonderful tributes to the studios and that attraction as well.
00:38:05
Speaker
That was a definite favorite among growing up and amongst my family. That was a definite favorite. I used to, ah you know, walk people around the parks, you know, and show them around and stuff. And I would always say, well, you know, at one point I worked on the backstage studio tour, but we don't have that here anymore. And I worked on the animation, you know, studio tour. We don't have that anymore. I've worked on behind the scenes where we don't have that anymore, but but I always took solace in the fact that, you know, I was very proud to say, but I also, I worked on the great movie ride and that's never going to go anywhere because, you know, that's like the marquee attraction. Then that went away and I was like, ah.
00:38:53
Speaker
Are you kidding me? We got the jungle crew stuff, right? but Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you've you've done and you've done your work on the jungle cruise. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. I helped create Albert AWOL and his radio broadcast. Yeah. Some love Albert. Fab puns and things like that. So it was fun. And I worked at Disney Animation in Florida. We used to sneak over there and take a ride on the great movie ride.
00:39:24
Speaker
yeah We heard some amazing stories from from all of you, ah ah but for some reason some of the animators definitely had a lot of interesting stories of gorilla hunts and ah yeah a lot a lot of fun seemed to be happening in the background where you guys were animating. Yes, that was in California. We had our own zaniness in Florida though too. So Barry, we have the last guest. There was something about Moose Day. Yes, that was Moose Day.
00:39:58
Speaker
kind of moose day But we've got David Block who just entered to ah join in. Hey, Dave Block. Hi, Jerry. Hi. Speed. Dave, how are you doing? Good. How are you? Good. Glad you can be here. Why don't you go ahead and tell everybody what you've been up to and what's what's your future plans? What's going on? so My future plans are I'm still retired. yeah After 43 years, I but decided that was enough.
00:40:32
Speaker
and but one of the people was just talking about the animation studio tour in Florida and I have a story I can tell that back in the day I was directing television for Disney and I get this letter sort of a manila envelope and it's full of quick draw gesture drawings And it's from a fella who is feeling tortured because he wants to get into the Florida Disney's animation studio. And he hasn't been able to break through, but every day,
00:41:13
Speaker
he has to give the studio tour through the animation studio. So he's literally seen the very place where he wants to work and can't. And I don't know how many letters he put out into the cosmos, but he was looking for help. He was looking for someone to look at his work and see what he was missing and so on and so forth. So I decided to respond, not knowing that I was going to be the only one who was going to respond. and
00:41:45
Speaker
And we we ended up exchanging, you know, he would, I would do drawings over his drawings, so I'd send him back. He'd do more work. And long story short, he finally got into Florida Disney. And as fortunate would have it, and it's ah it's a Cinderella story because the guy's name was Byron Howard. And he became the most prolific animation director with more Oscars than anybody that of ah my generation. He's got more than anybody. He's got Zootopia. He's got Tangled, I think. Anyway, he's got quite a few. Turned out to be an incredibly talented guy. He became an animator. Then he became a really good story guy. And it's one of those feel-good stories. Awesome. Yeah.
00:42:39
Speaker
Well, to finish answering your question, I've been retired from animation. I still give talks every once in a while. We had this thing that was not long ago. Jerry was in it involved with it as well. It's called the cp CTN Expo. It was back in November. That was a lot of fun. i I'm and really involved with student the Student Academy Awards. So they had me there to give a talk with one of the finalists. And I had a great time. It was fun to see people. I haven't seen it a long time and and stuff like that. But I put the pencil down and and traded it in for a paintbrush. And I've been painting a lot ever since. So
00:43:27
Speaker
It's always nice to run into people. I still have lunches and stuff like that. But my ah my involvement in animation is is in the rearview mirror. And beautiful paintings, I must say. I've been to multiples of your shows, Dave, and you really stand out. Thanks, Jerry. Thank you. Appreciate it. Appreciate it. So here's here's here's a question. So it's one year. we We've done this for one year. And I know y'all a lot of y'all have had and you know, uh, podcasts before or interviews, some, some more than others, but you know, we're a growing podcast. We're, we're, we're a group of people that we want to get better. We want to to do better. And a year later, it's sort of like, okay, you know, we, we want to be slightly different. We want to be able to, when you all hop on our podcast, we don't want it to be a chore. That's the worst thing you could ever do. Right? So.
00:44:26
Speaker
We just drain your energy gotta talk about all the stuff you've talked about before oh my gosh and we got it you gotta go through the same things what what i think the podcast we want to be is a podcast that you're like oh goodness i can't wait to to hop on and to talk. And here's my question. what What does that look like? Because i I think for us a year later, it's sort of like, that's where we want to go. We want to be the kind of podcast where forward to hopping on. It's not some sort of obligation or, it's you know, it's it's ah it's a a safe place where you feel like you you can express yourself. You know, we're here for you. We're not going to like
00:45:09
Speaker
You know, we're not here for, we're not actually here for clicks. Like we're really not, you know, but, but what does that look like for you all? Like how a year later from, from us and and you all have been with us for, you know, at least a couple hours or an hour or two, you know, like in your own world, what's a year later from now, you know, what's the perfect, if you could wave a magic wand, what's What's the perfect podcast where you feel like you can't wait to hop on?
Interactivity & Peer Sharing
00:45:39
Speaker
I'll tell you one thing that ah excites me is not knowing what people are going to be interested in. yeah And I've you know i've had some where people only type in a yeah ah text question and then it's read to me. I love a situation like this where you see everyone and especially for people who tune in and they want to ask a question, I love it if they can pop their camera on. I i get to hear yeah what they're interested in and and have them do follow up questions and stuff because I you know i don't know what You know, we're you're right that we are used to telling certain stories, but they take us off the beaten path when they start asking their own questions because people have their own interests. Yeah. I love it. That's a very good point. Yeah. I also, you know, really enjoy like a lot of you folks, I don't think I've ever really kind of met a person, but I know your names for sure. And for me, that's like really kind of fun to kind of get a chance to
00:46:35
Speaker
maybe feel like panel style podcasts where, you know, we get a chance to kind of be in reminisce because it's really funny. A lot of us who have worked in WDI, you know, have worked on similar projects or sometimes the same projects and they didn't realize it and kind of being able to go back and talk about that and compare notes and in oh, you know, this guy or that guy or whatever. And there's some really kind of fun stories that can come out of those kinds of interactions and just gave some of my peers and colleagues here. would Logistically, if you could get two of us on at the same time, then then we start playing off of one another and
00:47:20
Speaker
And a lot of times we'll crack each other up. So, you know, it becomes even more spontaneous. the david Two animators walk into a wall or even worse worse. That's a podcast in and of itself. they i dont think it so that For instance, if you get two voice casting, people together they're hysterical I mean, they're just they're just really funny people naturally. And and recording sessions were some of my fun my favorite things to do because, A, your you're seeing icons work most impersonal, but they're generally really funny people. So if you could if you maybe could get two people together, that would be really cool.
00:48:06
Speaker
I think sometimes I think sometimes that might be I think that you could do that. And that would be great. I think that um one of the things that I enjoy more than anything is someone wanting to know. And I'm finding that I'm answering more than anything is what did it feel like? Yeah. Not so much. What is your body of work? I did this. I did this. I did this. I tried. Honestly, it's wonderful. It's exciting. It's fabulous. But I think most people out there kind of want to know, you know, what did it feels like when you you found out you became an Imagineer. What was it like meeting and working with? Yeah, Imagineering is is collaboration. And one of the things that makes Imagineering very special
00:48:54
Speaker
is that you have all these superpowers yeah and very little ego. And this is a really wonderful place for creativity to flourish. And from that comes a lot of great magic. and So to for people to understand that it's not about you. It's about the collective that I think it's something that you could dig deeper into and make that, you know, make that actually, you know, work. I think it's great if you have a couple of people on. You have to be a little bit careful with a couple of people, because I'll tell you, when we get together, we like to dish Disney dirt.
00:49:36
Speaker
You don't want that. You don't want that on a but pretty tame though. You know, we're like, well, you're a tame. i yeah yeah Okay. So the difference is when you get together and you start dishing the Disney dirt, when you're together, you don't want that on a public channel. So absolutely it's it's it's more of a thing that you put behind right a closed door. I have to tell you how many times Terry and I have done that too. But I got to tell you, Bob Gurr, Rolly Crump, Martis Gillard, Tony Baxter and me at dinner. I barely said and laughed my backside off because it was all the Disney dirt. And I love that, you know, behind the that behind the scenes stuff. But it has to be done with great. It has done very, very carefully and in a public place. And yeah and new well said, well said, because, you know, ah on on this here podcast, we i always say something. If you go back some of the episodes, I say story shapes life. Like we love stories. We want to hear, you know, I was just talking to Bill. I was like, here's my stories, all about stories. Here's my story, ah you know, of of being a kid and and fall in love with with voice acting and and and all that. And
00:50:59
Speaker
what What we invite every guest to do here is is to to tell their story. And I think the stories that shape, you know, yeah we all have our stories and that that has shaped your life. Well, let's share them. And that's sharing the magic. So it's like it's it's sharing your story. And guess what? it I mean, when you hear other people's stories, it's it's um it's beautiful. It's inspiring. Now, there're you're right. There is a place for vulnerability, but we are in a place where we don't want to. ah
00:51:32
Speaker
but Hey, we're, we we respect everyone. You mean this isn't the support group I signed up for? You can. I mean, the OD on the pixie dust support. That's Thursday. We don't, we don't know what's on here on the wrong night. sorry and you mean now you did do something by score but starts you that person on this but On this thing, you got to be kind of cool. So you got to be a little careful. yeah A lot of people, a lot of people think that artists just work in their cubicle and they're just like themselves. um no interrupt Like I spent a year working with Philo on the Little Mermaid books. that's right and And we had, I mean, not only I'm working on one end, but then he's working on the other end. And then all the stories he had being involved in the film yeah and then working on the, you know, on the other part of it, trying you know, making the product.
00:52:28
Speaker
So you've got all of that going on with all of the artists that are involved and talking with animators and learning even the color studies. yeah know yeah it's It's pretty amazing. It's the magic of what we do. It's it's a community it's a community art form. And it's a you know and and then to execute and operate operate something, it really is this communal act of producing. That's education every every minute every day, yeah. We're all interested in ah creating entertainment. That's that's what we did. Yeah. Well, in Philo, you had me do, you put me in that tank. The swimming, or Little Mermaid, at they analyzed. In your first tail, yeah. For Ariel swimming. That tail's right here.
00:53:16
Speaker
That thing is still here, my mermaid tail, I built. That thing is still going strong. So every time I look at it, I think of that sequence that we did together where you had me where Disney had me swim so that they can. We shot that at Walt Disney Imagineering in the tank or the round. Yeah. Threw me in the water. It's a beautiful story. realism So we actually, Joseph, you I mean, Jerry, earlier you had said you love when we get like viewer questions and we actually do have a viewer question. I know Tina wants to happen for Joe. Yeah, so we have a viewer asking about some of your pumpkins there, Joe. I guess they noticed Mike was asking there in the background. Do you have any specific designs or plans for this upcoming year? You want to share with us maybe? I actually don't have any plans right now.
00:54:04
Speaker
I have some plans for you. show you a abetic um for your life for you some pumpkin I'd like to see you get some decent pumpkins and sculpt because I get really sad when I watch you sculpt pumpkins that aren't really conducive to good sculpture. And you are moment you are a stone's throw away from a place where they could be purchasing some decent pumpkins. I'm a pumpkin judge on outrageous pumpkins. so But, you know, i that was, i you know, when I go, I'm looking there and I'm like, he is struggling on this pumpkin that has been dead way longer than it should be. And it just makes me want to cry. So I would love it if there was a way that they could get you some decent material to to work on. And it's not far from where you are when you come to visit us. Yeah. Yeah. You need a monster pumpkin.
00:55:01
Speaker
Well, not even a monster, but just one that you can that you can carve. you know Joe is really good, but when you're carving something that just will not yield or it's so old, it doesn't hold on it, it's rough. There's a difference between a jack-o'-lantern pumpkin and like a Big Mac that's got you know eight inches of flesh inside. right That's what I was talking about. Right, but you can get yourself a wolf. And you got two and a half and it's papaya like flesh to car. So that's what I'm talking about. You just keep giving you junk. And that's not fair. Yeah. Yeah. I didn't know I'd be learning so much about pumpkins today. it's
00:55:41
Speaker
neith That's the beauty of things like this. You get exposed to things you wouldn't normally see in your own sphere. Bill, let me tell you something about pumpkin carving.
Unique Careers & Clarifications
00:55:52
Speaker
I've been an outrageous pumpkin judge judge since 2005. A good, excellent, incredible pumpkin carver can make two to three hundred thousand dollars in two months. So it's not really a hobby. It is actually a huge, incredible art form that does not... ye that that I think in the case of Joe, who's a brilliant sculptor, and you're looking at these sculptors and they're trying to sculpt something that just doesn't work. I mean, a paintbrush will not... cut down stone, it will not carve stone. I don't care how much you put the paintbrush to it and you keep saying paintbrush, it doesn't work. So that's one of the things that I keep saying is that when Joe comes out, he should just tell them where where they can go to get decent pumpkins so he can carve some some good stuff so the Halloween experience is great.
00:56:48
Speaker
I just do want to point out that Mel had to leave. ah He just, he just popped out. It is his birthday. So I'm sure he's off parties stop celebrating. and the boy We do want to say thank you to Mel for being on and and coming with us again to celebrate. So just wanted to throw that out there, but please continue these conversations right now. I just feel like a fan. Like, you know how 18 year olds are. so Right. You got to go party all night. So I think, I think your next venture should be, you should do pumpkins, but you should, you should do like imagineers just through their face, all those start lining them up. And if they like it, they can purchase it from you. Otherwise, you know, I'm pretty sure, I'm pretty sure they're in the Disney bubble. I'm pretty sure there'd be a thousand people that would, you did a Walt Disney one. I bet you would get, you would get a lot of people who would want.
00:57:42
Speaker
and Any trouble is what you're going to look like a week later after you buy your mom. You look sad. Yeah. And you do them out of the soul punk and suddenly you have a piece of art that lasts. Yeah. So um we actually um we have another kind of viewer question. Rachel has somebody with her that did have a question ah that wanted to pop on Rachel. Hey, I am so delighted to be here. I power listened to everyone's podcasts between the last few days, but there's a couple of that to that. Terry, I just love your interview. It was amazing. I want to go start a second business. You're so lovely. Thank you, Rachel. My daughter is 15 years old, and she had a question for Mr. Farmer.
00:58:37
Speaker
And her question is, is goofy a dog or a cow? Oh, no. yeah This is a huge is a huge or not the question. I'm so sorry. We're so sorry. Just a short condensed answer. It would be great. Yeah, of course, of course. ah Yeah, ah Goofy is not a cow. I'm not yeah really sure. I think it was from just someone that came up with this weird little story just for the fun of it and it got caught, you know, and it caught up in the whole whole thing. I get asked that quite often. No, he is a dog, his original name, Dippy Dog, D-A-W-G. So it's not like
00:59:20
Speaker
Pluto. I mean, I've done Pluto for as long as I've done Goofy. And ah there is a difference. ah Goofy is the way I look at it. He's a canine. I think of him as a canine, but not a dog. He's a dog dog. Goofy's a man dog. So he's like, a you know, ah Canis Goofus, I think is what add this goof is from a scientific standpoint. But no, he is now he has had, you know, yeah, I think he's dated Clarabelle a little bit in the movie ah Three Musketeers that we did. Yeah, Clarabelle wanted to kill Goofy, but fell in love with it. Who wouldn't?
01:00:02
Speaker
um But no, ah Goofy is definitely in the canine family, but he's like Cher or someone else that has one name. He's an original. Yes. And she could look up and she could look up on Google Dippy Dog and see how he evolved. Right. Very first images. Ultimately, he's a drawing. yeah So, you know, yeah yeah If you get right down to it. Yeah. And that I would I would remark that people don't have enough to do if that's what they're. I know. I agree. see A cow. Hmm. OK. I don't see taking go out for a walk, though. If there are you going to take some out for a walk, you'd be a little confused. Well, I'm just having a hard time thinking how anybody could think Goofy was a cow. I'm lost on that.
01:00:55
Speaker
at the same height as clabel Yeah, that's about it, really. He doesn't look like at Cal to me. Yeah, there's no quite obviously a hard part. Well, yeah, we don't want to go down the hole, you know, where Max came from and all that.
01:01:18
Speaker
time bill the i don't know if you remember because it was episode three but um when you were on my son lincoln i told them the voice of goofy and pluto is coming out and he's a huge pluto fan and he had asked you ah what would a ah pluto movie look like instead of a goofy movie because we had just watched a goofy yeah Yeah, I don't know if any of you noticed his face was just here a second ago is kind of showing who everybody was. And he goes, that's Mr. Farmer. That's Pluto. So I just wanted to let you know he did remember your name as soon as he saw you. So he was all that. So that's so kind. Yeah, it's a little does actually I love doing Pluto. And it's a little like
01:02:00
Speaker
and um Fencing with one hand tied behind your back because it's a little rough on the throat and we always do goofy first and all the lines on a television show or whatever. Then we go back and pick up Pluto because, right you know, you start barking and you have to do but quizzical barks and all knowing barks and yes, type of barks and I'm confused kind of barks. It's very difficult to do that without actually using words. But he's a great character and A lot of a lot of great cartoons have come out with Pluto. He sometimes the forgotten, you know, fab five per member. Yeah, Bill was Mickey's Christmas Carol your first goofy film.
01:02:43
Speaker
No, no, no, that was eighty forty and that was before I came out to California. I came out in eighty six. so com It's kind of interesting. it's It's kind of one of those inside things that no one knows. ah The first movie I worked on that had Goofy in it was ah Roger Rabbit. And but I did not do goofy in Roger Rabbit. That was Tony Pope, my ah ah predecessor. um But I was on the ADR group, so I got to do several little background voices in that movie. And if you remember that movie toward the end, they had the song Smile, Darn You, Smile. I was in that group. I sang it several times and they stacked it. And one time through, I did goofy because I was doing the voice by that time. And so I kind of snuck him in there, but he's uncredited.
01:03:31
Speaker
Yeah, it was it was your first one was ah goofy or Disney's dog on val Valentine's. Right. That was. Yeah, I can tell you January 23rd of 1987. So that was the first real one. And ah that's what started the whole ball rolling. I'll do it for you. Oh, if I step on the gas. Well, I'm out of here. yeah But that's right. That's exactly what I said. And I I loop that to picture replacing dialogue from an old goofy cartoon terrified me. I'd never done that before. And that was that was a memorable day for me. Special.
Conclusion & Future Anticipation
01:04:11
Speaker
Well, everyone, that's it for part one of our one year live celebration that we held back on May 1st. We want to thank all of our special guests that joined us and we want to thank all of you for tuning in. Please be sure to hit that follow button to stay up to date on our latest episodes as they come out, as well as to catch part two of our live celebration next week. We also want to invite you to follow us on our social media platforms on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok at SharingTheMagicPod. Thank you all for tuning in, and until next time, keep sharing the magic.
01:04:51
Speaker
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