MAKING THE RIDE – PAGE THREE

SALUTING THE CAPTAIN

Though Walt Disney involved himself in many projects simultaneously, both in the Park and at his Studio, history and his co-workers consider Pirates of the Caribbean the last attraction Walt personally supervised to its installation. Indeed, he'd worked with his WED artisans on plans for the Haunted Mansion years before Pirates came to fruition, and the empty Mansion edifice sat completed at the Rivers of America shore since 1963. Walt also saw Marc Davis working on early concepts later to become the Country Bear Jamboree, not to mention Walt's grandest dream yet: his visions for EPCOT and Walt Disney World. He had already quietly purchased hundreds of acres of lowlands near Orlando, Florida on which to build his newest world, though he never saw this dream realized.

Walt and John Hench give Ambassador Julie Reihm a televised tour of Imagineering

Pirates of the Caribbean's installation in Anaheim was well under way by late autumn of 1966, and Walt had seen and approved full-size mock-ups of some scenes including the Auction. Eighteen months earlier, Walt hosted a television special celebrating Disneyland's tenth anniversary, giving viewers and Disneyland Ambassador Julie Reihm a tour in miniature of New Orleans Square and its centerpiece, the Pirates attraction. One hesitates to state that Disney's reputation was on the line with the future debut of his buccaneer spectacle, but as always he impressed his personal stamp and enthusiasm into its mettle and promoted it to an auspicious occasion.

Walt worked hard to see his newest land and latest ride come to life, but his failing health betrayed his efforts and intention. Cancer attributable to his lifelong smoking habit cost him a lung in early November 1966, but during that operation doctors gave Walt's family a grim diagnosis: the cancer had spread in Walt's system and he likely wouldn't live more than six months to two years. After mandatory hospital care and rest, Walt grew restless and returned to work within a couple weeks, considerably weaker and frail in appearance, to the shock of his employees. Yet Walt made the rounds across all aspects of production - film, television and theme park - determined to press on and ensure all his projects kept moving forward. No doubt, a bit of checking up on people occurred as well, to see if they kept busy and productive during his absence.

At the Studio, Walt met with Imagineer Roger Broggie for an update on Pirates' progress: the completed ride was being installed at the Park, but Broggie warned that more testing was needed on-site to fine tune the highly complicated show programming, effects and ride systems. Dry run testing in WED warehouses proved the Pirates sang, staggered and battled well enough, but myriad adjustments both major and minor were required to produce the final waterproofed and water-proven show Walt expected. Those in company management more concerned with the business bottom line urged a Christmas opening of Pirates, mere weeks away. Walt backed Broggie's concerns and motives, and approved all the testing and time required to perfect the attraction as envisioned, even if it meant opening in the new year. Again, Disney chose show quality over financial pressures and profit analysis . . . a decision which ensured his reputation as an integrity-driven creator, and also fated him to never see Pirates of the Caribbean open its doors to a waiting public.

Within a month of that meeting, on December 15, 1966, Walt Disney died, leaving behind him a world mourning the loss of an innovative genius, peerless showman, and generous benefactor to the best qualities in people of all ages and nations. Perhaps none but his family were at more of a loss than his Studio artists, writers, producers, directors and especially his close-knit team at WED, which Walt helmed directly as his theme park dreams expanded. His Imagineers were suddenly marooned without their captain, their navigator of visionary seas which only Walt could map accurately. To lose him so close to arriving at their destination, the Disneyland premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean, was a bitter, painful blow - yet they would indeed finish the journey Walt began, in honor of their fallen commander and comrade.

YE COMES SEEKIN' ADVENTURE AND SALTY OLD PIRATES, EH?

On March 18, 1967, only three months after Walt's passing, Pirates of the Caribbean launched into theme park history on a gray, drizzly spring day which failed to dampen the spirits of the press and guests invited to the premiere event.

As seen in the elaborately enacted ceremonies preserved in a television special: a ragtag crew of pirates commandeered the sailing ship Columbia with flashes of cannon fire and clashes of steel blades, dumping the navy crew overboard and hoisting the below-decks 'wenches' over their shoulders in conquest - much to the entertainment of press reporters and in hilarious contrast to the politically correct mindset which altered Pirates three decades later. The buccaneers punched open barrels of "grog" with their sword hilts, offering all aboard a tankard to celebrate their victory. Sailing the Columbia under the skull and crossbones, the pirates docked at New Orleans Square and disembarked to raid the town. Two loyal town guards at the Pirates entrance made a valiant stand, but were defeated in a brief play-acting battle, leaving the pirate hoard to break down the (fake) doors and officially open Pirates of the Caribbean to all those seeking high adventure and golden treasure.

What follows is my virtual tour through the attraction, primarily as it was seen in 1967, accompanied by behind the scenes information and my own reflections on growing up and growing older with this classic ride.

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