The Carolwood Foundation is hosting a special event called “Return to Rainbow Ridge” at Garner Holt Productions in Redlands, California, on Saturday, October 3.
At this event, guests may have the chance to tour Garner Holt’s production studio, enjoy dinner, & hear from people who built, operated, & rode Mine Train Through Nature’s Wonderland. The main event will feature a panel of speakers talking about the history of The Mine Train Through Nature’s Wonderland ride, how it came to be, personal memories from some special guests, and more!
More guests have been recently announced for this event, which will definitely make this event shine.
During the event, there will be presentations by Walt’s granddaughter Joanna Miller (sharing personal memories of experiencing the attraction with her grandfather), Disney Legend Bob Gurr and Garner Holt (offering behind-the-scenes insights into the creation of the original attraction as well as the engine restoration), and a lively panel discussion with members of the Order of the Red Handkerchief (former Disneyland cast members who worked the attraction from 1956-1977).
Other guests who are scheduled to attend include Disney Legend Floyd Norman, former Imagineer Tania McKnight Norris, Disney Legend Bob Gurr, Johnny Whitaker, Javier Soto, and Caitlin McHugh. There will be a silent auction and a live auction that will include one-of-a-kind and once-in-a-lifetime experiences.
Disney Legend Floyd Norman once said, “I first recognized Walt Disney’s signature before I could read. I would see that famous signature on books and comics, and I asked my grandmother, ‘What is that name?’ She said, ‘That’s Walt Disney.’ I never forgot that name. I just felt like I wanted to work at the Disney Studio one day.” Floyd worked as an in-betweener and animator on Sleeping Beauty, The Sword in the Stone, and The Jungle Book, along with various animated short projects at Disney in the late 1950s and early ‘60s. After Walt Disney died in 1966, Floyd left Disney to co-found the AfroKids animation studio with animator and director Leo Sullivan. He returned to Disney in the early 1970s to work on Robin Hood, was a layout artist on Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch, an animator on Jabberjaw, character designer and key layout artist on The New Fred and Barney Show, and key layout artist on The Kwicky Koala Show. Floyd also worked on Toy Story 2 and Monsters, Inc. for Pixar and The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Mulan for Disney, among others. He has continued to work for The Walt Disney Company as a consultant on various projects.
Disney Legend Bob Gurr was born in Los Angeles and was fascinated with tools, mechanical devices, and cars. He often crawled through a hole in the fence of nearby Grand Central Air Terminal in Glendale to sneak into the cockpits of idle transport airplanes, while at school he decorated his test papers with sketches of automobiles. WED Enterprises, today known as Walt Disney Imagineering, hired Bob to consult on the design of miniature cars for Autopia. Walt Disney was so impressed with Bob’s knowledge and skill that he invited him to join the Imagineering family, which was then solely dedicated to the design and construction of Disneyland. Bob worked transportation magic, developing the memorable Flying Saucers attraction in Tomorrowland, the antique cars and double-decker buses of Main Street, U.S.A., Ford Motor Company’s Magic Skyway, which premiered at the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair, and more. Bob also helped design the mechanical workings of Disney’s first Audio-Animatronics human figure, Abraham Lincoln, featured in Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. As he’s often quipped, “If it moves on wheels at Disneyland, I probably designed it.”
Tania McKnight Norris may not sound familiar when you hear her name, but you will recognize her work. She was born in Scotland and spent her childhood in the United Kingdom. She trained as an interior decorator in London before moving to Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). In 1963, moved to Los Angeles for her husband’s profession. Norris was hired in 1964 as an interior designer at WED Enterprises, the arm of Walt Disney Productions that covered all projects apart from films. She worked with many Disney Legends on projects spanning Disneyland attractions, original concepts for Walt Disney World Resort, and Expo 67 in Montreal. In addition to contributing to the overall design of New Orleans Square, one of her signature contributions to themed entertainment history was her design for the iconic purple wallpaper used in the Haunted Mansion.
Actor Johnny Whitaker was born in Southern California and began his professional acting career at the age of three by appearing in a television commercial for a local used-car dealer. He starred in Family Affair for CBS from 1966-1971. In 1973, he starred in Tom Sawyer, an American musical film adaptation of the Mark Twain novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer directed by Don Taylor. The film was produced by Reader’s Digest in collaboration with Arthur P. Jacobs, and its screenplay and songs were written by the Sherman Brothers. Whitaker later became a certified drug counselor and founder of a nonprofit organization for Spanish-speaking addicts.
Also making appearances are Disney artist Javier Soto and actress Caitlin McHugh.
Events like these are great because you get to spend time with people who have helped create the magic at Disney Parks and who may have even worked for Walt Disney himself. Hearing their stories about their careers is something that will fascinate you.
Tickets for “Return to Rainbow Ridge” may be purchased here.
What do you think of the guests who have been added to celebrate Mine Train Through Nature’s Wonderland? Does this event interest you? Let us know in the comments.
