The Fabulous Disney Babe
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When Pete worked in the studios art props department, one of the things they
worked on was the 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea Exhibit for Disneyland. A young
boy named Tom Scherman visited the exhibit many times. He would sneak behind
the scenes of the exhibit and smuggle out small pieces that he found laying
around on the floor. As he grew, so did his fascination with Disney's Nautilus.
In the eighties, a friend of Pete's told him about an amazing mechanical man
That Tom had built. Tom and Pete met and became good friends. Pete did the
narration for the Nautilus walkthrough in Paris and visited Tom as he was
working on the set. In the art props department he noted that when the Haunted
Mansion first opened guests stole all of the brass knobs from the queues.
Inside the Nautilus, There were all sorts of props, magnifying glasses, etc. he
asked Tom "Aren't you going to glue that down?"
"Over there," Tom said, "they won't touch it."
Shortly thereafter, Tom approached him about a trailer for a pilot he and Tony
Baxter were working on for a proposed Disney Channel series about Discovery
Bay. Pete was amazed when he saw the set they had built. It was all foam core
and stick-on textures, but it looked marvelous. It was filmed at the former
Coast Special Effects studio on Lankershim, Not too far from where we were
eating lunch that day. The trailer was shot in two days. On day one, Pete had
to act as if he were walking down the stairs. In reality, he had to bend his
knees and fake it. Pete played Jason Chandler, An inventor and explorer who,
according to Discovery Bay Legend, had invented a magnificent drilling machine.
He became wealthy after striking gold in big thunder mountain. With his riches,
He built a special colony for inventors, explorers, scientists, and other
Rivet-Age dreamers in a town called Chandler's Cove and named it Discovery Bay.
During a visit to San Francisco, He bought an iron dinghy from a drunken sailor
named Ned Land, who related to him a fantastical story about a submarine ship
called the Nautilus. Chandler vowed to find the wreck of the Nautilus. Not
only did he find the wreck of the Nautilus, But also its sister ship the
Leviathan. While Discovery Bay, the land at Disneyland, would take guests on
adventures, the television series would take a closer look at some of the people
of Discovery Bay and follow their adventures. Harper Goff, who designed
Disney's Nautilus, was very impressed. "This looks good for the amount of money
you spent." Unfortunately, the series was never made.
Tom had beaten cancer once- five years had passed without a sign of it. But it
came back, after Tom had left Disney. He had no insurance and little money and
needed to pay for his medical treatments. He would not take money from
friends. Jeffrey Katzenberg, whom one of the Imagineers who worked with him
called "a champion of Imagineering", made an offer to Tom: He wanted to buy one
of Tom's Nautilus models. Tom was too weak to build one at that point, so he
asked Pete if he could have the Nautilus model that he'd given him previously.
Pete handed it over; Tom paid for his treatment, and gave Pete a cutaway model
of the Nautilus underwater. There never has been nor never will be a Nautilus
model as beautiful, a Nautilus model as painstakingly detailed, as those built
by Tom Scherman.
Tom died in 1994. In 1998, Tony Baxter, Chris Merritt, and several other
Imagineers pitched a new version of Discovery Bay to Disney, including a
revamped Fantasmic! It was turned down flat. But when the world is ready …
A couple of days ago I got a package in the mail. Inside, I found a nice note
from Pete, a copy of his demo tape, and a very special treat - The video of the
Discovery Bay Chronicles pitch tape. Thank you, Pete, Not just for that, But
for a lifetime legacy of creating Disney magic for millions of people. You are
a living treasure.
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-- Michelle Smith
Michelle Smith can be reached using the Talkback form below or by emailing her at [email protected].
The Fabulous Disney Babe's column is posted every Friday and whenever else she has something to say. For more on Michelle's background, see her first column.
The opinions expressed by our Michelle Smith, and all of our columnists, do not necessarily represent the feelings of LaughingPlace.com or any of its employees or advertisers. All speculation and rumors about the future plans of the Walt Disney Company are just that - speculation and rumors - and should be treated as such.
-- Posted May 5, 2003