Newest "Imagineer That" Tracks Down The Oldest Item In The Imagineering Library

Walt Disney Imagineering's Imagineer That YouTube series gives fans a unique peek behind the scenes at the team that makes Disney Parks come to life. They've been doing that work for a long time, but the tools they use have been around much longer.

What's Happening:

• The latest episode of Imaginer that visits the Information Research Center at Imagineering to investigate the question of the oldest item in the library's collection.
• At the Florida side of things, Principal Librarian Stacy Schoff shows off some items from the early days of Walt Disney Imagineering, including early park maps and a maintenance manual for Pirates of the Caribbean.

• However, the California Information Research Center has much older material, for obvious reasons.
• It turns out that the oldest item in the collection predates Disneyland by about 200 years, as it's a set of French encyclopedias from 1751.

• While not specified, one imagines these were used to give direction to Imagineers when working on projects like Sleeping Beauty Castle.
• However, possibly the coolest thing seen in the video is something much more recent. The old physical card system that Imagineers used to check out books includes some amazing names on some of these pieces, like John Hench and Mary Blair.

• Check out the full video below.

More Walt Disney Imagineering News:

• A new book collecting the work of Walt Disney Imagineer Marty Sklar is set to be released next year.
• Disney Imagineers Bob Weis and Joe Rohde will be on hand for a panel at this year's IAAPA Expo.
• Walt Disney Imagineering has been digging through Disneyland history with a fun game of riddles.