Disneyana Convention 1999 Report
Page 3 of 4

Friday was the day that Roy E. Disney. was to speak to the convention. In anticipation, people began lining up at 6:30 a.m. for his 8:30 talk. Actually before he spoke, Bonnie Arnold, Mark Mancina, and Mike Surrey talked about the making of Tarzan. Mark was the music director and spoke candidly of his stalking Genesis (Phil Collins was the drummer) as a teenager. He demonstrated some of the unusual instruments used to create the special Tarzan sound. Mike showed the evolution of the character Terk from a charicature of Rosie O’Donnell with close set, smallish eyes and a crooked mouth, to the charming, outspoken gorilla. Bonnie spoke about the wonderful voices used in the film. Later, all three signed autographs at Bay View Gifts at the Contemporary Hotel. The Tarzan Chronicles written by Howard Green was available for purchase and it is a lovely book.

The moment arrived for Roy E. Disney. Despite admonitions to the contrary, everyone was poised with their cameras for photos as Mr. Disney walked on stage. As he began to speak, the flashes lit up the entire room!! He actually broke from his speech to comment on the fact of the cameras. We thought he was very pleased. He talked about the upcoming film Fantasia 2000 and how it came to be through his enthusiasm and Michael Eisner’s support. He then introduced Eric and Susan Goldberg who showed us how they developed their two segments of the film, Carnival of the Animals by Saint-Saens and Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin. We were shown the entire Carnival segment that is centered around an individualistic flamingo with a yo-yo and the conservative ‘Snobby Six’ normal flamingoes. This segment was animated in its entirety by Eric. The Rhapsody segment showed a little girl (based on the Goldberg’s younger daughter) being dragged from lesson to lesson by a stern nanny. This segment’s style was inspired by Al Hirshfeld’s drawings. As usual, the Goldbergs were highly entertaining. They turned the show back to Mr. Disney and he showed parts of Pomp and Circumstance by Elgar with Donald Duck as Noah’s helper during the great flood and The Firebird by Stravinsky with a beautiful sprite and a firebird that had everyone jumping out of their seats, much to Mr. Disney’s amusement! Every aspect of this new version of Walt Disney’s most unique masterpiece looks to take your breath away. Prepare to be astounded, thrilled and mesmerized when the film opens the new millennium in IMAX theatres this January.

He then invited the entire group to the premier event at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium on December 31, 1999 with invitations we would find in our rooms. We gave him a standing ovation, but he left quickly and we didn’t see him again for the rest of the event. It was still the highlight of the convention!