Tom K Morris

While in Florida recently, I stayed at an AirBnB outfitted by the great Tommy Allsmiller (AKA Typhoon Tommy) who recently restored the famous Mai Kai Restaurant in Fort Lauderdale. It was a Tiki dream-come-true! On the AirBnB site, it’s Mananui House in Kissimmee, owned and managed by Tahiti, Gil.

Also same guy.

Same guy.

I’ll take “Places Walt Disney Sat His Butt Down At” for 600, Alex.

Research trip!

A little hard to see bc it’s a t-shirt, but one of these WDW opening day attractions is not quite like all the others.

Meet the new Club 55.

It’s a weird, unplanned ritual that I wind up here almost every October 1st.

Pattern Language.

44 years ago, on Sept 30, 1982, I visited France, Japan, Italy, Germany, China, and the Future … all in the same day!

Curious real estate transactions in Central Florida, 1965.

In this shot, I am literally living under Pereira’s shadow! Red star marks my hood.

Another Pereira masterpiece I grew up under the shadow of was his 1972 Pacific Mutual headquarters in Newport Center. What I find interesting about his work during this, his most modernistic phase, was that it was all being designed out of a repurposed barn, left over from an old Buffalo Ranch!

If you haven’t seen Leslie Iwerks’ remarkable documentary, Disneyland Handcrafted—or even if you have—don’t miss this special screening of the critically acclaimed, eye-opening film at Bowers Museum on Sunday, Sept. 27, presented by Ryman Arts. LINK TO TICKETS: app.betterunite.com/rymanarts/pa...

WDW historians have seen this before somewhere. Yes, you have.

Classic William Pereira & Associates design, from his Newport Center days. My mom worked on the 3rd floor in the Bridal Salon. We used to wait by the bells to pick her up after her shift, then go eat at Coco’s across the way. Photo from the USC Pereira Collection.

So here’s the scoop from retired WDI show producer Chrissie Allen: “It was a contest to see how many Imagineers you could recruit to interview at WDI. It started when we were hiring up for the Disney Decade. Former WDW/WDI cm Mike Bounds added these shots from the summer 1990 WDEye.

Official answer from one who used it, anicon jock, Dave Feiten!

Ladies (or Gentlemen): This is your one chance to slip into some high heels and have them sink into the ground in the middle of Town Square!

I never noticed in this oft-seen promotional footage: 1. The circled gizmo, which I just learned is called a Waldo. 2. That the programming console Bill Justice is using is an early, pre-pictographic version of the DACS animation console many of us are familiar with (although now obsolete). 🥳

🎵 It’s time for Floydering… 🎶 A little summer magic in the Hollywood Hills!

Wooden you know it wasn’t made of concrete?

Last night I was surrounded by John DeCuir Jrs.

Not Marty Sklar and not Art Buchwald.

I will be occasionally posting Granny appreciation photos, as I’ve come across a trove, many more than I imagined. Most are from newspapers or GE internal newsletters. Officially named Mrs. G.E. Faire, Progressland personnel usually referred to her as “Granny” or sometimes “Grandma Moses.” Get it? 😜

How it looked the day after, October 1965.

11-year old boy takes off with Granny as Carousel of Progress closes! Authorities say the boy climbed onto the stage, slashed the scrim, grabbed the figure & exited with her in a wheelchair. The boy was stopped on the Peoplemover platform while attempting to take the figure on the ride. Film at 11.

Granny got around a lot more than I thought before her debut at the Fair.

Hey everyone! Join Bob Gurr, Michael Broggie, & me on Aug 1 at Chapman University for a special program honoring the late Roger Broggie Sr, presented by the Carolwood Society. We’ll discuss the earliest days of WED Imagineering & the original Imagineers. For deets & tix, Google CarolwoodAtChapman

That time I was invited to the G8 Summit, Deauville, France.

I don’t usually post film reviews, but I saw Toy Story 5 at a press screening & have to say it was encouraging to see a film so skillfully balance high entertainment with a timely message—w/out having to obviously “preach” it. To that point, this is a good model for Disney/Pixar going forward.

Maybe they heard you!

I'm 100% for this! The show as we’ve known it was a result of sponsorship with GE. Before that, it was planned as a nostalgic show for a neighborhood of Main Street. It now sits in Tomorrowland, and context matters. It wants to be a show that doesn’t focus on household appliances but BETTER LIVING!☀️

I’m with Walt!

In honor of NBC’s 100th anniversary, I cleaned-up and color-corrected a lo-res version of the original Disney-animated Peacock that I found on the Internet sometime ago. This is my inaugural foray into the world of Topaz. Chat GPT held my hand.

This photo taken in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from a private collection, deserves a closer look.