In observance of Father’s Day, Chris Crump has contributed this appreciation of his “Disney Dad,” Rolly Crump.
I was very young. Hard to say exactly—maybe six or seven years old. In school, the question was asked in class: “What does your dad do for a living?” My response—that my father worked for Disney—probably got the best reaction of all of the kids. Clearly the coolest job of them all, which in turn increased my cool factor. Hard not to like that. The fact that we could go to Disneyland for free all the time? Well, what kid wouldn't want to have that?
In 1964 or 1965, I went to Dodgers games with Rolly—with the Disney Season Tickets. Often, my Mom would drive me to WED after school, and I got to hang out with Rolly in the Model Shop. I was in the building with Walt all the time—I just never met him. “Chris, you just missed Walt, he just walked back to his office!” Rolly would say to me. A couple of times I saw John Hench walking in the hallways, he and Walt dressed the same, and he looked a lot like Walt. Rolly would say, “No that wasn’t Walt, it was just John Hench.” Just Hench! I saw attraction models of Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion, “it’s a small world,” and at home I was building models of cars, and classic horror movie monsters. All of the small tools and supplies, just like in the Model Shop, were all around me all of the time. So everything that I have been surrounded by—for as long as I can remember—all goes back to the early days of WED.
When Rolly was finishing up his work on Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room, our family went down to Disneyland before the Park was open to the public for the day. It was my first memory of standing on Main Street all by myself, no Guests. I felt pretty special. As kids, we walked around backstage, onstage. We got to know all of the Cast Member entrances and exits from all of the lands. Once again, how cool is that?
Rolly began his career at The Walt Disney Studio as an “inbetweener” in Animation. He was only twenty-two years old. The Studio offered a wealth of opportunity for him. Walt saw something unique in Rolly and moved him out of Animation and into what was then WED Enterprises, now Walt Disney Imagineering, and he became one of the very first Disney Imagineers.
Any words I can think of to describe Rolly are either overused or unimaginative. “Original,” “unique,” “imaginative,” “creative” (the most overused one of all). Rolly was really his own person. The seemingly simple word “artist” comes to mind above all. Kooky artist, walking to the beat of his own drum. Walt saw that. If there is one thing that Rolly is not, that’s a “yes man.” Rolly was never afraid to speak his mind to Walt, and I think Walt not only respected that, but Walt could count on that. I’ve heard story after story of how people would try to tell Walt what he wanted to hear. Bob Gurr has told me that there are more pictures of Walt and Rolly together than almost any other Imagineer. Bob has also told me that he felt that Walt and Rolly really did have a very unique relationship.
Rolly really loved Walt. Like all Imagineers back then, Walt challenged people to do things that had never been done before. It was like this one-of-a-kind Art School. Walt believed in him, trusted him, as he trusted many of his Imagineers. This “can-do spirit” is the real deal. Back then, there was no Theme Park Industry, these pioneers just did the best they could with Walt's backing. Walt wasn't handing out praise (many Legends have said this in different ways), but when Walt said “that will do,” then it would be on to the next thing. There wasn’t time (or money) to redo, overdo—or overthink.
I didn’t start working at Walt Disney Imagineering until 1988. It wasn’t like I figured out that I would try to follow in my father’s footsteps (those are really huge shoes), but I understand so much about attraction design by just being around it, absorbed by it. It's really hard to explain. Rolly just loved to talk about what his day was like when he got to spend time working with Walt directly. I do not have a college degree, but I have worked consistently in the entertainment business for almost 40 years. I believe that the ‘you can do anything you set your mind to’ attitude came from my upbringing, and through all of my surroundings.
I am only really appreciating how much I have inherited in the last few years. It wasn’t just what I learned about the theme park business from Rolly. I would hang out at WED as a kid, and just get to walk around the Model Shop, or staging areas where scenes from attractions where being programmed. It was everybody at WED that I got to talk to and be around: Blaine Gibson, Harriet Burns, Fred Joerger, the list goes on and on—all Disney Legends.
The “can-do spirit” is really what I think I carry with me to this day—and probably how, indirectly, Walt influenced my life. When I worked with Rolly on Beary Tales at Knott's Berry Farm, Rolly trusted me to build things I had never built before. It gets down to trust, and giving someone something to do—and letting them loose. I use these basic philosophies every day of my life. I have not forgotten where this influence comes from. Somehow, some way, I hope to continue to instill this philosophy with young Imagineers in a more formal way. I try to do this with the mentor program at WDI, but I often need to use real Walt and Rolly stories to drive it home.
I have quite a career that I owe to Rolly, first and foremost. This may just be the best way to let him know that.
Chris Crump is a principal show production designer at Walt Disney Imagineering, working with a project’s creative director to lead the show team during the design, production and installation phases of an attraction. He works with various teams at the facility, the ride, and the show to ensure all of the show elements are completely integrated. His most recent endeavor, The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Undersea Adventure recently premiered at Disney California Adventure Park in Anaheim.
Chris joined Walt Disney Imagineering in 1988 as a production designer on the Wonders of Life pavilion at Epcot. During the early 1990s, Chris was Imagineering’s art director for the Magic Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World Resort. Other projects he has worked on as show producer and/or production designer include The Arabian Coast, Magic Lamp Theater, Sindbad’s Seven Voyages and Caravan Carousel at Tokyo DisneySea; a bug’s land at Disney California Adventure; Tom Sawyer Island Enhancement at Disneyland; and Haunted Mansion Holiday and Monsters, Inc. Ride & Go Seek! at Tokyo Disneyland.
Prior to joining Imagineering, Chris worked on a number of entertainment and corporate events as art director or project manager; and as a special effects model builder on film, TV shows and commercials. He has also worked as a set builder on numerous amusement park and leisure time venues as well as concert tours.
Chris was part of the team that received the 2002 Thea Award for Best New Theme Park (Tokyo DisneySea) from the Themed Entertainment Association. Additionally, he was a member of the Emmy® Award-winning project “Cosmos: The Shores of the Cosmic Ocean” before working for Disney.
Images above: 1) Rolly Crump (left) with Walt and the Tower of the Four Winds model, 1964. © Disney. 2) Chris and Rolly Crump in Tokyo at TokyoDisney Sea (Arabian Coast), c. 2001. "Rolly told me, 'You know, Walt would really love this place!'" Chris says. © Chris Crump. All rights reserved.