Between Books - Before the Birds Sang Words

I have to beg the Between Kid to enter Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room in the Magic Kingdom! Maybe it takes a Dole Whip to get him to agree to enter. Maybe I just have to demand a break in the AC. Cearly, singing colorful birds doesn’t excite him. Now, Pirates of the Caribbean, he can ride all day! And what’s sad about this situation is that José is essential to the story of Jack Sparrow, Elsa, Mr. Potato Head, and Hondo Ohnaka when we see them in the parks today.

Before the Birds Sang Words by Ken Bruce outlines the long, and we mean long, saga of the Disneyland Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room. While the attraction may have opened in 1963, Bruce ties the origins of the singing bird attraction not in just the popular tale of the New Orleans bird toy that Walt Disney brought to Imagineering, but even earlier to the astronomical clock in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg in Alsace, France. The 60-foot clock was created in 1354 and seen by Walt as a young Red Cross volunteer and an American businessman visiting France in the 1930s. Bruce uses the clock as a foundation from which he builds intersecting histories of mechanical toys, American views on Tiki and Polynesian culture, and Walt Disney’s development of the American theme park as seen through Disneyland. With Disneyland established, and his gift of a mechanical bird to Imagineering, Disney charged his artists to develop a bird restaurant. This challenge would lead to a ten-year development cycle that includes some of Disney’s most respected artists including John Hench, Marc Davis, Rolly Crump, the Sherman Brothers, Harriet Burns, and numerous other Disney Legends who participated in the evolution of a planned restaurant to a higher-capacity singing bird show. Bruce provides a comprehensive view of the show's development discussing Disneyland food service (can we talk about Stouffer’s Foods friends), Audio-Animatronic development, show scripting, building layout, song selection, recording, and virtually any topic of relevance to the show. Bruce finishes with a discussion of the evolution of the Disneyland attraction and its duplication in other parks like Walt Disney World.

I really enjoyed Before the Birds Sang Words. It is well-organized, well-written, and engaging. As someone who is not in food service, if you had told me that I would be fascinated by a chapter discussing Stouffer’s Foods I would have loudly said that would not happen. But in the big picture of Disneyland and Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room, this one small detail matters for understanding the relationship between leasees in Disneyland and why Walt Disney moved away from their large role in the park. The quality of the book and its definitive coverage of the attraction is surprising to me due to the fact it’s not a Disney Press edition yet it meets or exceeds the qualities of that press.

I called this story a saga, and it really is. The short story us Disney fans tell is that Walt Disney wanted a bird restaurant, Walt Disney realized that the birds were above the food, and he moved to an attraction. No, this is a ten-year development where technology changed, capacity was better understood, and Tiki culture grew in popularity. What’s also interesting to me is that honestly no one seems to have gotten what they wanted. Marc Davis designs were rejected, along with Rolly Crump’s. I really enjoyed the pages that discussed Davis and Hench working at cross-purposes. Songs were revised by George Bruns. Scripts and roles were changed, taking out some of Wally Boag’s saucy jokes. In the end, the attraction was rarely what anyone truly wanted, but a true collaboration between many visions. Though some would be able to show in the attraction’s evolution that what they wanted likely would have been for the best from the start.

Before the Birds Sang Words by Ken Bruce is a engaging saga of one Disney attraction. But it’s an attraction who’s impact extends beyond the four corners the bird room. Bruce notes that some like the Between Kid may not be an enthusiastic for singing birds today as in the past. But Bruce gives us a context to better understand how important singing birds really are in Disney history and a chronicle of the hit they really were for Disney fans in Anaheim and beyond. Bruce helps us understand fully the lastly impact of the tiki birds and their entertainment legacy even for those who lack modern interest.

Clearly next time I’m in the park, I need a AC break even if he says no!  Because I love legacy.

Review Copy Provided for Review

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Between Books - More Cute Stories, Volume 2: Animators and Imagineers

Over the last few years, Rolly Crump has allowed Disney fans to look at him as an open book.  First, he collaborated on an excellent memoir of his life working for Walt Disney and the years beyond in the themed entertainment business.  Then he released a CD of oral history that includes some of his "cute stories".  Now with his second volume of audio stories, Crump introduces us to familiar and not so familiar names and provides some frank cute stories of working for WED Enterprises and the Walt Disney Studio as an animator.

The format of this collection, More Cute Stores, Volume 2: Animators and Imagineers,  is pretty simple.  There is a brief introduction where the name of the discussed animator or imagineer is spoken.  Then Crump captures a story or two about the Disney contributor in his own words.  The stories vary in length from around two minutes to four minutes, one track is less than a minute.  The figures covered include a who's who of familiar Disney names including Yale Gracey, Harriet Burns, Bill Justice, Ward Kimball and Blaine Gibson.  But there is among the Disney giants names like Art Stevens, Bob Smith and Jack Miller who Disney fans are likely not as familiar with.

If I could describe the tone, it would be frank and honest.  Crump makes mention of teaching and learning to smoke cigarettes.  And since he preferred special food to go with his smokes and had a dealer to help supply his stash, well I'm guessing it was not tobacco that he was rolling.  And he calls it as he saw it, including mentioning a time where Marc Davis in his mind committed a shameful act.  If anything stands out it is the absence of Alice and Marc Davis with whom he collaborated on it's a small world with.  But then perhaps that says something about Crump's feelings (or it could mean nothing at all).   Ward Kimball does stand out as someone that Crump respected and appreciated for bringing him to Imagineering.  Another thing that stands out is the working conditions at Disney in animation, and it makes sense as you hear Crump talk why animators were at times laid off. 

I am a big podcast consumer, so I often compare pay audio content to free podcasts.  I have not heard Crump tell the majority of these stories elsewhere.  Most podcasts want to hear about Yale Gracey, not Keith Elder!  If I had not received a review copy, I would have likely bought myself a physical copy for this nearly an hour of stories.  But for those who do not wish to pay the full price, there is a download option available for half the price.  Honestly, it is fresh and more frank than one would typically find in a podcast interview.

More Cute Stores, Volume 2: Animators and Imagineers continues to build the Crump legend.  You hear the tales from Crump himself, the man many likely wish they had for a grandfather as he shares credit for many of the Disney successes.  And the frankness provides a honesty that makes you understand how he may have grated against others at WED for being such an individual while endearing himself to others. 



Review Copy Provided by Bamboo Forest Publishing