The Art of the Big Fig

Jungle Book Big Fig

Between 1999 and 2006, Jody and I did quite a lot of things for Disney's Consumer Products division.  We designed concepts for toys, dolls, dishes, Christmas ornaments, stained glass lamps, snowglobes, cookie jars, teapots, music boxes, enamel pins, and zillions of other things made of resin, ceramic, glass, wood, pewter and sometimes bronze.

Thumper Big Fig

Is there another corporation on Earth that has produced as many tchotchkes as Disney?

Maleficent Big Fig

Peter Pan big fig

Nothing can enliven your living space like a figurine, especially a jumbo-sized character from a favorite movie. Together Jody and I concepted and did sculpt revisions on over sixty big figs, each one starting with a sketch and a painting.

Mr. Toad Big Fig concept

This artwork, never seen by the public, was presented in quarterly meetings, or line reviews, to help visualize products that, nine months later, would travel across the ocean from China aboard cargo ships destined for Disney's distribution warehouses - And, from there, to stores, theme parks, and eventually into childless homes all across the United States!

Lumiere Big Fig

Goofy Big Fig

Disneyland 50th Anniversary Big Fig

Who's afraid of the Big Bad Fig?

The Big Fig List

The List.

We're often asked for a comprehensive list of all the Disney "big figures" that Jody and I have worked on together.  And so, here it is.

This is also a fine place to mention that producing these sorts of items is always the result of a team effort.  With few exceptions, these figures were sculpted by other artists, and the success of the character likeness depends as much on their ability, as on our concepts and guidance.

We'd like to acknowledge the exceptionally talented artist Pete Emslie who drew splendid character turnarounds for many of our very best figures, and to Bo Tsai, our favorite sculptor in China.  Sadly, Bo passed away in 2012, but his contribution to worldwide Disney merchandise over many decades is legendary.

Fancy Feathers: Restoring Tiki Room Birds

Original 1963 Tiki Room animatronic "robin"

It's a special treat to get up-close-and-personal with these beautiful little figures.  For several years I've had the great fun of "figure finishing" some of Disney's historic Audio-Animatronic characters, both internally for the Disney Company and for private collections. Tiki Room birds are my favorite, mainly because of their small size, and because I'm such a fan of the attraction's design.  The mechanized cast of Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room in Anaheim consists of 77 birds, 136 flowers and 12 tiki drummers (not to mention several chanting totems).  Each figure is a work of whimsy and craftsmanship.

Original robin figures being assembled at WED, vintage photo

The smallest talents in the show are the "robins" (there are 20 of 'em) perched in cages suspended from the woven mat ceiling of the theater.  They really are quite tiny and, I think, easily overlooked. Compared to the more sophisticated animation of  Jose and the other "Master of Ceremonies" macaws, the robins perform very subtle functions.  Heads turn, beaks open, tail feathers twitch, and some of the robins can flap their wings. They have just enough life spark to convincingly do their job as chorus members. 

Recently I restored two original 1963 robins, one after the other, that had been retired from the show decades ago.  They both had the fiberglass bodies used in the early California and Florida shows.  In the 1980s, a new generation of birds sporting bodies made of lightweight Kydex were developed for Tokyo Disneyland. The Anaheim show today is a mix of old and new bird performers.

Creating the fur patterns in our studio

Both robins arrived at our studio in pretty bad shape, with soiled fur, overly-handled feathers, and fiberglass parts gritty from too many coats of paint and hardened glue. The photos below were shot after a weeklong deep cleaning inside and out, priming and painting. I built display perches and replaced the birds' missing feet.  I removed their back panels and thoroughly cleaned the inner-workings.

Wingless robin with moving head

It's amazing how much is packed into the interior of a tiny bird. Two rubber hoses, each roughly the thickness of a spaghetti noodle, carry air pressure through the bird's legs into the two cylindrical chambers in his body. The left cylinder operates the tail, and the right cylinder turns the head side to side .

The next photo is a different robin with slightly different functions.

Robin with moving wings and tail

For this variation, the tail moves, but not the head.  Instead the right cylinder pushes open the wings which are hinged at the shoulder. Black electrical wires lead to the head where audio impulses synched to the show's soundtrack would operate a tiny magnet behind the lower jaw, making his beak open and close.  When the five robins in each birdcage are moving together, the resulting performance seems choreographed to the music.

Pardon me, buddy, your little black wires are showing.

Restoration complete and ready to tweet.

With the addition of fur cloth and feathers sourced from Disneyland's original supplier, the birds really come to life. Chicken hackles for a jaunty topknot, coque feathers for the forked tails, and wings adorned with duck quills dyed green and pre-sorted for their natural left side/right side curves.  It takes care and patience to do a nice job.

The Tiki Room's avian actors were sculpted in 1962 by Blaine Gibson, based on Marc Davis's drawings. Engineers Roger Broggie and Bob Gurr devised the inner workings and perches for each bird, and the resulting figures were taken to show-quality appearance by three supremely talented women: Harriet Burns, Leota Tooms, and Glendra von Kessel.  I was so lucky to meet Blaine and Harriet in the '90s and learn from them about their work on these fanciful creatures—"based on nature but styled for drama."  I'm immensely grateful for the rare opportunity to take on a project like this. The best part is just being able to spend a little time enjoying these great characters in detail.

How to Talk Like Disneyland

Do you frequently use words like autopia, circarama, monstro or hippopotami? You know you do! This rare 1962 handbook helped transform Disneyland personnel into well-spoken rhetoricians. So straighten up, relax your throat, engage your diaphragm, and let's all learn how to speak the Disneyland way!

The booklet ends with a list of common "Disneyland words".

There's some nice nostalgia here!

Gifts From Disneyland 1960

Oh, for a time machine!
Shopping at Disneyland in 1960 was the BEST ever.  

Look at all the fun things you can buy.
What are we waiting for?  Let's shop!

  Even the catalog, colorfully illustrated, is a wonderful souvenir.

And who wouldn't want a "Magic Surprise Box" from Disneyland?

A Skyway Chalet that tells the weather? We'll take it!

I know you're dreaming about those animation cels for $2.25 each,  but can you comprehend that it was possible to buy cufflinks at Disneyland made of real elephant tusk? It's true. 

Most of the items on this spread are priced higher than those original animation cels! Shocking. 

 Disneyland Ticket Books — good anytime!

 "Almost real" plastic plants, direct from Disneyland's Flower Market.

 We'll take Mr. Stubbs.

 The Disney books shown here are some of the best ever published. 

Jody and I have copies of every one of 'em, as a matter of fact.
But we sure don't have Diane Disney's book "personally autographed by Walt Disney" for $4.30!!  Holy moses.

 Who else had those Bambi wall cut-outs, besides me?

 Some of these games have become Disneyland merchandise classics.

 From Ruggles China Shop on Main Street. 

Those life-sized clip-on parakeets are nice, but
we're saving our money for animation cels.

From the Mad Hatter shop.  

Isn't it fun that this catalog takes us to shops around the Park? 

Each shop is different and unique, with its own themed merchandise.

We're fortunate to have a player piano ourselves, and a stack of original 

paper rolls from Disneyland's Wonderland Music Shop. We love them. 

Whew, we're finally at the back cover---but WHAT a back cover.  Disneyland Records were the best souvenirs of all, and these titles are super iconic. Some have been released on CD or iTunes by now, though not all of them. "Life of the Party" is one of our favorites, with recordings of actual player piano rolls (for those folks without pianos at home) and a sing-along booklet of the lyrics.  There are so many fine things in this catalog that are, today, the most treasured Disneyland souvenirs ever made.

So, if you could go back in time to Disneyland in 1960,
what would you buy?

We Do Logos

Our studio, the Kevin & Jody Show, designs logos!  

We can create a logo for you, too.

Client: Anaheim Brewery

Assorted logos for different companies and organizations

"Andy Anaheim" logos and graphics for Anaheim, Calif.

Client: Disney Consumer Products