Hi all! Dan here, your loyal janitor here at the WDW Radio Hall of Fame. Let me set this mop down a second. It’s great to see everyone putting in their nominations for this month’s topic – Art. And, it’s great to see the wide variety of selections that came in as well.
If you’re unfamiliar with the WDW Radio Hall of Fame, check out this link. We’ll get you caught up quick.
That being said, “What is art?” I’m surprised that nobody nominated The Boathouse menu *cough* *cough*.
We’ve got five great nominees here … and you have the hard decision. Which will you vote to be the next inductee into the Hall of Fame?
Spaceship Earth Mural
This is a 24′ x 18′ painting located just outside the entrance of Spaceship Earth. Painter Claudio Mazzoli took two months to create this masterpiece, which actually reflects the journey riders are about to take on Spaceship Earth. You’ll see the cavemen, Phoenicians, Egyptians, spacemen as well as the development of communication over time. Lou covers this in WDW Radio #498 – one of the Top Ten Things We Love About Spaceship Earth.
Cinderella Castle Mosaics
Here’s a story, of a lovely lady … OK, I won’t break into song. As you walk through the Cinderella Castle archway, you will be in the midst of five mosaics telling the story of Cinderella. Set by a team of artists led by mosaicist Hanns-Joachim Scharff, the mosaics took 22 months to create with over 300,000 pieces of Italian glass.
Grand Canyon Concourse Mural at Disney’s Contemporary Resort
Nine stories high. That’s how tall the Grand Canyon Concourse Mural is at Disney’s Contemporary Resort. The mural is comprised of over 18,000 individually hand-painted, fire-glazed, one-foot by one-foot ceramic tiles. Mary Blair entitled her mural “Pueblo Village,” which went along with resort bars and restaurants that had related names like the Grand Canyon Terrace Cafe, El Pueblo Room, Mesa Grande Lounge and Outer Rim.
The Stretching Portraits of the Haunted Mansion
Quick fact about Disneyland’s stretching portraits. Neil Patrick Harris reportedly won an auction for an original stretching portrait. His bid, $172,500. He outbid Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. Back on topic, the portraits help bring the stretching room of the Haunted Mansion to life. The cartoonish paintings are stretched to show its subjects meeting a soon-to-be-cartoonish demise. This sets the tone for the ride, with spooky and cartoonish haunts that most Walt Disney World patrons will enjoy.
The Partners Statue
Blaine Gibson created the Partners statue in 1993, showcasing Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse. There are actually 5 statues currently, including ones at Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Tokyo Disney, Walt Disney Studios and Disneyland Paris. The statue is 6’5″ tall, seven inches taller than Walt himself. It took Blaine one year to sculpt this statue.
Vote Now
So, voting is pretty simple. Just use the poll below. Please vote by Tuesday, October 30 at [5:00] PM ET. And, soon after that, we’ll have our fourth inductee into the WDW Radio Hall of Fame.
[poll id=”370″]
Photo credits:
- Mary Blair’s Contemporary Resort Mural, Photo by Jared, Flickr Creative Commons License
- Cinderella Castle Mosaic, Photo by Mrs. Gemstone, Flickr Creative Commons License
- Spaceship Earth Mural, Photo by Sam Howzit, Flickr Creative Commons License
- Partners Statue, Photo by jeffchristiansen, Flickr Creative Commons License
To learn more about Daniel and read his recent posts for the WDW Radio Blog, please visit his author page by clicking the link on his name at the top of this post.
