On this week’s feature discussion show, I’m joined by Creative Director and Author Dave Bossert to talk about legendary Disney Imagineer Claude Coats. Claude has worked on numerous classic Disney films from “Snow White and the Severn Dwarfs” to “Lady and the Tramp” and later became instrumental in the creation of Disneyland and other classic Disney attractions like Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, Pirates of the Caribbean, Adventure Through Inner Space, and Haunted Mansion just to name a few. Together, we’ll discuss Claude’s contributions to the Disney films and theme parks as well as let you know how you can help Dave with his campaign to write a book solely dedicated to Claude Coats and his work with these timeless films and attractions.
Walt Disney’s Imagineer Claude Coats—The Making of Disneyland: From Toad Hall to the Haunted Mansion and Beyond is a comprehensive volume generously illustrated with rarely seen artwork from seminal theme park attractions, the 1964 World’s Fair, and Claude Coats’ personal work. It will include a thorough text chronicling attractions designed by this Disney Legend, who helped to realize Walt’s dreams of a Magic Kingdom and EPCOT in Florida. He also helped spread the magic of Disney entertainment worldwide to Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris.
Dave Bossert started with the Walt Disney Animation Studios as an inbetweener in the special effects on “The Black Cauldron”. He would later go on to become an effects animator works on such films as “The Great Mouse Detective”, “The Little Mermaid”, “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”, and more. Since then, Dave has gone on to write several books dedicated to significant topics related to the Walt Disney Company including “Oswald the Lucky Rabbit: The Search For the Lost Disney Cartoons” and “Kem Weber: Mid-Century Furniture Designs for the Disney Studios” to name a few.