Bob Gurr (Disney Legend, Walt Disney Imagineer)

Imagination Skyway

Matthew Krul

History, Society & Culture, Places & Travel, Kids & Family

5 • 830 Ratings

🗓️ 8 February 2020

⏱️ 96 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Bob Gurr's career is one many Disney fans know well. After being hired by Walt Disney to join WED Enterprises in 1954, Bob went on to build vehicles, ride systems, and other designs for a wide range of classic Disneyland and Walt Disney World attractions. For example, Bob created the vehicles for Autopia, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, the Haunted Mansion, and the Ford Magic Skyway. He also designed the original version of the Disneyland and Walt Disney World monorails, the mechanics for Walt's Abraham Lincoln animatronic (as seen in Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln at the 1964 World's Fair), the omnimover ride system, and the world's first tubular steel roller coaster—Matterhorn Bobsleds. After concluding his career with Disney in 1981, Bob went on to design over 150 projects for Universal Studios, Steven Spielberg, Michael Jackson, and more. For his contributions to the theme park industry, Bob has been honored with the Disney Legends award, his own window on Main Street USA at Disneyland, and the Themed Entertainment Association's lifetime achievement award, which also places him on the judging committee for the association's annual theme park awards. Bob is still very active today at the age of 88. His current projects include: Waltland: a bus tour around Los Angeles to visit important sites in Walt Disney and Bob Gurr history. Fandom Productions: Bob Gurr merchandise signed by the legend himself. "Bob Gurr: Legendary Imagineer": Bob Gurr's autobiography, published in 2019. You can also follow Bob on Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/BobGurr/ https://www.instagram.com/bobgurrofficial/ https://www.bobgurr.com And be sure to see Bob on Episode 1 of The Imagineering Story on Disney+. Which of Bob Gurr's creations do you love most? Send me your feedback via email or through direct or public message at any of the following and [with your permission] I'll include your message in a future show: Facebook: www.facebook.com/ImagineerPodcast Instagram: www.instagram.com/ImagineerPodcast Twitter: www.twitter.com/ImagineerNews Facebook Group (ImagiNation): https://www.facebook.com/groups/imagineerpodcast/ Share your feedback via voicemail: 516-406-8376 Be sure to check out our sponsor WDW Magazine, the premier magazine focused on Walt Disney World, available in print or digital. Disney news and travel tips: Be sure to visit our Disney news partner, The Kingdom Insider: Website: https://thekingdominsider.com Facebook: https://facebook.com/KingdomInsider Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thekingdominsider/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/tkidisneynews YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfNy6LP8uPSjsktoPBr5JTQ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/TKIDisneyNews/ Vacation Planning: Planning a trip to Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, Adventures by Disney, or another Disney destination? Visit our trusted partner, Academy Travel: Walt Disney World: https://apps.itams.com/AcademyCRM/form/waltdisney/IP Disneyland: https://apps.itams.com/AcademyCRM/form/disneyland/IP Disney Cruise Line: https://apps.itams.com/AcademyCRM/form/disneycruise/IP Aulani: https://apps.itams.com/AcademyCRM/form/Aulani/IP Adventures by Disney: https://apps.itams.com/AcademyCRM/form/DisneyAdventure/IP How to Support the Show Share the podcast with your friends Rate and review on iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-imagineerpodcasts-podcast/id1244558092 Join the Imagineer Society - https://www.patreon.com/imagineerpodcast Purchase merchandise - https://www.teepublic.com/stores/imagineer-podcast?ref_id=8929 Enjoy the show!

Transcript

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0:00.0	The
0:07.0	The Ate-Belme Hello and welcome to the Imagineer podcast, your unofficial guide to all things Disney. I'm your host, Matthew Krull,
0:42.6	and you're listening to Episode 67 of the Imagineer podcast. In today's podcast episode
0:49.0	I am incredibly excited and humbled to share with all of you my interview with legendary Walt
0:58.0	Disney Imagineer Bob Gurr.
1:00.8	For those of you who don't know Bob, well, you're going to get to learn a lot more about him
1:05.0	in this podcast episode.
1:06.3	But for those of you who do, I'm sure my excitement level matches what Bob has done for the Walt Disney Company and actually for well beyond the Walt Disney Company as well.
1:18.6	Bob has a quote that I think is really appropriate to describe everything that he's done.
1:23.6	He said if it moves on wheels at Disneyland, I probably designed it.
1:28.1	And that's incredibly true because Bob worked at Walt Disney Imagineering as early as when it was called Wed Enterprises.
1:35.9	He was hired by Walt Disney, worked with Walt on countless projects at Disneyland and in preparation for Walt Disney World and he worked with
1:46.0	so many legendary Imagineers like Yale Gracie, Raleigh Crump, Blaine Gibson, Harriet Burns,
1:53.9	Marty Sclar.
1:55.0	The list goes on and on and he designed vehicles for attractions like the cars at Autopia,
2:01.6	the vehicles for Mr. Toad's Wild Ride,
2:03.7	the submarines of 20,000 leagues under the sea,
2:06.6	Matterhorn bobsleds at Disneyland,
2:08.7	he designed the monorail over at Disneyland and at Walt Disney World,
2:12.5	and then even beyond working at Disney when he left the company in 1981,
2:17.4	he went on to do so much more and is still
2:20.1	active to this day in the year 2020 at the age of 88. And this discussion is filled with so many
	...

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