By D.Z. "Theme Park Specialist"
For a week
now, the Optimist has been in full swing. To learn more about what this is,
visit geekjlz.blogspot.com/theoptimist.com.
How would you like to learn more about Walt Disney? The Disney Company has created a fictional character named Amelia. Amelia claims her grandfather was "optimist." Over the next couple of weeks, Amelia will be looking through her grandfather's old stuff. She will be asking online viewers to help her piece all stuff together for a documentary. To be apart of this special adventure, you can join by going to http://optimist.disney.com/. If you look at the bottom of the page, it will give you the chance to register. PLEASE NOTE: You will be asked for some personal information (email, address, twitter name), but that part is optional. If you do put those three down, you have the chance to get a piece of mail or even email/twitter messages from Amelia. This is an interactive experience to not be missed. It will conclude at the D23 Expo.
We are keeping
track of Amelia's posts and replies!
(We are
only posting the ones we replied to)
POST 1: storyorbit.com/more-of-64 Amelia
posted a collage of pictures she found. Her grandfather Carlos worked with Walt
Disney at the world's fair. One of Amelia's many questions is, "What did
her grandfather do at the fair?"
My Response: "Wow. Seemed like the World’s Fair was a big project
for your grandfather. Carlos seemed to be an imaginer of sorts, writing for
them. By your description, Carlos was a great writer. In the picture it seems
like your grandfather and Walt are together looking closely at a piece of
writing. It could of been Carlos who had the job to promote what Disney had
done. I spent some time online and found this flyer from: http://vintagedisneylandtickets.blogspot.com/2011/03/new-york-worlds-fair-1964-1965-ticket.html.
This flyer could possibly be his work. I am guessing Walt gave Carlos the
number (seen in the Amelia’s picture), so he could learn about the engineering
that went into building Walt’s projects."
The Replies:
Amelia says:
This is all really compelling stuff, D.Z. Quick question, though: when you talk about the picture of Grandpa, do you mean the b&w one with Walt at the top of the page? Because that’s not Grandpa. In fact, I’m not sure who that is.
Brian Cagle says:
The one with Walt is an Animatronic from Carousel of Progress. He’s the host of the show. I believe the character in the show was named John and he was voiced by Rex Allen
Ricky Brigante says:
Sadly I don’t think Amelia’s grandfather is the inspiration for the Carousel of Progress character. The only “Carlos” I can think of is getting a mouthful in Pirates of the Caribbean. “Don’t be cheeeeckin Carlos!”
Lisa says:
Are you sure that the person in the photo is an animatronic? Is there a chance it’s Royal Dano, who was the voice of Lincoln in Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln? There’s something about the nose that looks right. In addition, Lincoln opened at the fair on May 2nd, and if Carlos was headed there on May 1st, that could be why. We haven’t seen much else here about Lincoln yet (and the IASW photos are hinting at that) but I didn’t want to lose sight of it.
Photo provided by Lisa. Matthew says:- I am positive that is the host from the Carousel of Progress that Walt is with.
- My Response to Amelia: "Opps. I thought that was your grandfather. Sorry."
POST 2: storyorbit.com/michael-whos-michael Amelia
talked about how she found a phone number in her grandfather's stuff. Turns
out, the number still is in operation today. The number is from the Lott Family Construction Company.
On the website is an email: office@lottfamilyconstruction.com
. Dozens of optimist readers emailed and left phone messages to the
company. That included me. I sent a bunch of emails, asking different
questions: (Listed below)
D.Z: "Hello, I heard you worked with Walt Disney, building
some of his projects. What was it like working with him?"
Michael T. Lott: "Dear Zach, I'm glad you asked. Working with Mr.
Disney was an incredible experience. He liked to say, "It's kind of fun to
do the impossible," but never talked about how hard it was. We worked a
lot of long hours trying to get the World's Fair projects done on time. There
was lots of going on. Lots of secret tours and top, top secret stuff. Stuff
they wouldn't even let the public see. Just a few select folks. They were
building stuff I know wasn’t finished on the blueprints. And there were tons of
change orders in the final days. But as hard as it was, the World's Fair was an
incredible experience. I was just glad when it opened. "
D.Z: "I heard that your company helped with
"It's a Small World" at the New York World's Fair. Can you please
tell me what you exactly did."
Michael T. Lott: “Hi Zach, I can't talk much about it. I signed my name on
the dotted line fifty years ago that said I wouldn't divulge any information.
And, by gum, I'm a man of my word. All I can tell you is there was lots going
on behind the scenes. Stuff I never thought was possible."
D.Z: " Do you remember a man named Carlos Moraeu. He
worked with Walt. His passion was writing. He was very optimist. Lots of us
want to know what he did for Disney."
Michael T. Lott: "Hi Zach, I know a lot of people, but his name is not
ringing a bell. Can you be more specific?"
D.Z: "Carlos was a writer. He was hired by Walt
Disney years ago. Carlos even worked with Walt at the New York World Fair.
Days ago, Carlo's granddaughter was going through some of his stuff and
found your phone number."
Michael T. Lott: "Dear Zach, Oh, yeah. I think he was a writer or some
such. I think we chatted at the Fair a bit… but that’s all I really
remember."
D.Z: "Interesting. Do you know exactly what he did for
Disney at the fair?"
Michael T. Lott:
"Dear Zach, I don’t know
anything about that."
(The
conversation then ended.)
POST 3: storyorbit.com/what-about-mom
In this post, Amelia talked about how her mother doesn’t know
anything about this. A while back, Amelia's mom told her to stay away from
Carlos' stuff, as she would handle it. Amelia is questioning if she should tell
her mom about all this!
My Response: "I am sure it is hard leaving Mom out of the
situation. There are some things you just got to do. How about you ask your mom
some questions about Grandpa and just say you would like to audio record it for
keepsake. I don’t think she would mind. If you present the documentary, when
it’s all done and FINAL, who knows, she might really like it and want to use it
for Carlos’ memorial service or funeral. (If that hasn’t happened already.) Also, was your
grandfather married before he died? I would ask your grandmother some
questions. Hopefully you can use her face, but audio works well too."
Amelia's Reply: "Hmm. Interesting. I’m seriously considering taking
your suggestion, D.Z. As much as I enjoy the idea of being ready, my MO
involves doing things spontaneously and without warning, incorporating just
enough charm to get by. Is Mom always a fan of that? Nope. Not especially. But
at least it gets the job done, right? Sometimes? Maybe? As for Grandma, she passed away when
I was very young. I didn’t get to know her like I knew Grandpa. I remember her
though being a lot like my mom. *sigh* :’)"
POST 4: storyorbit.com/for-the-record Going
through her grandfather's stuff, Amelia found a bunch of World's Fair records.
Because of all the help she is getting from online readers, Amelia is going to
send some of the records to people.
POST 5: storyorbit.com/yet-even-more-of-64 Amelia
has found some World's Fair flyer's. On one of them is a piece of writing, notes
of sorts. The writing is very hard to read, so Amelia needs help figuring out
what it says!
My Response: "Interesting writing. A mystery indeed. A few days
ago, I put on a photo this blog (http://storyorbit.com/more-of-64#comments)
that talked about the fusion demonstration. Like I said in that comment, your
grandfather could of been the one who wrote what was in the brochures. The one
brochure you found could be some of his writing."
POST 6: storyorbit.com/moms Amelia has told
her mom about what she was working on!
My Response: "I think you picked a bad time and setting! I think you should sit down with her and have a chat. Maybe you could make her dinner! But I would do it without the huge camera! Now that she knows a little, it would be best to just tell her. Say that you are going ahead and doing this. I wish you the best of luck!'
Amelia's Response: "I think…correction: I know you’re right about the timing and setting. And the camera. Ugh. I should also let her know that I have to continue on this journey. Right now, I can think of very little that would make me turn back.'
POST 7: storyorbit.com/on-the-road Amelia was able to do some filming at her grandfather's old house, where he grew up.
My Response: "I think its great that you did all this filming! You really were walking in your grandfather’s footsteps. I am excited to see all your footage. Did you get to interview the people who live in the house? Also, you should really put some of the footage into a behind the scenes video! Every time I work on a movie (even documentary), I create a behind the scenes video for everyday of shooting. All you have to do is talk about where you went, what you did. Then just use some of your voice and footage, over your b-roll video taken onsite."
Amelia's Response: "Gosh, D.Z. I kind of love that idea."
My Response: "I think you picked a bad time and setting! I think you should sit down with her and have a chat. Maybe you could make her dinner! But I would do it without the huge camera! Now that she knows a little, it would be best to just tell her. Say that you are going ahead and doing this. I wish you the best of luck!'
Amelia's Response: "I think…correction: I know you’re right about the timing and setting. And the camera. Ugh. I should also let her know that I have to continue on this journey. Right now, I can think of very little that would make me turn back.'
POST 7: storyorbit.com/on-the-road Amelia was able to do some filming at her grandfather's old house, where he grew up.
My Response: "I think its great that you did all this filming! You really were walking in your grandfather’s footsteps. I am excited to see all your footage. Did you get to interview the people who live in the house? Also, you should really put some of the footage into a behind the scenes video! Every time I work on a movie (even documentary), I create a behind the scenes video for everyday of shooting. All you have to do is talk about where you went, what you did. Then just use some of your voice and footage, over your b-roll video taken onsite."
Amelia's Response: "Gosh, D.Z. I kind of love that idea."
Click on Zach to see what I wrote!
Post 9: storyorbit.com/family-stories Once again, Amelia talked to her mom about grandpa. This time, her mother spoke out about some good times she'd had with him. Check out the video here:
My Response: "Congrats on the interview. Your mom really released a lot. I think your mom did release some things and is feeling better about this whole thing. You are getting there!"
Amelia's Response: "Little by little. Thanks, Zachary."
Post 10: storyorbit.com/the-way-to-walts-haunts Wallace from Disney Cartography has just created another new piece of artwork. It is called "Walt's Haunts." Labeled in this piece are is 5 very important places. Each place is also labeled with a date and time. A lot of followers have been visiting each place on that day to see what's going on. A lot of clues have been discovered.
My Response: "Come to California. You would love it here!"
Amelia's Response: "Trust me, I dream about it daily. I mean, with so many of you out there, how could I not love it?"
My Second Response: "Amelia, What do you think of all this? I find it so cool that all this is happening while your trying to make the documentary. I really want to know who Wallace really is. He knows so much about Disney and it’s history. Maybe he worked with Walt and your grandfather. I hope to ask questions at the D23 Expo."
Amelia's Second Response: "I’m often surprised by what has been found. Mostly, though, I feel hopeful. Encouraged.
That would be awesome if you could speak to him, Zachary, because I want to know too. I’m still trying to figure out Grandpa’s exact connection to Wallace and the things he seems to know about."
POST 11: storyorbit.com/on-the-right-track A lot has happened over the past few days. On August 1st, a number of people went to Disneyland for a small "optimist" event.
My Response: Can someone please summarize what happened today at the Bench?
(Please note, these next three comments were copied directly from the post storyorbit.com/on-the-right-track. Click on the date and time to see where the post is originally from.)
Luis says:
Groups were led into Great Moments with Mr.Lincoln theater where Wallace spoke about historical figures, groups were then led to Walt’s apartment above the fire house. New clues given. New symbols throughout the park. Wallace put up new Edison Square artwork.
robert says:
I was not there but from what I was able to watch. They where taken inside the great moments theater where Wallace meet and addressed the group. They then where to meet at the bench where the were given a tour of Walt’s apartment. After that a new poster was released that lead to three clues around the park: the MT certificate, wax cylinder on the window display, and the symbols on the skyway. The cylinder lead to a patent. The rest of the cules have yet to lead us somewhere.
Christina says:
Going to try to do my best to summarize for you guys. People who were there please add to this (photos also) if you remember anything else.
We all met at Walts Bench went inside Great Moments theatre where Wallace told us that some attractions in Disneyland came to fruition, some changed along the way (like epcot) but others were never realized at all. Began speaking of Edison Sq. Gardens and said that on the next part of our tour “the closer we look the more we will find” (someone will surely post video of this part when they get a chance)
In groups we went to Walt’s Appartment where two CMs gave the usual guided tour (told us about the lamp always being on, the decorations in the room etc.) except for some extra emphasis on the phonograph (which according to others is not usually part of tour) He showed us a canister that you attach to phonograph to play music. It had an Eiffel tower on it.
After, Wallace posted his new art. This is where certain groups split up to head to different clues.
The group that stayed on Main Street went to 20th Century music where they found a cylinder that matched the one shown to us on the tour. On the top it said “Edison Records” and “9639″ on the sides it said “Paris echoes all over the world”. Some tried riding IASW but couldn’t find anything significant. I should mention here that the group is torn on if this was actually the clue we were supposed to find for “look beyond the lamp” Some think that because it is not in direct view of Walt’s window and because they already showed us this cylinder inside the apartment, it doesn’t correlate. I think that “beyond” is intended to be taken as, look at other things in the appartment besides the obvious–to me that means the phonograph and canister and that it was placed on Main st so we could get a closer look at it.
The second group went to the Mark Twain to ride the wheelhouse. Couldn’t see anything significant while riding the wheelhouse but were given a certificate, the usual one handed out when riding wheelhouse, except for very small writing in bottom right hand corner that said “12:00 PM Saturday May 21, 1932″ with a tiny wheelhouse? symbol. A google search told us this was the date Amelia Earhart made her first transatlantic voyage. Some checked the portrait by Great Moments. Nothing significant.
The third group went to ride Astro Orbiters where you were able to see a symbol written on the people mover track. It was a circle, diamond, circle (I don’t have photo but someone should post one…)
The group then tried looking in New Orleans Sq where we thought symbols on the lightpoles looked too similar to that symbol (can someone post a photo of this too?) Only one of the lightpoles in front of 21 Royal Street was lit. Tried to do some searching. The fortune teller clues mentioned certain attractions (small world, castle) that others in the group checked out with no luck. We are still not certain if the lightpoles or the fortunes were actual clues or false leads.
We are not sure if we found everything we were supposed to find today or not but that’s sort of where we ended things.
Hope this wasn’t too confusing :/ lol
On August 5th, Wallace had a live chat. It was broadcasted from disneycartography.com/chat. We were actually the first to put a recording of the chat online: Skip to 17 minutes, or visit www.youtube.com/geekcentralblog.
Our friend @MitchellStein1 wrote out a whole transcript of the chat!
WALLACE:..I am extremely grateful to Amelia for bringing us all together on her journey, so to Amelia, and all her friends tuning in tonight, whether I met you in person or online, I say hello and welcome!
I’ve been getting a lot of questions from you, and a lot of interesting, provocative questions on Twitter, and uh, well, they’re not all about my artwork and I’m going to attempt to answer the recent questions tonight. I know 140 characters on Twitter isn’t the best way to provide anything from the simplest of answers, of course there were some questions I wanted you to find the answers for yourself, and you all have a lot of interest so I am hoping I can help you all out. So, let’s dive right in and see what questions are being asked on Twitter tonight..
Our first question comes in from Rachel and Rachel has a double question:
Q: ‘What is the goal of the society/purpose of the society and how to you know so much about it and it’s purpose?
Good question. Well, the main goal is and always should be: ‘To build a better and brighter tomorrow’ and for how I know so much: Well it’s part of my mission: To find all of you dedicated to building a better tomorrow, and following online and following clues, and that path has brought you all here tonight and that path is part of a bigger design, and uh..I am doing this because we are looking out for those who are ‘architects’ in building a better tomorrow.
Q#2: (Will you be seeing any of the paneIs at this years’ D23 Expo? I will be seeing 'Undiscovered Disneyland')
A: Uh..yes, having my own booth, Please stop by my booth and say hi by the way. (Booth 539)
Q#3: Is there more that should be discovered from your artwork (Audio got fuzzy) of the featured attractions? (It’s A Small World, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln and Carrousel of Progress.)
A: A few of you have asked about various different pieces and clues and I think..well, I think you found everything to bring you here tonight and for the next step. So, I hope you’re ready for the final task. Good question.
Q: Did you know a man named Carlos Marou?
Well, Carlos..he is the reason we are all here tonight. I can say I am aware of Carlos, I did not work with Carlos directly.
Like many of you, I’ve seen his excerpt of ‘What Tommorow Hides’ and I have to say there are some interesting overlaps. Let’s just say we’re all recruiters, often use mass to attract the movements of those within their circle or those searching for their way into the inner circle..closely changes in the outside world..
Of course, I know his granddaughter Amelia, and to personally know her grandfather more, sorta brought us here together and is the reason why we’re even here right now and again, I’m especially grateful to Amelia for that.
Q: Will your artwork be available for purchase after D23?
I’ll see then, but right now, I really have to get the other items for D23 ready first.
Q: Are the things we found at Club 33 for society members or society leaders?
Excellent question.
There have always been those dedicated to building a better tomorrow and I’m certainly one of those. I’d like to put a pin on that one though, there’s only so much I can say in such an open form.
But, what I will say is: Well, by and large, we’ve all been drawn into this journey by Walt Disney. Of course, He wasn’t the only visionary in the world. There were always those in history who dedicated to tomorrow and looked to the future. We talked recently about Edison Square which was intended as a way to celebrate the great minds, the great adventures, and the visionaries from the 20th Century. It’s intriguing to think what they could’ve accomplished while working together. Just to think about it is incredible and (Couldn’t Make Out Word). It makes me wonder what all of us could build together..
Q; What does the symbol mean?
Lots of you have asked this question. How to answer? Well, I’ve been avoiding this question to a certain extent since..well, there isn’t a single simple answer! Good question and I realize that it could be frustrating and, it’s frustrating to not to be able to give you a direct answer.
The Piece of artwork you’ve seen serves as a symbol for those who believe in a better tomorrow. Artists, Engineers, futurists. I’m a friend of that group and I’m in charge of recruiting you.
Let’s talk about WED and the 64 World Fair. Throughout his career, pushed Imaginneers to do impossible...now, some things they worked on, some of them were never meant to be seen by the public. Some people know about the secret project of tomorrow and worked on project that were showcased for the impossible. These were ideas were decades ahead of their time. We discovered in 1964: The feeling at the time was that the world was not yet ready to fully embrace these harmones, so they were only showed to special groups, those who had a part in the fair or, were being tested, had special showings of these secret technologies.
Many of you know I refer to a sound I heard at ‘It’s A Small World’. The sound I heard may have been a product of those demonstrations.
I have also seen some interesting theories about those projects surrounding the blueprints found around Mr. Lott’s site. The implication for those technologies is well..nothing. I can’t confirm theories, but I am also not going to deny them.
Q; Favorite color: Sky blue.
Q; Will all our answers be uncovered by the Expo? Or Will there still be more to uncover beyond there?
Last step that I have planned for you, is in fact at D23 Expo. Beyond that, how all of you plan to build a better tomorrow, is entirely up to you. It’s in your hands.
Q: Will you be selling any of the prints that are sold out at the Expo?
(Shortened answer) Thanks for your interest, but unfortunately, no. Ultimately, I had to pick a choice, whether to print something old, or something new. So I chose to put my effort to something new which will be exclusive to those of you who attend this years’ D23 Expo.
Next question, comes in from Mitchell. (One of my questions!)
Q: Are you a society member?
Well, Mitchell, at the end of the day, this ultimately isn’t story. It belongs to all of you.
It’s Carlos’ and it’s Amelia’s story to begin with.. In a sense, Amelia sent all of you to me, and I’ve been impressed on how you all worked together, and I am talking to all of you today. (No answer?)
Q: What is the significance of the rides in your artwork and the ’64 World Fair to the society?
Well, there has been a lot of conversation about what might have been happening behind the scenes at Imagineering, The World Fair, and those installations in the park.
Let’s start in the park.
I’m not the best one to answer this, but I do have someone who could talk about some of the hidden things in TommorowLand and maybe talk about that technology behind those patents that so many of you have been interested in.
“ Let’s see if I can patch him in. Bob? Let’s talk about the messages in the park and how about we start with the plaque in Autopia?”
-BOB GARR APPEARS ON SCREEN-
“Oh yeah, we had two Autopias in the park.”
Y’know I designed the Autopia car bodies because Walt wanted his own custom car that no one else had. It turned out the little kids, are a little bit too small to ride my Autopia car.
So we bought Migit Autopia which was a standard production catalog available car even though Walt wanted his own Autopia with his own body, looked the other way and said ‘Ok, we’re gonna buy a stock of production cars for the little kids.’
After we took out a midget Autopia when we put in Small World, we had to do something with those cars. They all went to Marceline, Kansas (mistake?) which was Walt’s original hometown.
When we drew that map of the car park in it, even though it was 1959 it didn’t fit, but if you look around there are cars that are bronze! It kinda leads us into to what we want to look at of what this Midget Autopia and of course leading into the idea of the secret society and if all that really happened.
No one probably knows about that, but I’m not supposed to tell you anything more, so uh..
-CONNECTION LOST- (Purposely done by Wallace himself)
-WALLACE RETURNS-
Thanks Bob! Thanks for joining us and answering those questions, and uh, I have to go! That’s it for now! Bye Bye!
-LIVE VIDEO ENDS- -HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE CONFUSED-
-This transcript has been typed out by Mitchell Stein (@MitchellStein1)
__________________________________________________________________________________
TWEET: On August 6th, Amelia tweeted out this: "So. Turns out Mom will be in Los Angeles this weekend for a nursing conference.
August 9th: Today, I was able to attend the D23 Expo. One of my main priorities was to meet Wallace at his Disney Cartography booth #539. I was able to sit down and personally speak to him.
Wallace then lead people on a wild scavenger hunt around D23 and Disneyland.
August 10th: With Amelia's mom in Los Angeles, Amelia needed our help to get her mom to Disneyland. After a bunch of people wrote to her, he got this response.
"Hi there. It’s Tanya, Amelia’s mother. Oh boy. I’ll be honest, this whole blog thing is just straight up new and bizarre to me, and I’m having a tough time deciding what to even type. I guess I’ll just get to the point, though, and spit it out. It’s clear you all really care about my daughter and feel very strongly about me coming down to Anaheim. I’m a bit overwhelmed by all of this. Unfortunately I have courses and lectures I’m obligated to attend until the evening, and I have a plane that leaves late tonight. But I will find a way to see what you and Amelia want me to see so badly. That’s a promise.
And Amelia, honey, I’ll call you in just a bit.
Love, Mom"
Then a little after 9PM, Tanya arrived at Disneyland. Inside Main Street, Tanya greeted guests. Then a video was immediately shown. Tanya was so touched, she called Amelia on the phone. She put Amelia on speaker at the end, so everyone could here her. Amelia thanked everyone for all the hard work they had put in! That marked the end of the Optimist.
#AlwaysTheOptimist
Websites:
optimist.disney.com- Disney game page
storyorbit.com- Amelia's blog
disneycartography.com- Wallace's website
lottfamilyconstruction.com- Construction company website
