Anonymous

The costume shirt you have from Epcot was one formerly used for cast members who worked in Future World Outdoor Foods (i.e. popcorn carts, etc.). According to Janice Jones, Costuming Manager at Walt Disney World, cast members nicknamed the costume “Barney,” after the purple dinosaur on television, because of its color. (Barney did not appear …

Katy, Sherwood, Oregon

Goofy is portrayed as a human character with doglike features; his original name was Dippy Dawg. Sleeping Beauty Castle has always had that name, as the film was in production when the park opened, and Walt obviously wanted to promote his upcoming animated feature. (Before the park was built, Walt did once mistakenly refer to …

Brenda, San Dimas, California

You might contact a dealer in animation art, such as Howard Lowery.

Brock, Dartmouth, Massachusetts

Figment is an official Disney character; outside of the attractions at Epcot, he starred as an animated character in several films produced by Disney Educational Productions. There are no limitations to his future use.

Sheila, Conestoga, Pennsylvania

You are entirely correct, in that Sleeping Beauty was made in 1959 and The Little Mermaid in 1989. There would certainly be no subtle references to the later characters in the former film since indeed they had not yet been created.

Avi, Irvine, California

Imagineer Marc Davis made them up, but like most artists, he was often inspired by people he knew or encountered.

Marena, Athens, Georgia

Check out DisneyCareers.com on the Internet for possible Disney internships.

Larry, Tampa, Florida

Yes, I met him briefly when visiting Disneyland as a teenager in 1956. Of course, neither he nor I realized then that a decade and a half later I would be sitting in his office preparing an inventory of everything there.

Michael, Irvine, California

I cannot imagine that this is true. By 1940, Academy voters had become accustomed to Walt Disney winning the Best Cartoon Oscars each year, so perhaps they felt others should be given a chance. In fact, by then, many of the other studios had improved their cartoon-making capabilities so much that they had some films …

J, Los Angeles, California

Disney took both stories from French fairy tales, though other countries had similar versions of the same stories.