Elliott spent much of his career as the voice that introduced many of us to our favorite Disney films. He worked for Walt Disney Entertainment from 1983 until 2008, a timeframe that included what many consider to be the “renaissance” of Walt Disney animation. The Aristocats and 101 Dalmatians II: Patch’s London Adventure Special Edition DVDs were the final trailers he announced, both released in 2008.
For many Disney fans in the 1990s, the experience of opening a brand new Disney VHS tape and putting it in the VCR was immediately followed by hearing Mark Elliott’s voice as he announced new and upcoming features.
Here are a few of our favorite trailers featuring Mark’s iconic voice work:
According to the OC Register, Disney Legend Jim Cora passed away on Sunday, March 21st a following a brief hospitalization.
Cora began his Disneyland career working part-time as an Attractions Host Cast Member cleaning 3-D glasses for the Mickey Mouse Club Theater. After 43 years with the company, Cora retired as the chairman of Disney International.
Cora thanks Walt Disney himself for his quick rise through the ranks of the company. He recounts an incredible story where Walt Disney sent teenage Cora to the Disneyland Administration building to find Van Arsdale France. Cora was instructed to “Tell him Walt sent you. I think he may have something for you.” Van Arsdale France founded Disney University.
Jim Cora went on to join the opening team of Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room and then to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World where he was responsible for implementing the “Disney Way of Leadership” program. Cora then helped redesign the “area concept” of the Disneyland Park, leading him to be responsible for Fantasyland and Tomorrowland.
In 1979, Jim Cora became the managing director of Operations for the Tokyo Disneyland Project. He held responsibility for all of the operational planning, management, and training for the park. Before the park opened, he was promoted to Vice President of Walt Disney Productions Japan, Ltd to help oversee the Oriental Land Company and to upheld Disney’s operational standards.
After his time in Japan, Cora moved back home to California and assumed the role of Vice President of Disneyland International in 1983. Shortly thereafter, Cora took on the project of negotiating agreements and master planning for the Disneyland Paris project. He was promoted to Vice President and COO for the Euro Disney Corporation. In 1995, Jim was promoted to President of Disneyland International where he oversaw the development of Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea. His final focus was to develop and maintain strategies that would allow Tokyo Disney Resort to succeed and grow. He retired from this position in 2001.
Josh D’Amaro, the current Disney Parks Chairman, claims that Jim Cora was one of the few remaining connections to Walt Disney. D’Amaro said in a statement,
“His dedication to bringing Disney magic to people around the world was only matched by the passion he exuded throughout his career and for the many years that followed. I always loved hearing Jim’s thoughts about our business. He was one of our last connections to Walt Disney and he will be missed dearly.”
Disney Legend Charles Boyer, who accepted a “temporary” job at Disneyland as a portrait sketch artist in fall 1960 and remained there for 39 years, passed away on February 8, 2021 in Ontario, California. He is survived by two children, Bruce and Naomi. His wife, Ellen, preceded him in death. D23 shares Boyer’s story below as they remember his amazing career with Disney.
Boyer had the unique distinction of having been Disneyland’s first full-time artist and eventually was elevated to become Disneyland’s master illustrator. He captured in his work the unique and fanciful spirit of Disney characters and theme park environments.
Itself a reflexive work referencing his earlier “Triple Self Portrait” (1978), Boyer’s later “Self Portrait: Mickey Mouse” (1989) would also playfully riff on the Rockwellian concept.
“You always remember the early days,” Boyer once said of his earliest time at Disneyland. “Mine were very memorable because it was all new. Disneyland was only 5 years old when I started. We had a family atmosphere… the feeling of the park is still carried on by the cast members. I’m proud to be a part of that.”
Boyer’s art training began with art classes in high school, where he nurtured a love for the beautiful desert landscape. While still a teen, he won first place at the Imperial Valley County Fair and developed a passion for the work of Vincent Van Gogh.
Soon after, he enrolled in courses at Chouinard Art Institute. He received a “working scholarship,” performing double duty as the janitor while attending classes as an art student. Classes in design and cartooning convinced Boyer to consider a commercial art career as an alternative to fine arts.
“A Disneyland Tribute to Fire Fighters” sought to honor its chosen subject matter “In commemoration of their heroic efforts during the Southland fires of 1993.” It would prove to be one of Boyer’s most iconic works.
Six months after beginning work at Disneyland, he joined the marketing and advertising art department as an illustrator. “We did everything—design, production, illustration,” he once said. During his 39 years with Disneyland, Boyer produced nearly 50 collectible lithographs, as well as a diverse range of artwork for magazine covers, brochures, and flyers—even Company-commissioned oil portraits for retiring employees. He worked in all media, including pastels, oils, watercolors, gouache, acrylics, pencil, and ink. He created such well-loved pieces as “Partners,” a 1981 painting of Walt Disney hand in hand with Mickey Mouse (shown in a different pose from the later “Partners” statue seen at Disneyland), and “Triple Self-Portrait,” the 1978 work based on Norman Rockwell’s similarly titled painting, featuring Walt Disney looking into a mirror and painting a portrait of Mickey Mouse.
“I know people can do things that they like,” he once remembered. “I wasn’t very good when I came out of school. I spent 40 years at this getting good.”
On his retirement in 1999, the artist reflected, “I’ve worked with such great people. My wife used to ask if I was actually getting any work done, because I was having so much fun.”
