Dear Tony Baxter
How one Disney Imagineer's fearlessness taught us all to be brave
Dear Tony, It must have been frustrating to be so young wanting to be heard but wondering if you had a right to do more than listen trying to find your place at 22 in the shadow of Walt’s legacy cobbling together a new idea from pieces of older ones fragments from the original dream-builders of the park that you loved. It must have been heartbreaking to watch your detailed models go into storage becoming another antiquated Western story gathering dust as the space race took center stage and the future became trendier than the past. It must have been exciting the day you dusted off that same miniature mountain even if it had to change its location, farther west as you searched National Geographics for charming hoodoos making adjustments to fit a new space as you must have to step into a new role. It must have been terrifying to know you had the power to mess up Walt’s park to remove beavers and bears and blacklights to dismantle childhood memories and beloved rainbow caverns yet have faith that it would all be worth it. It must have been surreal to step into a train birthed from your imagination zipping past nods to the legends before you and watching your own dream become a reality amidst howling coyotes and water splashes. It was brave building a mountain that Walt had never dreamed of taking a risk that could have failed, but didn’t trusting that inner child creating moments of hope that we, too, can be daring as millions overcome fear and danger on a runaway train for generations to come. Dear Tony, You were brave so that we can be courageous, bold, and fearless, both on and off the ride that simultaneously grew us up and let us be kids again. Thank you for giving us Big Thunder Mountain. - An excerpt from A Glimmer of Pixie Dust: Finding Our Hope in the Disney Story
If you’re not familiar with the history of Big Thunder Mountain, it began as one ride in a trio of attractions destined for the Thunder Mesa complex in Walt Disney World’s Frontierland. When the Western River Expedition concept developed by Marc Davis became too costly an endeavor and the entire project was almost canceled, Tony Baxter suggested they take the runaway train portion and build it first so that the whole concept wouldn’t be scrapped. You can even see in the model that I show in the video above that the Western River Expedition was meant to be next door, eventually.
When the Space Race was in vogue, the Imagineers decided to put this project on the shelf and focus on developing Space Mountain in Tomorrowland, a ride Walt had been involved with creating before he passed. But a few years later, Mine Train through Nature‘s Wonderland in Disneyland was showing its age.
To add more thrill rides to the park, the Imagineers decided to resurrect the runaway mine train concept Tony had developed for Walt Disney World and install it in Disneyland instead. Tony adapted his original idea, mirroring the track layout to make it fit the limited space in Disneyland. He also changed the rockwork to mimic the hoodoos in Bryce Canyon to fit into the “charming” style of Disneyland, an idea he got from a National Geographic magazine that suggested that Hoodoos were so magical they could have been found in Walt Disney’s wonderland.
Big Thunder Mountain was later added to Walt Disney World, and a few more versions followed, including the best one at Euro Disneyland as a grand finale.
For a deeper dive into the history of Big Thunder Mountain, we cover a lot more about the history of this attraction in our 20-episode series on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad on our podcast Distory with Kate & Kirk!
Watch the podcast on my DisneyCicerone YouTube channel.
If you’re in a season of change or loss and need a little bit more hope to get you through, my book A Glimmer of Pixie Dust: Finding Our Hope in the Disney Story has a few words that might help. <3 (Available at disneycicerone.com)
