Jason Surrell: Looking Back, Looking Ahead
Writer, Imagineer and all-around good guy Jason Surrell is the author of several books, including "Pirates of the Caribbean: From The Magic Kingdom To The Movies." Jason recently took time out from his promotional appearances to talk with Keep To The Code about his past, present and future plans.
The Past
When did you start with Disney?
I started working for Disney on the Walt Disney World College Program in the summer of 1989 at the age of six. Sorry, I'm trying not to date myself. I was a skipper at the Jungle Cruise, and I think that's just the coolest first Disney job to have. The next summer, I came down to work on my own and auditioned for Entertainment, where I worked as a performer. Then, in January of 1991, I moved to Florida full-time to continue working in Entertainment and finish my education at the same time.
What's your educational background, for those who may want to follow in your footsteps?
I have one of those careers in which my education made very little difference in how things played out. Having said that, it was important for me to finish my degree. I have a BA in Liberal Studies with a Minor in Business Administration. It's one of those majors that people make fun of -- myself included -- but that major didn't seem to hurt Michael Eisner very much! I had originally planned to go to film school, but I got sidetracked by thinking a business degree would help me become the next Michael Eisner -- I mean Bob Iger. I guess I'm going to have to update all my anecdotes. Since I started doing creative work while I was still in college, I decided to find the path of least resistance so I could get out there full-time and keep doing what I was doing.
Click the cover to order "Pirates of the Caribbean: From the Magic Kingdom to the Movies" via Amazon.com.
Speaking of paths taken, talk about the path that led you to Imagineering.
Well, I started pitching show concepts when I was working as a performer, and I actually got a few things produced at Epcot and the Disney-MGM Studios. After a couple years of doing that, I had cobbled together enough of a resume to make it actually look like I knew what I was doing. That's when I went to work for Universal Studios, and for the next five years I wrote and directed all sorts of live shows and events for them. The highlights for me were five years' worth of "Bill and Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure" shows for the park's Halloween Horror Nights event (1994-1998). They were like half-hour SNL sketches, but with stunts, explosives and elaborate musical numbers. To this day, they are among the highest rated attractions in Universal history. I'll never forget the day the event's producer came to me and said my show was rating higher than T2 3-D. I also wrote "A Day in the Park with Barney," which is still running. Toward the end of my five years there, I started working for Universal Creative, which is their version of Imagineering. I wound up writing the script for Jurassic Park River Adventure at Islands of Adventure, and that "E-ticket" experience was what enabled me to come back to Disney in one of the roles I had always wanted: Imagineer.
What's your proudest Imagineering moment/what project are you fondest of?
It might seem a little strange, because it's not exactly the biggest project in the world, but the Madame Leota tombstone we added to the family plot at The Haunted Mansion in the Magic Kingdom means the world to me. First of all, we got to finally honor Leota Toombs with a tombstone of her own; we were able to tie a show enhancement into the attraction's storyline by creating a "grave" for a major character; but, most of all, I got to see the epitaph I wrote standing alongside the classic rhymes written by X Atencio.
On that subject, your writing is seen by thousands of people every day thanks to Madame Leota's tombstone epitaph at the Haunted Mansion at Walt Disney World. How did that project happen?
The tombstone was created as part of our show enhancement program, which was designed specifically to add little touches to the parks that would keep them fresh and alive for the guests. It's all about "plussing" the experience -- it's what Walt always talked about. We just thought it would be a fun way to further occupy people's attention while they were waiting to enter the mansion. We're doing even more of that now, as you've all seen with the enhancements we've made to both The Haunted Mansion and Jungle Cruise at Disneyland. I think you're going to see a lot more of that in the future, because both the park operations team and the guests have responded so positively to the additions we've made.
How did "The Haunted Mansion: From the Magic Kingdom to the Movies" come about? Did Disney say 'hey, we've got this great writer in Imagineering, let's have him write a book' or was it more along the lines of 'hey, I'm a great writer in Imagineering, I'll pitch this idea to the company'?
I really just wanted to read a book about The Haunted Mansion -- not necessarily write one -- but it didn't exist. So I asked Don Winton, our VP of Creative down here in Florida how I would go about pitching a book, and he told me to "just e-mail Marty." So I wrote to Marty and pitched a book about the making of both the attraction and the film, which, at the time, was still a year-and-a-half away. He thought it was a great idea and loved the notion of riding the wave of awareness that the movie was sure to generate. I wrote a book proposal, which I had never done before, and Marty worked with me to get it just right. The next thing I knew, he told me that New York was waiting for my proposal and I should send it off right away. Within a month I had a contract to write the book. I pitched a Pirates book at the exact same time, but they wanted to go with The Haunted Mansion first to see how people would respond to a book about an individual attraction, which had never been done before.
The author, in his "corruptible mortal state."
"Haunted Mansion" is a terrific book crammed with concept art and information that had never seen the light of day outside of the Disney company previously. How difficult is it to present an old attraction in a new way?
It's actually not difficult at all because I've found that all I really have to do is -- literally -- present it. People possess a great deal of affection for these attractions and I think the audience for a book like this has always been there. All I had to do was create it for them -- and myself, as I've pointed out. Since a book like this had never been done, just by doing it we were presenting an old favorite in a new way, and the audience I long suspected was there turned out for it. These attractions "present" themselves -- they don't need me. All I have to do is get the story straight and cram in as much art and as many pictures as I can.
You were no doubt very aware of the hardcore, rabid Mansion fans but needed to keep in mind the average park visitor who only knew that there was "a haunted house" in the park. Was that a tough balance to get right?
The book was written specifically for the hardcore fan. There is way too much detail in there -- to the point of obsession, in fact -- for what I would consider the "general audience." We all hoped that it would appeal to a broader audience -- more casual Disney fans, movie fans, even horror and ghost story aficionados -- and it did. The book has sold too many copies to appeal only to hardcore fans, so we must have struck just the right balance whether we intended to or not.
You're also the author of "Screenplay by Disney." How similar is writing for film to writing for a new attraction?
Writing for Walt Disney Imagineering is decidedly unique, but it probably comes closest to screenwriting only because our group was born of the film industry. All of the first Imagineers were filmmakers from Walt's studio, and Walt always approached Disneyland and its attractions as three-dimensional "films" that his audience could experience as opposed to passively watch. So we talk in the vernacular of film and approach what we do in much the same way filmmakers in all disciplines approach their work. There's also a strong dose of theater in everything I do, which is no problem for me because much of my background is in live entertainment.
The Present
The newest book is "Pirates of the Caribbean: From the Magic Kingdom to the Movies." Will it follow a similar format to the Mansion book--concept, attraction, film?
Pirates follows the exact same template as the Mansion book. The first section is a comprehensive history of the attraction in four of the five Magic Kingdoms in the world. The second section is a scene-by-scene "ride-through" of the Disneyland original, with sidebars and other additional material that covers the three other versions. And the last section covers the making of the first Pirates of the Caribbean film. The very last page offers a small sneak peek at the future, with some images from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, and even a "teaser poster" that hints at what is to come in the parks. Tom Fitzgerald himself personally selected that particular piece to help get fans excited about the future of Pirates.
I've heard that a second Pirates book devoted solely to the films will be coming out in early 2007. Will that be a hardcover volume similar to "The Art of the Haunted Mansion" you wrote about that film?
There is going to be another book on the making of all three films, but unfortunately I am no longer writing it. The production wanted someone who was on set every day to write the book. On the positive side, fans will now get a truly first hand account of the making of the movies. Sadly for me -- and for her, let's be honest -- Keira Knightley will now have to find someone else to squire her around town and get her into all the cool clubs. She still calls in the middle of the night, weeping and demanding to know why. I can tell fans that the production team will be including more nods to the attraction in the second and third films, and they are every bit as cool as the references in the first film.
You visited the sets of the first Pirates film. What were those like?
I've been able to visit the sets of all three Pirates films at this point, and it's just as amazing as you might imagine. Exploring the treasure cave set was like being able to experience the attraction on a gargantuan scale and on foot! It was absolutely overwhelming. I had the same experience on the bayou set of Dead Man's Chest. The Blue Bayou has always been one of my favorite Disney environments, and to see it on such a mammoth scale was breathtaking. And let's face it, sitting the captain's cabin aboard the Black Pearl is just about the coolest thing in the world.
"Avast there, mateys, it be Jolly Jason!"
Can you share anything you found out while researching the Pirates book that surprised you?
The biggest surprise was discovering what a major role Herb Ryman played in the creation of the attraction. We know Herb was probably the driving force behind the look and feel of New Orleans Square, but I personally had no idea just how much work he had done on the attraction itself. Just as Ken Anderson has to be considered the "unsung hero" of The Haunted Mansion, Herb Ryman is something of an unknown soldier where Pirates is concerned. I hope the book helps illuminate just how much Herb contributed to an attraction people know and love all over the world.
Disneyland's Pirates of the Caribbean is probably the most popular theme park attraction in the world. What kind of pressure does that create for you as a writer?
The only real pressure I feel is getting the details of the story right, simply because I value these books as "historical documents," which I hope doesn't sound too pretentious. Even if it's something as "minor" as correctly labeling a piece of art, whether it's the artist or the year it was created, it's important to me to nail it. Beyond that, the attraction speaks for itself and "appeals" for itself, so all I have to do is present it in the best possible way. To use a comedy metaphor, I know this particular headliner is going to kill the audience, so all I have to do is not screw up the introduction.
Marc Davis and his wife Alice were a huge part of the Disneyland attraction, as was X Atencio. Speaking with him, X expressed both surprise and pleasure that people still enjoy his work all these years later. What were Marc and Alice's feelings about the longevity of their work?
I think the longevity of Disney art -- whether it's an animated feature or a theme park attraction -- is the single most gratifying thing to the artists who created them. That's what I hear again and again. They're sometimes mystified by it, because they feel like they were just going to work and doing their best every day -- just like we do now -- but the enduring appeal of their work means the world to them. It shouldn't really come as a surprise; it's a way to achieve immortality, and in such a positive way.
The Future
What other projects are on the horizon for you?
At Walt Disney Imagineering, I'm working on another new incarnation of a classic attraction, which is just about all I can say about it. I'm also working on concepts for a number of the Walt Disney World parks as well as Disney Cruise Line. On the book front, I'm just starting on the next one, Disney Mountain: Imagineering the E-Ticket Range, which will cover all the "mountain thrill rides" from the Matterhorn to Expedition Everest. That's due out in the fall of 2006. We're also still working on making From Star Tours to Indiana Jones Adventure: The Creative Force of Disney and George Lucas a reality. That's another dream project for someone raised on Lucas and Spielberg films. One thing about working in the entertainment industry is there's no shortage of idols!
Wrapping up, as an Imagineer, what would be your dream project?
I would love to work on a Magic Kingdom park at some point, which is probably true of every Imagineer. And, as you can probably imagine, I'd love to be part of a future incarnation of The Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean. That would be the ultimate combination of the old and the new for me, getting to make creative contributions to established classics and reinvent them for a new audience and a new era.
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Interview © KeepToTheCode.com and may not be reprinted in any form, in full or in part, without prior written permission.
Pirates of Dragon*Con! (2005 edition)
By staff writer Diane B. Rooney
Atlanta's not exactly a port city, but that didn't stop a sizeable crew of pirates from dropping anchor at Dragon*Con, America's largest sci-fi, fantasy and genre convention, for four days of pAARRties, pAARRades, and other festivities over Labor Day weekend. This was my second Dragon*Con, and I wouldn't have missed it if I'd had to rope a couple of sea turtles and lash them together with hair from my back.
Something About Dragon*Con
Dragon*Con attendance has grown each year since its origins in 1987 and now fills the Marriott and Hyatt Hotels. Attendance was again well above 20,000. The convention is so big it's impossible to even see, let along do, everything on offer, as activities spill across multiple levels of the host hotels and into the streets of downtown Atlanta.
What can you do at Dragon*Con? The main attractions include 27 programming tracks (ranging from Star Trek through Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Costuming, and Gothic to Buffy and Comic Books), costume contests, celebrity autographs, concerts, an art exhibition, a film festival, theatrical performances, a wrestling match, writers' workshops, a huge sale room, live action role playing games, a beauty contest, robot battles, a closed circuit TV channel with outrageous ads (e.g. phaser eye surgery), and a parade.
No one sleeps, running on caffeine and sugar during the day and rum, wine, beer, Long Island ice tea, or Red Bull and vodka at night. The rum is NEVER gone. EVERYONE is in costume, all the time, and taking pictures, all the time. Everyone seems completely disoriented from lack of sleep, too much junk food, too much time in character, and the challenge of repeatedly navigating the endless levels of the conference hotels. It's hard to remember which hotel you're standing in, let alone in which hotel your next event is located. You worry about losing your cell phone, your camera, your wallet, your convention badge, and your mind.
Your next event is ALWAYS in the other hotel, in a wing that, like the Isla de Muerta, can only be found by those who already know where it is. You've got thirty minutes to get from one place to another, including a stop for coffee and a restroom break in which you first have to remove several layers of your costume. Just be grateful you're not the guy dressed as Edward Scissorhands. Both the Marriott and the Hyatt have indoor atriums with thirty or so levels of balconies - look up and you feel you've entered some futuristic hanging gardens of Babylon, the holodecks of a giant starship, or the Twilight Zone.
(If any of this intrigues you enough to sign up for 2006, visit www.dragoncon.org/dc_members.htm. Four days of madness can be yours for as little as $45, not counting what you'll spend on airfare, hotels, coffee and donuts, multiple costumes for each of your multiple characters, and the credit card charges you'll rack up in the hot, crowded frenzy of the sale room.)
Pirate Programming?
This year, alas, there was no pirates programming track, despite proposals submitted by members of Pirates of the Caribbean Audience Participation. Lack of space for additional tracks was the reason cited.
Even the much anticipated Sunday morning interactive screening of The Curse of the Black Pearl (in which costumed audience members interact with the events on screen and have their own dialogue with the screen characters) was cancelled, as the hotel failed to obtain the film for POTCAP. We were able to quickly locate a DVD but by then we had lost both our audience and our time slot in the packed film schedule.
Program space may be expanded next year, and with Dead Man's Chest coming out just two months before D*C 2006 fan interest in pirates will be even higher. Plans are underway to re-submit proposals for a pirates programming track.
Pirate Characters
Even without a programming track as a focal point, the crew was large, including several Captain Jack Sparrows, a Will Turner, a Commodore Norrington, a Captain Barbossa, and pirates presenting their own gorgeous costumes and unique characters.
Many had developed their costumes and characters long before the release of The Curse of the Black Pearl. Almost all were big fans, pleased that the film had reinvigorated and expanded popular interest in pirates, as well as increasing the range of pirate merchandise available.
Cynthia, a pirate from Orlando who's been attending Dragon*Con since 1999, has loved pirates since she was a child. One great consequence of Pirates of the Caribbean's success, she says, is that "now you can get more pirate stuff." Her favorite character? Captain Jack Sparrow, of course.
Another female pirate, living in Tennessee, is a direct descendent of a crew member of the Whydah, which went down off Cape Cod in April 1717 with Captain Samuel "Black Sam" Bellamy and 143 men aboard, only two of whom survived the wreck. (Bellamy had captured the Whydah, a slave ship carrying gold, silver, sugar, indigo, and quinine back to England, off Long Island after a fierce pursuit north from the Caribbean). She had done a great deal of research on her ancestor and even traveled back to his village in Great Britain. She's recognized pirate is in her blood, and her family research has helped her square with it, so to speak.
Pirate Costumes
Dragon*Con pirate costumes are rich in fabric, color, and detail, just like their film counterparts. Their creation is a labor of love (check back for a follow-up, "Creating Jack Sparrow," next month) Most of the costumes are made by hand, either by the wearer, a friend, or a professional costumer, supplemented with purchased items like chemises, corsets, jewelry, hats, leather goods, and weapons. The rest are assembled piece by piece from online sites, thrift shops and Renaissance Faires.
The photo gallery shows the dazzling array of pirate costumes, including:
-A female pirate in a black bustier topped with an emerald green brocade frock coat with gold trim, also wearing a black tricorne with gold trim and feathers (she's the one with the cell phone on her leather belt).
-The so-called Flaming Pirate, a tall dark man in a sleeveless red shirt and black vest, featuring a black hat sporting a whole crown of scarlet feathers (which give him his name), with armbands, rings, bracelets, necklaces, dangles, a red sash and bandanna, a long black wig, boots, baldric, black leather boots with scarlet inserts, a cutlass and a pistol to complete his look. Your author is poised at his side.
-April from Tennessee, wearing a stunning jeweled, embroidered and brocaded scarlet coat with gold buttons and a gold-trimmed black musketeer hat with feathers to match her coat. A white ruffled shirt, black boots and breeches, and a beautiful sword completed her costume.
-A red-haired female pirate wearing a red corset over a black chemise, holding the end of the rope which bound her noble lady hostage, who wore a dark green robe over a patterned satin gown and a tiara surrounded with peacock feathers.
No doubt today's pirate costumes come in exquisite shades of red, pink, violet, green, and blue in addition to basic black, and opulent fabrics including velvets, satins, brocades, suedes and leathers.
Saturday Parade
Saturday morning's 5th annual Dragon*Con parade, in which hundreds of marchers wound through downtown Atlanta cheered by thousands of fellow fans and Atlanta locals, was a great place to photograph pirates.
The 20+ pirates marched under their Jolly Roger banner. Frock coats, feathered hats (really big ones!), ruffled shirts, high boots, bandannas, breeches, belts, buckles, sashes, corsets, compasses, cutlasses, medallions and other jewelry, tankards, pistols, plenty of black eye liner and even a few eye patches were the order of the day.
The parade was interactive, too. Pirates soft-tossed candy and trinkets to the crowd and stopped to talk to and entertain parade watchers, then sprinted ahead to catch up with the Jolly Roger.
More Pirate Watching
The parade was not the only place to get pirate group shots or close-ups of costume details. Small staging areas outside the main ballrooms in the Marriott were a popular gathering point for groups, and photos could be taken as pirates strolled or hung out on the convention floor and in the main lobbies especially Saturday and Sunday evenings. (By late Sunday evening, the last night of the convention, the Hyatt lobby is an impassable sea of people, so you have to go with the flow. At least you don't have to worry about falling down -- there isn't room.)
Same Time, Next Year!
While there's a full day of programming on Monday, it's also departure day, so only a few people are still in costume. Major concerns shift from accidentally hitting someone with your sword to getting the airport shuttle, cramming everything you bought into your suitcases, wrestling them into the overcrowded elevators, and recognizing all your new friends now that they're out of costume so you can say goodbye, exchange emails and phone numbers, and swear on pain of death to meet again next year.
Diane lives in California and spent two days on set as an extra in Dead Man's Chest, where she played a Tortuga Cantina Woman. She's already ordered her 2006 Dragon*Con membership.) Feedback? Email me!
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