Another look at rare Space Mountain art by Imagineer Clem Hall. This time a nighttime view. A much more streamlined approach versus John Hench's iconic one. Nonetheless, with the Skyway behind it and the Grand Prix Raceway next door, any version of the park's premier thrill attraction is a great thing. Too bad Shanghai Disneyland's Tron Lightcycles isn't nearby as well.
(Art copyright The Walt Disney Company.)
This SPACE MOUNTAIN artwork if for Walt Disney World's Tomorrowland expansion 1974-1975. It is just a color and mood study -one of half a dozen for a much larger presentation drawing done by Imagineer Clem Hall. The Space Mountain structure is NOT a concept for the look of Space Mountain but is just basically rendered as a place holder as the purpose of the small renderings was just to establish the foreground shapes, view and lighting mood for a completed painting- the final look of Space Mt. was well designed when these rendering were done. Clem Hall was a set painter for Paramount Studios thru the late 60's before coming to WED Enterprises . His last film was ROSEMARY'S BABY. His Disney paintings are well know and appear in guidebooks, annual reports and even merchandise. He is also the artist who created the masters scenic designers used to make the full-size stretching portraits seen in the Haunted Mansion (the ones based on Marc Davis' tiny concept sketches) He is best known for his bird-eye vies of projects such as WDW's New Tomorrowland 1975, Disneyland Space Mountain Complex at Nite, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad overviews for both DL and WDW, Tom Sawyer Island - WDW and the well published EPCOT CENTER aerial view 1981. Clem was done a designer but a very talented and accomplished scenic artist. Most of his work is highly tight and detailed for Disney as he used models and architectural drawing to complete his highly perspective accurate paintings. He is in my top grouping of favorite WED Imagineers. Clem was originally from England.
ReplyDelete-Mike Cozart