Originally Posted By Doobie We've just received word from someone inside Disney that Disney Legend Sam McKim has passed away. For more on Sam's career you can read an interview Scarlett Stahl did with him for LaughingPlace.com here: <a href="http://laughingplace.com/News-ID506920.asp" target="_blank">http://laughingplace.com/News- ID506920.asp</a> I had the opportunity to meet Mr. McKim several times and he was one of the nicest people you could meet. He always remembered me and always had stories to tell. This is an all-too-familiar phrase with the ageing of Disney's legends, but he will be missed. Doobie.
Originally Posted By imadisneygal I second that, Doobie. I had the good fortune to have lunch at Club 33 with Sam in 1997 after the rededication of the Disneyland Railroad. He will definitely be missed. Another sad day...
Originally Posted By Kevin Duck Sam McKim was one of the nicest and most genuine people I've ever met. I was lucky to speak to him on several occasions, and he even remembered my name, which always surprised me with the number of people that he spoke with at Disneyana shows and other appearances. He was truly a great man in all regards. I'll really miss seeing him.
Originally Posted By hopemax How sad :-( I met Sam through the NFFC. I have a special autograph book that I carry in the park with drawings of all the characters I had traced and colored from coloring books and their signatures next to them. When I handed my book to Sam, he flipped through it and I said, "Unfortunately, I didn't have a Pirate coloring book for me to trace to put an appropriate character next to his autograph." So he drew me a skeleton and signed it. My Dad brought the souvenier Pirates of the Carribbean books for him to sign and Sam laughed when he saw them and was surprised that my Dad had kept them all these years. I wondered what thoughts were going through his head as he flipped through each of the pages. You know if there is a heaven, it must have one helluva theme park.
Originally Posted By Jim in Pasadena CA I used to spend hours looking at that map of 'Pirates of the Caribbean' that Sam McKim drew -- it was the inside cover of the Souvenir Booklet. I now have it as a jpeg file and use it as a desktop background from time to time. Bye Sam!
Originally Posted By Schmitty Good Vibes This is really sad. I never had the chance to meet him, as I've always lived in Northern California, and I could never afford trips South to the NFFC conventions. I know his work from the Disneyland maps I pored over as a small kid - "This is what I want to go on first, then we'll go there . . . . ." I thank the Janzen Brothers, the curators of The “E†Ticket Magazine, for aquatinting me with him. His craft on Main Street and Frontierland cannot be equaled. Walt was right to see the talent in this kid and make him a great Imagineer. I’ve lost something with his passing. I’m so sorry I never got to meet him (Yet).
Originally Posted By Schmitty Good Vibes Let me just go on about one thing. His work for Frontierland and “The Shootin’ Arcade†was just about perfect. It captured the theme of the land so well, and when I paid 50 cents to shoot those buffalo and ducks, I was a real frontiersman, just like Davey Crocket!!
Originally Posted By Schmitty Good Vibes By the way, for you youngsters, the Shootin' Galleries used to have tin targets and real projectiles. Nuthin like your sad electronic beams of today (And boy did I clean that last sentence up so as not to be admine'd!!
Originally Posted By Ursula We met Sam at an event and he was so kind and so sweet and told us personal stories and let us just sit with him for the longest time. I have a mug of a park map that he autographed. It's one of my prized possessions.
Originally Posted By DlandDug Sam McKim was a dear, dear person. During one of the NFFC events, I happened to stop in at the hotel coffee shop to get a quick bite to eat. There was Sam McKim, seated in a corner table by himself. I politely greeted him as I headed to my table, and was pleased and surprised when he asked if I would "mind" joining him. We had a very nice lunch together. That was Sam McKim. A very charming, genuine person, and a great, great talent.
Originally Posted By ChiMike That is a really cool story DlandDug. It really reveals a lot about his nature. It is really sad to see this unbelievable group of indivduals pass on.
Originally Posted By karlg I am a bit of a Disneyland Map Collector and had the pleasure of meeting Sam at the Walt Disney Barn Dedication at Griffith Park. At the barn I recognized him and he was just the nicest and easiest person to talk too and more than willing to share his stories. He must have talked for 15+ minutes. BTW there is an excellent article about SAM in The E-Ticket Issue #18 (Spring 1994). KarlG
Originally Posted By mstaft His map of EuroDisney is absolutely wonderful. Another link to the quality of the Walt days passes away... God bless Sam's family during this difficult time.
Originally Posted By Haunted Mansion Yes, it is so very sad, less than 6 months from his 80th birthday. Sam is one of my all time favorites, right up there with Marc Davis. Always greeting you with a friendly smile, Sam always took time to get to talk with you and get to know you better. He and I had a personal "joke" going. His first name, as mine, is actually John but everyone called his Sam or Sammy. So whenver we see each other he'd always great me as "Brother John". He did so much with Disney. Not only, of course, the HM and Pirates, etc. But contributed to other things like the Carrousel of Progress and, of course, Mr. Lincoln. He also was responsible for the original DL maps and even came out of retirement to design the original map for Euro Disney. In the last few years he had the added burden of taking care of his wife, Lydia, who has been ill. Both his sons, Matt and Brian, were at one time also Imagineers for Disney. Two of most prized possessions are the original artwork he did of the exterior of the DL HM and an original 1958 Disneyland map. I will certainly miss my "Brother John".
Originally Posted By DlandDug May I add that his greatest "tour de force" for the theme parks was all the artwork for the original Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. It was done under an incredibly tight deadline, too.
Originally Posted By Schmitty Good Vibes And he got a "rare" compliment from Walt for that work. BTW Doug, are you an insomniac too?
