Imagineer Influence: C. Randy Bright

All Imagineers bring a magic touch to the parks – from artists to engineers to architects. And some don’t neatly fall into one category. That’s the case for today’s spotlight, C. Randy Bright, a true renaissance man within Imagineering.

 Source: D23

Long Beach native Bright (born in 1938) started out on a very non-artistic track, studying political science at CSU Fullerton. But he worked at Disneyland during his college years, where he met his future wife Pat who was also working at the park as a tour guide. Little did he know that this job was just the start of a career with the mouse.

The summer of 1959 was a very special one for me. As a college undergraduate, I had enlisted in the Navy—the Disneyland Navy—and was scheduled for active duty aboard the sailing ship Columbia, the newest vessel to ply Frontierland’s Rivers of America.

For six years, Bright worked as a cast member in many attractions, and even performed as one of the “space men” walking around Tomorrowland. And then in 1965, Bright moved into the Disney University division, specializing in audio-visual presentations and publications. Just three years later, Disney legend Marty Sklar brought him to Imagineering as a staff writer to work on shows for both Disneyland and the soon-to-open Disney World in Florida. In fact, Bright briefly moved to Florida in the 70s to manage Employee Communications at the Florida Disney University, before returning to California to take the helm at WDI Communications.

By the 80s, Bright had worked his way up to executive producer of Disneyland and Walt Disney World Theme Parks. Marty Sklar put it best:

I don’t think even Walt could have created a more quintessential believer in the Disney traditions than Randy Bright. His growth from a Jungle Cruise guide and costumed spaceman at Disneyland to the top creative position at Walt Disney Imagineering is the stuff of storybook legends. He was a true dreamer and doer.

 Source: High Country Vintage

And then to top it all off, Bright quite literally wrote the book on Disneyland. Disneyland: The Inside Story, provided an Imagineer’s perspective on the park’s development, and he also helped produce an hour long special called The Disneyland Story alongside the book’s release and park’s 35th anniversary.

Tragically, C. Randy Bright died in a bicycle accident in 1990. One year later, he was bestowed the highest honor for a Disneyland contributor – a window on Main Street. You can find his sign (where he is noted as “proprietor”) above Castle Bros. in the central part of the street.

If you’d like to read Disneyland: The Inside Story, you can find it at many online retailers including Amazon.

 Source: Disney Parks Blog