Imagineer Influence: X Atencio

Most Disneyland fans know that Imagineers are amazingly talented people. They design and create one-of-a-kind attractions, pushing the boundaries of both storytelling and technology. And unfortunately, many park visitors know so little about the people that created their favorites spaces within the parks. So welcome to a new series: Imagineer Influence, where we’ll take a moment to celebrate the contributions of the unsung heroes.

Let’s start the series with one of Disneyland’s most diversely talented contributors: X Atencio.

Source: The Walt Disney Family Museum

Francis Xavier (X) Atencio was born in Colorado in 1919, before moving west and becoming a Disney artist in 1938.

After I graduated high school in Colorado, I came out to California to go to school at the Chouinard Art Institute. At the end of a semester, a couple of instructors told some of us to get our portfolios together and they would take them to the Studios to get critiques on our work. I had developed a character, Poncho, a Colorado Cowboy, and I had done a storyboard, but that was about it. And I thought, “I’ll never get a job over there.” So I went to Disney to see if I could get a summer job to make some money to go back to Art School. When I got there, George Drake, the fellow who recruited all us people, said, “Sit down here for a minute, I’ll be right with you.” And with that, three other guys from my classes came in and I thought, “There goes my job. I’ll never get a job now.” And George says, “We went through your portfolios and we like what you’ve done.” Would you be interested in coming to work for us?”

He worked in the animation department for nearly 30 years, working on classics like Pinocchio, The Parent Trap, and Mary Poppins. In 1965, he entered Imagineering Walt tapped him to stretch his artistic wings for some new concepts inside Disneyland.

People often ask me which phase I enjoyed the most, and I’d have to say it was my time at WED. Primarily because that was an assignment I received directly from Walt. I remember when he called me up to his office and he said, “Well, X, I’ve been wanting to get you to WED for some time, and now is a good time to go.” I said, “Okay, boss, whatever you say.”

 Source: Haunted Mansion Wiki

X started his Imagineering career by designing the Disneyland Railroad‘s Primeval World. And from there, his contributions expanded far beyond concept art and design. In fact, he expanded to songwriting, script writing, and even voiceover work!

Nobody knew what I was supposed to be doing. I just kind of flubbed around and then latched on to [Disney Legend] Claude Coats, who was one of my favorite guys, and helped him do the design for Primeval World. I worked with Claude for about a month or six weeks, then Walt called me and said he wanted me to make the script for Pirates of the Caribbean. I had done storyboards before, but never a script. So I put on my pirate hat and dug out any information I could find out about pirates. The first thing I worked on was the Auctioneer scene, and I sent it over to Walt and he said, “Fine, keep going.”

Design

• Disneyland Railroad’s Primeval World diorama
• Mexico Pavilion (Epcot)
• Spaceship Earth (Epcot)
• World of Motion (Epcot)

Lyrics

• Grim Grinning Ghosts, featured in the Haunted Mansion
• If You Had Wings, featured in the former Magic Kingdom attraction of the same name
• Yo Ho (A Pirates Life For Me), featured in Pirates of the Caribbean

Attraction Scripts

• Adventure Thru Inner Space
• Haunted Mansion
• Pirates of the Caribbean

Voiceover Cameos

• Haunted Mansion – the chatty coffin in the conservatory, and in the Disneyland version only, the emergency stop voice announcement
• Pirates of the Caribbean – the talking skull and crossbones before the first drop, the drunken pirate sitting on the bridge near the auctioneer
• Submarine Voyage – in the “Thru Liquidspace” version, the voice called “Bridge”

 Source: Denver Post

X retired from Disney in 1984, and became an official Disney legend in 1996. And with that distinction, X also received his own window on Main Street USA. You’ll find it above the Mad Hatter, in the town square. The Haunted Mansion and Pirates are two of my all-time favorite attractions, so I like to look up at the window when I’m walking the street and give a little thank you nod. X passed away in 2017 at the age of 98, but his influence (and voice) still lives on throughout the park, especially in New Orleans Square.