Robert Henry "Bob" Gurr (born October 25, 1931 in Los Angeles, California) is an American amusement ride designer and Imagineer. His most famous work was for

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney in ...

Park, and its subsequent sister parks. Gurr is said to have designed most, if not all, of the ride vehicles of the Disneyland attractions when the park opened, including

Autopia Autopia is a race car track Disneyland attraction, in which patrons steer specially designed cars through an enclosed track. Versions of Autopia exist at Anaheim, California and Disneyland Paris in Marne-la-Vallée, France. There was also an ...

The Haunted Mansion The Haunted Mansion is a dark ride attraction located at Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, and Tokyo Disneyland. The haunted house attraction features a ride-through tour in Omnimover vehicles called "Doom Buggies", and a walk-through show is displaye ...

, the

Disneyland Monorail The Disneyland Monorail System (originally named the Disneyland ALWEG Monorail System) is an attraction and transportation system at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, United States. It was the first daily operating monorail in the ...

, the

Submarine Voyage The Submarine Voyage was an attraction at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. The attraction features vehicles designed to resemble submarines. It first opened on June 14, 1959, as one of the first rides to require an E ticket. It was part of a ma ...

, and the

Matterhorn Bobsleds Matterhorn Bobsleds are a pair of intertwined steel roller coasters at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. It is modeled after the Matterhorn, a mountain in the Alps on the border between Switzerland and Italy. It is the first known tubular steel ...

. He was named a

Disney Legend The Disney Legends Awards is a Hall of Fame program that recognizes individuals who have made an extraordinary and integral contribution to The Walt Disney Company. Established in 1987, the honor was traditionally awarded annually during a speci ...

in 2004. He also worked on the

King Kong Encounter King Kong (better known as ''King Kong Encounter'' and also known as ''Kongfrontation'' during opening and ''King Kong: The Ride'') was an attraction formerly part of the Studio Tour at Universal Studios Hollywood in Los Angeles. The attraction ...

animatronic for

Universal Studios Hollywood Universal Studios Hollywood is a film studio and theme park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusemen ...

Career

Gurr began his career with Disney designing the Autopia vehicles, and helping to create the Abraham Lincoln audio-animatronic for Disney's attraction at the 1964 World's Fair. He later gave himself the title of Director of Special Vehicle Development. Gurr retired from Disney in 1981 to open his own firm Gurr Design, Inc. He created animated light spiders and other effects for

The Jacksons The Jackson 5 (sometimes stylized as the Jackson 5ive, also known as the Jacksons) are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was founded in 1964 in Gary, Indiana, and for most o ...

Victory Tour. In 1984, Gurr created the UFO spectacle that closed out the opening ceremony of the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

. In 1984, Gurr joined with former Imagineer Dave Schweninger to cofound Sequoia Creative. That firm, under Gurr's aegis, developed the 30-foot tall King Kong Encounter animatronic and the animatronic serpent in The Adventures of Conan: A Sword and Sorcery Spectacular for

. Sequoia Creative built the giant animatronic of the ''Tunnel du temps'' stunt show in Big Bang Schtroumpf, 1989 (now Walygator Parc), France. In 1997, when casino magnate

Steve Wynn Stephen Alan Wynn (''né'' Weinberg; born January 27, 1942) is an American real estate developer and art collector. He is known for his involvement in the American luxury casino and hotel industry. Early in his career he oversaw the construction ...

wanted to sink a pirate ship several times nightly at his

Treasure Island Hotel and Casino Treasure Island Hotel and Casino (also known as Treasure Island Las Vegas and "TI") is a pirate-themed hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, USA. It includes 2,885 rooms and a casino. The resort is owned and operat ...

, he called upon Gurr, who figured out how to do it. Gurr also helped consult for the T-Rex animatronic in ''

Jurassic Park ''Jurassic Park'', later also referred to as ''Jurassic World'', is an American science fiction media franchise created by Michael Crichton and centered on a disastrous attempt to create a theme park of cloned dinosaurs. It began in 1990 when ...

'' and for the animatronic used in 1998's ''

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film ''Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produc ...

''.

Books

In the 1950s Gurr was the author and illustrator of two books, both published by D. Post Publications and out of print, on the subject of auto design: ''How to Draw Cars of Tomorrow'' in 1952, and ''Automobile Design: The Complete Styling Book'' in 1955. In 2012, Gurr authored ''Design: Just For Fun'' a 216-page hardcover book on his career in themed entertainment design at Disneyland and beyond. With a foreword by

Marty Sklar Martin A. "Marty" Sklar (February 6, 1934 – July 27, 2017) was a scriptwriter and construction developer. He was The Walt Disney Company's international ambassador for Walt Disney Imagineering, the subsidiary of the company which designs a ...

, the book has since gone out of print and is highly valued by collectors. Gurr's memoir ''BOB GURR: Legendary Imagineer: Life and Times – Disney and Beyond'' was published in 2019.

Awards and honors

In 1999, Gurr was awarded the

Themed Entertainment Association The Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) is an international non-profit association that represents creators, developers, designers and producers of themed entertainment. It is also noted for its THEA Awards, which were founded in 1995 and ar ...

's THEA award for lifetime achievement. In 2004, in a ceremony at the

Disney Studios The Walt Disney Studios is an American film and entertainment studio, and is the Studios Content segment of the Walt Disney Company. Based mainly at the namesake studio lot in Burbank, California, the studio is best known for its multifacete ...

in Burbank, CA, Gurr was inducted as a Disney Legend. Gurr also has received the honor of having his name appear on

Main Street, U.S.A. Main Street, U.S.A. is the first "themed land" inside the main entrance of the many theme parks operated or licensed by The Walt Disney Company around the world. Main Street, U.S.A. is themed to resemble American small towns during the early 20t ...

windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

at both

and the

Magic Kingdom Magic Kingdom Park, previously known as Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom (1971–1994) and The Magic Kingdom (1994–2017), is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando, Florida. Owned and operated by The W ...

parks.

References

External links

Official site of Bob Gurr

Disney Legend Bob Gurr – D23.com

Disney Legend Bob Gurr: Filling in the Gaps
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gurr, Bob Living people 1931 births Disney imagineers Disney people Animatronic engineers American amusement park developers

Career

Books

Awards and honors

See also

References

External links