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Sammy McKim (December 20, 1924 – July 9, 2004) was a Canadian film actor and artist. He graduated from Los Angeles Art Center with a Bachelor of Arts Degree and was born in
Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
. He died in
Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of 107,337. The city was named after David Burbank, w ...
from
heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...
in 2004. McKim Served in the U.S. Army in 1943 with his brother David McKim where he fought in the Korean War. He earned the
Distinguished Service Cross The Distinguished Service Cross (D.S.C.) is a military decoration for courage. Different versions exist for different countries. *Distinguished Service Cross (Australia) The Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) is a military decoration awarded to ...
medal for being shot down in combat during the Korean War. After the war McKim stopped acting and became an artist, starting his career at the art department of
Fox Studios 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
before moving to the
Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
where he'd stay for the next 32 years until his retirement in 1987, 12 of which he would work closely with
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 ...
.


WED Enterprises/Walt Disney Imagineering career

McKim began his career at WED Enterprises in 1954 as an illustrator six months prior to the opening of
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 ...
. One of his earliest illustrations being of The Golden Horseshoe in
Frontierland Frontierland is one of the "themed lands" at the many Disneyland-style parks run by Disney around the world. Themed to the American Frontier of the 19th century, Frontierlands are home to cowboys and pioneers, saloons, red rock buttes and gol ...
as well as storyboards for various films and television shows such as,
Nikki, Wild Dog of the North ''Nikki: Wild Dog of the North'' is a 1961 adventure film directed by Jack Couffer and Don Haldane. The plot, based on the novel ''Nomads of the North'' by James Oliver Curwood, centers around the adventures of a malamute dog named Nikki. Plo ...
, Big Red, and
Zorro Zorro ( Spanish for 'fox') is a fictional character created in 1919 by American pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo of Los Angeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashing masked vigilante w ...
. Later on he would contribute some illustrations for
Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln ''Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln'' is a stage show featuring an Audio-Animatronic representation of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, best known for being presented at Disneyland since 1965. It was originally showcased as the prime feature of t ...
,
Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress is a rotating theater audio-animatronic stage show attraction in Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida just outside of Orlando, Florida. Crea ...
, Pirates of the Caribbean and 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 displa ...
. He was also responsible for the concept art of all four Disney attractions seen at the New York World's Fair 1964–1965. By 1958 McKim became known as "master map maker" for creating the Disneyland Park souvenir maps that were sold at the park from 1958 to 1964. After retiring from Walt Disney Imagineering in 1987, McKim was brought back in 1992 to help his son Matt McKim on the
Disneyland Paris Disneyland Paris is an entertainment resort in Chessy, France, east of Paris. It encompasses two theme parks, resort hotels, Disney Nature Resorts, a shopping, dining and entertainment complex, and a golf course. Disneyland Park is the origin ...
project (also known as Euro Disneyland) to help create the map for the park. During the process of making the map for
Euro Disneyland Disneyland Park, originally Euro Disneyland Park, is a theme park found at Disneyland Paris in Marne-la-Vallée, France. The park opened on 12 April 1992 as the first of the two parks built at the resort. Designed and built by Walt Disney Ima ...
McKim suffered a heart attack which led him to asking
Tony Baxter Tony Wayne Baxter (born February 1, 1947) is the former senior vice president of creative development in Walt Disney Imagineering and was responsible for creating designs and carrying out the construction of attractions all over the world. He anno ...
for a replacement on the map project which was refused by Baxter because he would have rather waited until McKim was done with the map. McKim would eventually go on to finishing the map for the park three weeks after the opening of Euro Disneyland.


Awards and honors

In 1996, McKim was inducted as 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 ...
. Two years after his death, in 2006, McKim 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
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 ...
. The window, which can be found above the Main Street Photo Supply Co. reads:
Cartography Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an im ...
Masterworks – Sam McKim – Map Maker of the Kingdom – There's Magic in the Details.


Filmography


Bibliography

* * Holmstrom, John (1996). ''The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995''. Norwich: Michael Russell, p. 130.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McKim, Sammy 1924 births 2004 deaths Canadian male film actors Canadian male child actors Canadian expatriate male actors in the United States Male actors from Vancouver 20th-century Canadian male actors Disney imagineers