Francis Xavier Atencio, also known as X Atencio (September 4, 1919 – September 10, 2017) was an animator and Imagineer for

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 Octobe ...

. He is perhaps best known for writing the scripts and song lyrics of the Disney theme park attractions,

Pirates of the Caribbean ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' is a Disney media franchise encompassing numerous theme park rides, a series of films, and spin-off novels, as well as a number of related video games and other media publications. The franchise originated with the ...

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 ...

Biography

Atencio was born in

Walsenburg, Colorado The City of Walsenburg is the Statutory City that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Huerfano County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 3,049 at the 2020 census, down from 3,068 in 2010. History Walsenbur ...

in 1919. He was a Disney artist from 1938 to 1965, when he became an Imagineer to help design the

Disneyland Railroad The Disneyland Railroad (DRR), formerly known as the Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad, is a 3-foot () narrow-gauge heritage railroad and attraction in the Disneyland theme park of the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, in the United St ...

's Primeval World diorama segment. He then contributed to various Disney attractions. He wrote the scripts for

Adventure Thru Inner Space Adventure Thru Inner Space was an attraction in Disneyland's Tomorrowland, presented by Monsanto Company. It was the first attraction to utilize Disney's Omnimover system. The ride simulated shrinking guests to the size smaller than an atom (th ...

and

. For the latter, he also penned the lyrics of " Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me)" and provided the voices of various characters, including the talking skull that appears before the waterfall that carries riders into the main body of the attraction and the drunken pirate on the bridge who heckles the auctioneer He also wrote the script for 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 ...

, and the lyrics of its theme song, " Grim Grinning Ghosts (The Screaming Song)." His voice can also be heard emanating from the coffin in the Mansion's conservatory scene. In the

Disneyland Disneyland is a 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 initially envisio ...

Mansion, it is Atencio who reads the emergency spiel when the ride comes to a halt. Another brief

voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non- diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentation ...

Atencio provided was for 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 m ...

Thru Liquid Space, where he is addressed as "Bridge." He also wrote the lyrics to

Buddy Baker Elzie Wylie "Buddy" Baker Jr. (January 25, 1941 – August 10, 2015) was an American professional stock car racing driver and commentator. Over the course of his 33-year racing career, he won 19 races in the NASCAR Cup Series, including the 1980 ...

's music for the retired

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 ...

attraction If You Had Wings. Atencio served as a photo interpreter in the

U.S. Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War ...

from 1941 to 1945 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, reaching the rank of captain in the 2nd Photo Tech Squadron. Stationed in England, he was part of a team that analyzed aerial surveillance. He retired from

in 1984 and was named a Disney Legend in 1996. He died in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

on September 10, 2017, six days after his 98th birthday. His great-nephew is television and film director Peter Atencio.

References

External links

Official Disney Legends Website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Atencio, Xavier 1919 births 2017 deaths Animators from Colorado American lyricists Animation screenwriters People from Walsenburg, Colorado Military personnel from Colorado United States Army Air Forces officers United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II First Motion Picture Unit personnel Walt Disney Animation Studios people Disney imagineers Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City

Biography

References

Further reading

External links