The coolest retirement gift ever made...

I have been on a Disney kick while recharging my batteries. The missus is a theme park historian. She taught me more about Disney, and theme parks than any book ever could. If you have been listening to our Pink Monorail Podcast then you would know that as well. Last year we had the good fortune of recording an episode with former Disney Imagineer Joe Lanzisero. He is a creative genius, he is a writer, artist, musician, storyteller, and above all things one of the kindest people you’ll ever meet.

When we met in his office I pointed out a statue on his bookshelf. I asked what the story was behind “Shiriki Utundu?” He was caught off guard. Not only did I recognize the statue, but I knew its name. You see this was a character that he helped create for Tokyo Disney Sea. The origins of which were just one of the hundreds of projects he worked on while at Disney. One of the best attractions created by the imagineers was the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Walt Disney World.

Tokyo Disney Sea was a second gate built next door to Tokyo Disneyland in 2001. The Oriental Land Company, the owners of the park wanted a thrill ride for guests. They contracted with Disney for new attractions. The imagineers had the technology, and blueprint for the Tower of Terror, and wanted to introduce it into the park. The only downside was that the Japanese guests had no point of reference for the Twilight Zone, the host Rod Serling, and the concept of a strange dimension that people could disappear into.

Mr. Lanzisero and his team created an entirely new theme, and story for the ride. This time it focused on an eccentric collector named Harrison Hightower. He had stolen an artifact named Shiriki Utundu from a small African tribe. The statue had been worshipped as a god. The tribe warned Hightower to return the statue or suffer its curse. The arrogant Hightower instead stole it away to his hotel where he displayed the countless artifacts he had stolen from all over the world. He taunted the statue, and that was when according to legend it came to life and destroyed the elevator that Hightower was riding in.

I had created a podcast episode about the Tower of Terror, Joe Lanzisero, and his role helping add new attractions to Tokyo Disney Sea, and especially Hong Kong Disneyland.. That was the reason that I knew about Shiriki, and the work of the imagineers. I asked him about the statue, and he explained that it was a retirement present from his team at the Tokyo Parks. They wanted to give him something that captured the love from the company, and also the guests. The statue was carved out of a bench that was at the park, and set to be replaced. The “spikes” on the statue were folded personalized notes from every member of his team. The staff was made up of different art tools. Instead of a knife he was holding a rubber chicken in the other hand. Around his neck were planning notes, an itinerary from the parks, and sketches.

The amount of care that went into this statue could never be surpassed. Certainly there were retired imagineers that had been given awards, plaques, and other gifts from the parks that they worked at, however I had yet to see anything with as much love as this statue. Have you ever seen anything as amazing? The wife and I hope to get another interview with Joe in the future. I look forward to that. If you plan on retiring what would you imagine the best present would be? Tell me about it in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Standees, skeletons, and skateboards...

In the previous blog I shared the acrylic standees that I made over the spring of 2025. I had fun turning game characters into something tangible in the same scale as my Sonic video game toys. I started thinking about what other characters I would like working with. There were hundreds of games that I wished I had action figures of, but I wanted to start with something super rare. Nothing could have been rarer than one of my favorite games, The Ocean Hunter. The Sega gem was never ported to the home consoles. After almost three decades since its debut I thought it had become forgotten media. Then suddenly Sega announced that a complete version of the game would be included on the recent release of Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza.

The Ocean Hunter was set in a different world, not quite steampunk but still filled with very fantastic creatures, and technology. It had two main characters Chris and Torel. The tricky thing for me to figure out was which version I would make a standee of. The ones without a helmet would be seen in the cut scenes. The helmeted versions appeared during the actual stages. There was a version with a larger illuminated helmet in a single stage when they did a deep dive. Just to be safe I drew all three, and I asked my friends which one I should make. They were all split on the designs. So I put them on the back burner.

As long as I was coming up with ideas for standee figures I thought about making one out of an original character instead. The one that I immediately thought of was my skeletal OC for a fictional sequel to the Atari game 720. Of the three designs I did I think I was happiest with the Vert version of my character. I haven’t given him a name yet. To be honest I was surprised with how well the Downhill version turned out. I might end up making standees of all three, each with their own custom base as well. Which of the three figures do you think works best? I probably wouldn’t order any new standees for a while as the current administration is putting tariffs on everything, and causing international shipping to go through the roof. So figures that might have cost me a few dollars might end up costing me hundreds. I would rather spend that kind of money on something else.

As you know I already gave myself an early birthday present. Six months ahead of time I pulled the trigger on a 1/6 scale basketball hoop for my collector figures. Since I was on a skateboard kick I decided to give myself an early Christmas present this year as well. It had been almost 20 years since my previous complete. A 38” Sector 9 skateboard with Rogue downhill trucks, and 65mm Lumithane wheels. I am a big guy, and that skateboard is a longboard to most people, but it feels like a regular skateboard to me. I still wished that I had a wider board. That’s when I found out about ">the Big Boards offered by Everybodyskates. These skateboards are proportionally the same shape of classic ‘80s style skateboards, but about 1/3 bigger. Now I have a 40” skateboard with 215 Indy trucks, and 60mm wheels. To me they feel perfect. I actually traded trucks, and wheels once I got it because I think green glow-in-the-dark wheels go better with a Godzilla-inspired deck. What do you think?

Have you been creating art, or spoiling yourself with unnecessary purchases? Are there any video games, or comic book characters that you would like to see a standee or toy of? Tell me about it in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Turning fan art into physical art, how I spent the spring of 2025

Hello friends. I hope that you are doing well. What have you been up to since my last new update? I was sorely in need of a break this spring, and summer. Work, and family issues had taken a lot out of me in 2024, and the first part of 2025. I needed to step away from blogging in order to recharge my physical, creative, and mental batteries. The break allowed me to explore my art, which I haven’t really gotten into since the start of the pandemic many years ago. Back then I did illustrations in the style of Steve Nazar (RIP), and drew almost 100 different BMX bikes. Just to get my creative spirit back.

I picked up my sketchbook in the spring, just as I was wrapping up my blog run. I had been getting back into comic books. I wanted to see if I could do an illustration of one of my little brother’s favorite characters. Psylocke from the X-Men. Not just any version of the character, but her pink costume look from her time with the British group Excalibur. Her name is Betsy Braddock, and she is the sister of Captain Britain in case you didn’t know. Current fans may not be aware of her earlier look. Most people today know she wears a sexy ninja costume. Yet she originally looked much different. She was a a white woman that wore a soft flowing pink costume. The character had strong psychic powers, which were often presented as pink butterflies in the comic book panels. The psychic blades that she stabs heads with didn’t come until much later. This was when her mind switched bodies with a brain-dead Japanese assassin.

I had fun with the piece, and wanted to try another illustration based on a real person next. This was around the time that the San Diego Comic Con was happening. My family used to attend the event, but it had been years since we had been able to go. This didn’t mean I wasn’t eager to see the updates from the various websites. Joan Xiao is one of the actors I follow on Instagram. I first saw her in the Flash television series as the Rainbow Raider 2.0, and thought she did a great job with the character. She announced that she would be voicing Iron Fist in a Marvel animation. I thought it was wonderful news. I’m always happy to see minority actors get both live action, and voice-over roles. I had no idea what her costume would look like in the Wakanda cartoon, so I created an illustration of a more casual comic book design. I think the drawing came out well.

As the months went on I wanted to take my art to another level. Instead of making illustrations I wanted something tangible. Something physical, something other than a print that I could hold. I got the idea while playing through Sonic Dream Team. The game was one of my favorite Sonic titles in years. It introduced a new version of Dr. Eggman, and a standout hero called Ariem. It made me sad that we would most likely never see action figures based on these great characters.

I’m sure that you’ve read comics, watched movies, or played video games where you wished there were toys, statues, soft goods, and other collectables that you could pick up. I was surprised that to this day publishers never realized there was a fan base that would pay for merchandise of any rare title. Like many of you I always loved toys. In fact as a kid I wanted to be a toy designer. Fast forward a few decades, and I became an illustrator, and educator that still loved collecting. I didn’t know how to model in 3D, and I didn’t own a 3D printer so I knew that I couldn’t design or print my own toys. That didn’t stop me from coming up with the next best thing.

I shopped around to the various printing companies online, watched videos, and read up on how to produce acrylic charms, and standees. I decided to make an acrylic standee for Ariem that would be in scale with my Sonic figure collection. I created a front, and back, as well as a reversible base. I figured as long as I was going through the steps I might as well revisit the illustrations that I made for Metal NiGHTS. So I created fronts, and backs for Metal NiGHTS, Metal Reala, Metal Jackle, Metal Wizeman, and even Nightmare Eggman. I made sure to carefully measure to heights, and proportions of my Sonic 2.5 inch figures. This way when I got the standees made they would be able to fit side-by-side with my collection.

It took me a few weeks to finalize the designs, and a few months to get the order back from China. Needless to say I was very happy with the way they turned out. The colors were really vibrant, and they gave me a sense as to how Sonic Dream Team, and Sonic Superstar toys would have looked if they were real. As I was working on the art, and waiting on the delivery after uploading them to the printer I kept an eye on some overseas auction sites. As you may know I am a fan of Wonder Eggs. This was the first video game theme park created by Namco. Ephemera from the park which ran from 1992-1999 was rare, but does pop up from time to time. It took me years to get a few items from the park, but almost overnight a bunch of rare items turned up in the spring, and early summer of 2025. Thankfully they weren’t pricey. As a theme park fan several of these could be considered “Holy Grail” items. There were a few Wonder Eggs items left to get, but as far as my collection went I was extremely happy with what I had.

I had a lot of fun putting together art for standees. It made me think of what else I could do. I’m going to talk about that in the next blog. I hope to see you back for that. So how did you spend your spring, and summer of 2025? Did you get into any art projects? Tell me about it in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Pink Monorail Manufacturing the Magic Ep 21: Disneyland’s sister parks – Part One

Heya friends, I spent the summer of 2025 recharging my creative batteries, and working on side projects. One of which was to continue the podcast series featuring the missus. This podcast is designed for Disney fans, amusement park visitors, and history buffs. You’ll learn the roots of the multi-billion dollar theme park industry from ancient history all the way to today. The missus, and I worked hard putting these episodes together through 2024, until we had a family emergency and had to stop working on it for 7 months. We are back on it through 2025. Click on the picture or link to visit our streaming page hosted on Jim Hill Media. I hope you get a chance to listen, subscribe, and leave a review so we can climb the theme park podcast rankings!

The Pink Monorail Podcast Manufacturing the Magic Ep 21: Disneyland’s sister parks – Part One In the 21st installment of this educational series, Shelly and Noe Valladolid talk about what happened when C.V. Wood (the original president of Disneyland) went off in 1956 and set up his own theme park design company. This episode takes a close look at Freedomland & Magic Mountain Over the course of this episode, listeners will learn about: 

• How many theme park designers did C.V. Wood take with him when he exited Disneyland?
• What was the first theme park that Wood worked on after he stopped working for Walt?
• How was Freedomland’s opening day much like the one that Disneyland experienced back in 1955?
• What similarities did Magic Mountain have with Walt’s original family fun park?
• Who were some of the stars that performed at Freedomland? 

Are there any current or former theme parks, or attractions that you love? I’d like to hear about it in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Pink Monorail Manufacturing the Magic Ep 20: More tales from Disneyland’s early days

Heya friends, I spent the summer of 2025 recharging my creative batteries, and working on side projects. One of which was to continue the podcast series featuring the missus. This podcast is designed for Disney fans, amusement park visitors, and history buffs. You’ll learn the roots of the multi-billion dollar theme park industry from ancient history all the way to today. The missus, and I worked hard putting these episodes together through 2024, until we had a family emergency and had to stop working on it for 7 months. We are back on it through 2025. Click on the picture or link to visit our streaming page hosted on Jim Hill Media. I hope you get a chance to listen, subscribe, and leave a review so we can climb the theme park podcast rankings!

The Pink Monorail Podcast Manufacturing the Magic Ep 20: More tales from Disneyland’s early days

In the 20th installment of this educational series, Shelly & Noe Valladolid talk about the land search for Walt’s family fun park. More to the point, how the Company settled on “Disneyland” as just the right name for this project. Throughout this episode, listeners will learn about: 

• Where Disneyland was initially supposed to be built?
• Which cities inspired Main Street, U.S.A., and the Park’s Opera House?
• Who said that “… Disneyland will not be a commercial venture”?
• What did the Stanford Research Institute discover?
• And what was Walt’s greatest fear in regards to this project?

Are there any current or former theme parks, or attractions that you love? I’d like to hear about it in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Pink Monorail Manufacturing the Magic Ep 19: Drawing up plans for Disneyland

Heya friends, I spent the summer of 2025 recharging my creative batteries, and working on side projects. One of which was to continue the podcast series featuring the missus. This podcast is designed for Disney fans, amusement park visitors, and history buffs. You’ll learn the roots of the multi-billion dollar theme park industry from ancient history all the way to today. The missus, and I worked hard putting these episodes together through 2024, until we had a family emergency and had to stop working on it for 7 months. We are back on it through 2025. Click on the picture or link to visit our streaming page hosted on Jim Hill Media. I hope you get a chance to listen, subscribe, and leave a review so we can climb the theme park podcast rankings!

The Pink Monorail Podcast Manufacturing the Magic Ep 19: Drawing up plans for Disneyland 

In the 19th installment of this educational series, Shelly & Noe Valladolid talk about what happened in September of 1953 prior to Roy O. Disney’s fateful flight out to NYC. They also talk about how the material that Walt’s brother showed to executives at CBS, NBC & ABC to sell them on Disneyland was created. Throughout this episode, listeners will learn about: 

• How did Herbie Ryman’s “Lost Weekend” with Walt REALLY go down?
• Which “Lands” were initially proposed for Walt’s family fun park?
• How did Walt go about securing all of the funding that was needed to build Disneyland?
• Who were the Park’s original sponsors?
• How did C.V. Wood go about recruiting Disneyland’s participants?

Are there any current or former theme parks, or attractions that you love? I’d like to hear about it in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Pink Monorail Manufacturing the Magic Ep 18: How Walt riding the rails led to rides at Disneyland

Heya friends, I spent the summer of 2025 recharging my creative batteries, and working on side projects. One of which was to continue the podcast series featuring the missus. This podcast is designed for Disney fans, amusement park visitors, and history buffs. You’ll learn the roots of the multi-billion dollar theme park industry from ancient history all the way to today. The missus, and I worked hard putting these episodes together through 2024, until we had a family emergency and had to stop working on it for 7 months. We are back on it through 2025. Click on the picture or link to visit our streaming page hosted on Jim Hill Media. I hope you get a chance to listen, subscribe, and leave a review so we can climb the theme park podcast rankings!

The Pink Monorail Podcast Manufacturing the Magic Ep 18: How Walt riding the rails led to rides at Disneyland 

In the 18th installment of this educational series, Shelly & Noe Valladolid explore how Walt Disney’s lifelong fascination with trains impacted the development of his family fun park. Special guest Roger Colton sheds light on this specific aspect of Disneyland history. Throughout this episode, listeners will learn about:

• Why is Walt’s visit to the Chicago Railroad Fair in 1948 considered such an important moment in the development history of Disneyland?
• Which specific Disneyland attraction was inspired by Walt & Ward Kimball’s stop at Greenfield Village?
• How the miniature steam train Walt had set up in the backyard of his Holmby Hills home influenced the design of Disneyland?
• Which lands at Disneyland Park were directly influenced by what Walt & Ward saw at the Chicago Railroad Fair?
• How many steam trains did Disneyland Park have in its fleet?

Are there any current or former theme parks, or attractions that you love? I’d like to hear about it in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Pink Monorail Manufacturing the Magic Ep 17: Further Advancement in Animatronics

Heya friends, I spent the summer of 2025 recharging my creative batteries, and working on side projects. One of which was to continue the podcast series featuring the missus. This podcast is designed for Disney fans, amusement park visitors, and history buffs. You’ll learn the roots of the multi-billion dollar theme park industry from ancient history all the way to today. The missus, and I worked hard putting these episodes together through 2024, until we had a family emergency and had to stop working on it for 7 months. We are back on it through 2025. Click on the picture or link to visit our streaming page hosted on Jim Hill Media. I hope you get a chance to listen, subscribe, and leave a review so we can climb the theme park podcast rankings!

The Pink Monorail Podcast Manufacturing the Magic Ep 17: Further Advancement in Animatronics In the seventeenth installment of this educational series, Shelly & Noe Valladolid continue their look back at the history of themed entertainment. This time around, they're joined by veteran Imagineer Joe Lanzisero, who looks back at how AA figures were developed for the Disney Parks. Throughout today's episode, listeners will learn about: 

• How Electro the Robot wowed folks at the 1939 New York World's Fair
• How "Project Little Man" influenced the creation of "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln"
• Where Disneyland's animatronic graveyard is located
• How animatronics wizard Garner Holt got his start with Chuck E. Cheese
• Plus Joe's terrific new kids book, " Lemonade, the Yellow Bear" 

 

Are there any current or former theme parks, or attractions that you love? I’d like to hear about it in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Pink Monorail Manufacturing the Magic Ep 16: Early Automatons & Animatronics

Heya friends, I spent the summer of 2025 recharging my creative batteries, and working on side projects. One of which was to continue the podcast series featuring the missus. This podcast is designed for Disney fans, amusement park visitors, and history buffs. You’ll learn the roots of the multi-billion dollar theme park industry from ancient history all the way to today. The missus, and I worked hard putting these episodes together through 2024, until we had a family emergency and had to stop working on it for 7 months. We are back on it through 2025. Click on the picture or link to visit our streaming page hosted on Jim Hill Media. I hope you get a chance to listen, subscribe, and leave a review so we can climb the theme park podcast rankings!

The Pink Monorail Podcast Manufacturing the Magic Ep 16: Early Automatons & Animatronics 

In the sixteenth installment of this educational series, Shelly & Noe Valladolid continued their look back at the history of themed entertainment. This time around, they focus on some of the innovations Walt Disney helped introduce with his family fun park. Throughout this episode, listeners will learn about: 

• How far back in history do automatons go? 
• Who was the first creator to use pneumatics? 
• What sort of control systems were used originally at Disneyland Park? 
• When were Audio Animatronics first introduced? 
• PLUS Special Guest Joe Lanzisero’s experiences working with animatronics 

Are there any current or former theme parks, or attractions that you love? I’d like to hear about it in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!