Harper Goff was born and raised in Fort Collins, CO just after the turn of the 20th century. His childhood home, while no longer on the edge of the western prairie, nonetheless was full of small town, main street buildings and visages that later found their way into Disneyland's Main Street USA. Harper's father was a newspaper editor and one can only surmise Harper's days were full of trips down the city's sidewalks and streets where these buildings became indelibly etched into his mind. In fact, Harper would later send a team of photographers to both Ft. Collins and Marceline, MO, to take pictures for use in the creation of Disneyland's own Main Street; this link shows one such building that many of us immediately recognize as located in Anaheim and not Colorado.Harper met Walt in, of all places, a model train shop in London in the early 1950's. The two men quickly found themselves interested in the same engine and by the time the two left the store Walt had both the engine and a new set designer. Harper had, by this time, been a successful illustrator whose work appeared in many leading magazines of the day and a set designer for a number of films including 'Captain Blood' (1935), 'Casablanca' (1942), 'The African Queen' (1951), and would soon work on 'Calamity Jane', (as we discussed here). He originally worked on '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea' (1954) shortly after meeting Walt in 1951 and it was Harper's storyboard sketches that convinced Walt to turn this idea from a True-Life Adventure short into a full-fledged motion picture, one that won two Academy Awards.
Harper's work soon transitioned to the Disneyland Park and his work on the films above certainly carried over to the set design and overall feel of many of our favorite Disneyland attractions. A saloon Harper created for 'Calamity Jane' became the Golden Horseshoe; the African Queen herself became the prototype for the many boats we ride each day at the Jungle Cruise, and, of course, the submarines in Walt Disney World's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea were taken right from the movie.
In addition to his work in the parks Harper was a member of the wonderful 'Firehouse Five Plus Two', Disneyland's own Dixieland band, where he played banjo off and on for many years. As evidenced by his window, shown above, that resides on the back of the Golden Horseshoe, facing the entrance to the Jungle Cruise, Harper loved his music. His name as the proprietor of the Tattoo Parlor is attributed in Kendra Trahan's 'Disneyland Detective' as either resulting from his interest in a planned tattoo shop within Disneyland's Main Street USA or one from his boyhood home in Fort Collins. Can anyone clarify this slightly ambiguous reference?
To the end, Harper remained his own man and had a tenuous relationship with Walt and his company; while Harper worked with the Imagineering team for a long time it was largely done as a consultant and he worked with other companies and on non-Disney films. Many researchers and writers have attributed this relationship to the fact that while Harper served as the Art Director for 20,000 Leagues it was the Assistant Art Director, John Meehan, who was listed as the Art Director in the credits and went on to receive the Oscar due to the fact he was a union member while Harper was not. While the politics of this time were quite messy and the inner workings of the film industry were doubly so, it's still not clear why the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences has failed to correct this mistake, one that Disney themselves clearly recognizes.
Nonetheless, Harper's impact on the parks is enormous and all encompassing. Next time you want to see one of the most famous Main Street windows, wind your way, instead, to Adventureland, and look at the Tattoo Parlor window. It might appear to be a small remembrance of this Disney legend but it's not.
This photograph was taken by the author in July, 2007.
