(obit) Disney landscape artist Morgan `Bill' Evans, 92
Scott Peterson
Obituary*
He was known for his love of plants and his vision in using them at
theme parks.
Morgan "Bill" Evans the landscape architect who planted a group of
orange trees upside down so the gnarled roots would look like exotic
jungle branches on Disneyland's Jungle Cruise ride, died Saturday in
his native Santa Monica. He was 92.
If you love the topiary, or animal-shaped plants, around It's a Small
World, or the miniature plants dotting Storybook Land, or the luscious
growth that renders the park's utility buildings invisible, you have
Evans to thank.
A man with vision and a deep affection for plants, his first goal in
designing ,theme-park landscaping was guest comfort such as shade and
shelter. The next priority a was obliterating visual intrusions such
as utility buildings, followed by telling a story through landscaping,
as with the mixed broadleaf forest of Tom Sawyer's Mississippi River
banks.
"I certainly feel that trees are living breathing individuals," Evans
once said. "They're alive and respond to the elements. A building
doesn't yield to the breeze. I can see the life in the trees by the
way they move."
Before being hired by Walt Disney in 1951, Evans and his
now-deceased brother, Jack, helped run the popular Evans & Reeves
Nursery in West Los Angeles, which brought the miles of South African
flowering coral trees that grace San Vicente Boulevard. They also
landscaped Disney's Holmby Hills home.
One oft-told story is how, when designing' Disneyland, their hope was
to save as many trees as possible. To this end, they put red ribbons
on the trees they wanted to keep and green ribbons on those to be
removed. But the bulldozer driver took down everything in his path.
His explanation: He was colorblind.
Bill Evans went on to become director of landscape design at Walt
Disney Imagineering. Though he retired in 1975, he was consulting with
Disney landscape architects until his death.
He headed landscape design for the Walt Disney World Resort in
Florida. He also consulted on landscaping for Disney parks in Tokyo,
France and Hong Kong.
Evans taught colleagues to "sculpt, paint and create movement with
plants," said co-worker Becky Bishop. Patient and passionate about his
work, he was a mentor and friend to many.
He wrote the book "Disneyland: World of Flowers," devoted to the
park's flora, and was a member of Sunset magazine's garden advisory
board for 25 years.
In 1992, he was named a Disney Legend and in 1996 received a tribute
award from the Landscape Architecture Foundation.
In an interview 20 years ago, he said, "I accosted that orange grove
in Anaheim and planted a eucalyptus tree when it was about the size of
my little finger in caliper, and now that tree is 50 feet high or
better, with a massive trunk. A really handsome tree. I mean, it has
dignity. This is a beautiful tree.
"I literally wrapped my arms around the trunk of that tree. ... It has
embraceable bark, I should point out."
He is survived by his wife, Natalie; son; Pete; daughter, Barrie;
stepdaughters, Michele Novak and Stephene Scott; three grandchildren
and one great-grandchild.
A celebration in Evans' memory is scheduled for 5 p.m. Sept. 25 at
Descanso Gardens in La Canada Flintridge.
copyright Orange County Register
posted with permission
Scott Peterson
--
Remember, "Drink Canada Dry"
is an ad slogan, not an goal
fizzie
many Disney related obits this year : (
--------------
Fizzie
TDC Fidget
"fizzie" <dixielan...@aol.comdotcom> wrote in message
news:20020816121622...@mb-fr.aol.com...