ROGER E. BROGGIE
(Oct. 1908 to Nov. 1991)
TREASURE OF THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY
This month the Walt Disney Company will be honoring the life and creative work of one of the San Fernando Valley's most creative citizens, Roger E. Broggie. One of amazing "Imagineers" of Disney, Broggie's life itself reads nearly like a film script.
Inducted as a "Disney Legend" in 1990, Roger Broggie began his amazing career in the famous Mooseheart School in Illinois. There he was taught the woodworking and machine shops skills that would serve him, all his life. At the on-set of the Great Depression, an adventurous young Broggie came to Los Angeles determined to make his living in the "movie business." His first jobs were for Technicolor and the General Services Studio with film luminaries such as Charlie Chaplin and David O. Selznick.
In 1939 Roger Broggie went to work at Disney Studios as a precision machinist. There he installed the new multiplane camera, helped build and invent special effects and even set up the famous miniature Carolwood Pacific Railroad at Walt Disney's home.
From installations at the 1964 New York World's Fair, to special effects for films, few people in the "industry" made a greater impact on its technical advancements. But, Broggie's crowning achievements were saved for the rides and displays at Disneyland.
When you and your family next visit Disneyland, look for the special store window in the Hometown USA section that honors the life and achieves of Roger E. Broggie.
1 comment:
On behalf of the Broggie family, I wish to thank the Museum of the San Fernando Valley for recognizing my father. Although he's been gone for over 15 years, we honor his memory and that of Walt Disney by keeping their stories alive. We do this through books, displays at the Walt Disney Barn Museum in Griffith Park and speaking appearances. We are pleased that the Disney Company has honored him with a Window on Main Street USA at Disneyland. On March 30th we will join with friends and family at Disneyland to celebrate his life.
--Michael Broggie
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