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Harriet Burns, the first female Imagineer at Walt Disney Studios died this week at 79. She helped design and build prototypes for theme park attractions, as well as final products featured at Disneyland and the New York World's Fair of 1964.

Harriet Burns was born on August 20, 1928, in San Antonio, Texas. She received her Bachelor's Degree in Art from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, and went on to study advanced design for another year at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. In 1953, she moved to Los Angeles and accepted a part-time position at Dice Display Industries Cooperative Exchange. There she helped design and produce props for television's "Colgate Comedy Hour" along with interiors and sets for Las Vegas Hotels, including the Dunes. Adept at her work, she was asked to spearhead the creation of the fanciful Southern California tourist destination Santa's Village located near Lake Arrowhead.

When Dice went out of business in 1955, a co-worker who had formerly worked at Disney, was rehired and invited Harriet to come along. Harriet Burns was hired to paint sets and props for the new Mickey Mouse Club television show. She soon began coordinating the show's color styling and even designed and built the famous "Mouse Clubhouse."

Harriet Burns later joined Walt Disney Imagineering (formerly called WED, "Walter Elias Disney," Enterprises) where she helped construct many attractions. She worked in the model shop where conceptual models were created for each and every ride. She built a series of conceptual models of the Matterhorn. For the Submarine Voyage, she not only worked to paint and finish the underwater figures, she also experimented with new synthetic compounds and applications techniques to create underwater figures whose colors wouldn't fade. For the Pirates of the Caribbean, she not only helped build a 40' model of the entire attraction, she also worked as a finisher to complete the human audio-animatronic figures once they were installed on the ride.

In addition to those specific attractions, Harriet worked on everything from figure finishing to stage design for attractions featured at the New York World's Fair in 1964. She also occasionally filled in for Walt Disney on "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. In 2000, the Walt Disney Co. named Burns as a Disney Legend, an honor that acknowledges people "whose imagination, talents and dreams have created the Disney magic."

Link to Obituary

Disney Legends