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Today we begin a look into the role Tom Scherman played in the creation of
the unique Nautilus walkthrough attraction at Disneyland Paris. As you'll see, without him the almost-full
scale replica in Discoveryland would have probably never been built.
We've all had something make a lasting impression upon us, sometimes to a
point where it can even affect your life. In my case I was about 14 when
I first saw David Lean's "Lawrence of Arabia," and
it sparked such a passion for his work that 45
years later I ended up directing a documentary filmed on the movie's locations,
as part of a French collector's edition DVD.
I was also involved with the design of the package, and even organized a press
event for its release -- which took place in the Wadi Rum desert at the exact location where the
character Auda (Anthony Quinn) made camp in one of the movie's most
famous sequences.
A little crazy, right? We even had journalists sleeping in Bedouin tents. But it was fun and exciting,
and all sparked by a love for the film.
I tell you all this because in Tom Scherman's case, it was Walt Disney's "20,000
Leagues Under the Sea" that he was riveted by, specifically the Nautilus submarine.
And
at the age of 19, he built his first model of it, as you can see in a photo taken by his brother Rowland.
Later on, his fascination with the sub got to a point where he even decorated his own home
with a Nautilus theme. But If someone would
have told him at 19 that over 35 years later he would help to build a replica in a Disney park, in
Jules Verne's France no less, I doubt that he would have believed it!
In the early '90s when WDI (Imagineering) decided to build a full-scale Nautilus
for Disneyland Paris they had a problem: the original
designer of the submarine, Harper Goff, had died, taking most of his secrets with him.
Fortunately Tom, as part of his passion for the Nautilus, became friends with Harper
and shared with him all the "secrets" of his making. It got to the point where
he knew so much that he could draw just about any part of it. So, with his help the work began.
Tom provided Discoveryland show producer Tim Delaney with hundreds of
drawings, helped with the models and was even involved with the
building itself. He also built two other models for the park, one for the
"Visionarium" attraction pre-show (now closed) and
a smaller one still in the "Discoveryland" room on the first
floor of Main Street's "Walt's" Restaurant.
So, let's take a look at how Tom's work began, via some of his incredibly detailed drawings. Here's Tom's sketch for the "treasure room."
The passageway from it to Nemo's cabin.
He did many different sketches for the famous diving room...
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