Yale Gracey

Gracey had his beginnings with the Walt Disney Company in the animation department in Burbank, California. Walt quickly transferred him to WED Imagineering after hearing tell of Gracey building a machine that would "give the illusion of falling snow."

Gracey created a fire effect for Pirates of the Carribean.[2] The effect appeared so realistic that the Anaheim fire department wanted an emergency switch to turn it off in case of a real fire. While working on the Pirates ride, Gracey also developed the firefly effect, achieved by hanging small bulbs hanging on wires that had little fans under them to make them sway. One side of the bulb would be covered to make it seem as though the firefly was flashing its light.

When working on The Haunted Mansion, Gracey pioneered the Projectimation effect, achieved by projecting a film onto the face of a statue to create the effect of a moving face. He also designed the pictures in the Haunted Mansion that change seemingly with the flash of the light. They are actually changed using a custom-made slide projector by Gracey. A light behind the portrait would shine on one slide before the other slide took its place, creating a dissolving effect between the two photos.[3]

Gracey's most infamous work was the Hatbox Ghost. Through a controlled environment, Gracey was able to create an effect with lighting that made it seem like the figure's head was disappearing from its body and into its hatbox. This effect was not believable after being taken out of the controlled environment leading to the figure being removed from the Haunted Mansion ride soon after its opening.[4]

On September 5, 1983, Gracey was shot and killed in Los Angeles by a burglar. His wife was injured in the attack. Gracey and his wife, Beverly, were staying overnight at their cabana at the Bel Air Bay Club, on Pacific Coast Highway in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of western Los Angeles. The shooting was reported at approximately 2:30 a.m. by another club member. A police spokesman indicated that Gracey and his wife were both asleep when an unknown intruder entered and shot them both, then fled onto the beach. A motive was not determined, and there were no suspects.[5]

Gracey's innovations and ideas have never left the Disney company, even after his death, and continue to be featured in new attractions around the Disney parks. In 1999, Gracey was posthumously made a Disney Legend in the categories of Animation and Imagineering.[6] In 2015, a new Hatbox Ghost was installed in Disneyland after careful invention by an Imagineer who was a long-time fan of Gracey. The projectimation has continued to be featured in rides such as the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Frozen Ever After. Gracey himself even has a memento left in the queue of Disney World's Haunted Mansion in the form of a tombstone with his name engraved in the material, placed there by Imagineer X. Atencio.

• Yale Gracey at IMDb