Bob Gurr

Robert Henry Gurr (born October 25, 1931) is an American amusement ride designer and Imagineer. His most famous work was for Walt Disney's Disneyland Park, and its subsequent sister parks. Gurr is said to have designed most, if not all, of the ride vehicles of Disneyland's oldest attractions, including Autopia, Main Street Vehicles, the Disneyland Monorail, Matterhorn Bobsleds, Submarine Voyage, and the Haunted Mansion. He was named a Disney Legend in 2004. He also worked on the King Kong Encounter animatronic for Universal Studios Hollywood.

Early life Gurr was born in Los Angeles in 1931 and raised in the community of Glendale, California. According to Gurr, he would skip school and sneak into the nearby Grand Central Airport to study and sketch the aircraft. Gurr studied industrial design at the Los Angeles ArtCenter School on a scholarship from the General Motors, graduating in 1952. He later gave himself the title of Director of Special Vehicle Development.

Gurr retired from Disney in 1981 after 27 years. Their firm developed the 30-foot tall King Kong Encounter animatronic ape and the animatronic serpent in The Adventures of Conan: A Sword and Sorcery Spectacular for Universal Studios Hollywood. The same year, they created the animated light spiders and other effects for The Jacksons Victory Tour and the UFO spaceship that closed out the closing ceremony of the 1984 Summer Olympics. In 1986, Sequoia was contracted to design 42 rides for SamaWorld, a Disneyland-like resort and theme park to be built into the slope of a 5500-foot jungle mountain in Malaysia. In 1997, when casino magnate Steve Wynn wanted to sink a pirate ship several times nightly at his Treasure Island Hotel and Casino, he called upon Gurr, who figured out how to do it. Gurr also helped consult for the T-Rex animatronic in Jurassic Park (1993), and for the animatronic used in 1998's Godzilla.

Personal life Gurr is openly gay, coming out in the 2000s. He remained closeted during his early working years citing the fear of exposure created by the McCarthy Era and the Lavender Scare of the 1950s and 1960s. According to Gurr, although Walt Disney was conservative, Disney only cared whether his employees could get the job done, never about their personal lives.

Books In the 1950s Gurr was the author and illustrator of two books, both published by D. Post Publications and out of print, on the subject of auto design: How to Draw Cars of Tomorrow in 1952, and Automobile Design: The Complete Styling Book in 1955.

In 2012, Gurr authored Design: Just For Fun his first hardbound book and self published book . Published by Ape Pen Publishing / Carlene Thie a 216-page hardcover book on his career in themed entertainment design at Disneyland and beyond. Limited to a 2000 run. With a foreword by Marty Sklar, the book has since gone out of print and is highly valued by collectors. Gurr's memoir BOB GURR: Legendary Imagineer: Life and Times – Disney and Beyond was published in 2019. Bob Gurr along with Ape Pen Publishing, self published a limited edition "Design Just For Fun' book.

Honors In 1999, Gurr was awarded the Themed Entertainment Association's THEA award for lifetime achievement. In 2004, Gurr was inducted as a Disney Legend in a ceremony at the Disney Studios in Burbank, CA. Gurr's name appears on Main Street, U.S.A. windows at both Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom parks. In April 2025, the documentary about Gurr's life, Bob Gurr: Living By Design, premiered in Glendale.