Carlene Thie

Carlene’ Thies Disney roots run deep, much like California’s legendary sequoias, back to the mid-1950s, when her grandfather began a years-long working relationship with Walt Disney himself.That photographer was Mell Kilpatrick, who captured just about every phase of the project with his trusty “weegee” camera, even though photographing destruction, not construction, was his forte.Mell Kilpatrick “worked relentlessly to capture on film Walt Disney’s dream,” explains his granddaughter Carlene Thie. “He climbed atop scaffolding, crawled into tunnels, even hung out of a light plane 5,000 feet above Disneyland to snap the perfect shot.”
Carlene Thie father helped in the construction of the Sleeping Beauty Castle and her grandmother Kathryn Kilpatrick worked at the park for over 18 year.
Carlene Thie also assisted legendary ride designer & Disney Legend Bob Gurr with his seminal masterpiece, “Design: Just for Fun.”book. Carlene Thie also produced a number of informative DVDs, including “Meet Bob Gurr” and a Disneyland 50th anniversary work.