Pago Pago Bar Next to Disney Studios - General Tiki

F freddiefreelance Member San Diego, Ca. Joined: Feb 15, 2003 Posts: 3006	F freddiefreelance Posted posted on Thu, Nov 9, 2006 9:44 PM On 2006-11-07 21:33, bigbrotiki wrote: I put my resident Burbank researcher, my girlfriend Naomi Alper, (owner of the swank 8-Ball store now on Magnolia Blvd) on this, who has done some local Tiki research for me before, here is what she found so far: Pago Pago WAS a real bar; it did exist. In fact, many of the people who assisted me in my search remembered it, yet no one seemed to be able to recall what it looked like, inside or out, and I haven't come up with any photos or ads yet. So name aside, we still don't know yet if it was actually a Tiki bar. But this is what I know so far: According to a 1952 Burbank City Directory, the Pago Pago Club was located at 2413 W. Alameda Ave. and owned by a Mrs. RT Swartz (a woman!). If you try to get a satellite photo of this address through Google, it will land you in the middle of the street and not on a building, but I have a feeling that it was located where a Disney building now stands (someone called it a travel center in this thread, but I'd always heard it was a day care center). Even if this isn't the exact location, chances are that the original building has been torn down; the only period building that remains on that block is California Kitchens (2305 W. Alameda), a beautiful mid-century gem with gorgeous signage. One of the librarians who assisted me in the search recalled hearing that a Disney animator liberated the Pago Pago sign when the bar closed. This story was corroborated by this blurb that I found in the LA Times archives from an article dated 1/23/1994: "A sign in the back yard reading "Pago Pago" offers a clue to the party's origins. "It used to hang outside this bar across from the Disney studios, in Burbank, where the old-time animators met and drank," says Dave Spafford, a Disney vet himself before forming Spaff Animation with [Debbie Spafford] in 1989. Among their credits: "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and Woody Woodpecker's Oscar presentation for Best Animated Short Film of 1990." (Unfortunately, you have to pay to read the rest of the article, and the scripts on the LA Times page kept freezing up my computer, so I didn't want to risk it.) Another librarian gave me the name of a gentleman who has worked at Disney since 1966, so hopefully he'll be able to provide more info when I call him tomorrow--and maybe provide us with some photos or ephemera? We can only hope! ---Reporting from Burbank, Naomi "Legs" Alper [ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2006-11-07 22:27 ] I got the full article via my SDPL account (Love them libraries!): PALM LATITUDES Los Angeles Times Magazine; Times Magazine Desk, Los Angeles Times (pre-1997 Fulltext). Los Angeles, Calif.: Jan 23, 1994. pg. 9 BY: Judy Raphael (Copyright, The Times Mirror Company; Los Angeles Times 1994all Rights reserved) Dave and Debbie Spafford's neighbors have gotten used to the noise and the laughter and even the occasional limo. They know that every Friday night, a corner of their quiet neighborhood becomes the center of the world-well, the animation world. For the past five years, the Spaffords' Friday night house party (or "animation roadhouse" in Debbie's words), has drawn animators from all over the city, with W.O.M. spreading as far as Europe and Australia. Recent guests have included "Nightmare Before Christmas" director Henry Selick, Ralph ("Fritz the Cat," "Cool World") Bakshi and John Kricfalusi, creator of "Ren & Stimpy." A sign in the back yard reading "Pago Pago" offers a clue to the party's origins. "It used to hang outside this bar across from the Disney studios, in Burbank, where the old-time animators met and drank," says Dave Spafford, a Disney vet himself before forming Spaff Animation with Debbie in 1989. Among their credits: "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and Woody Woodpecker's Oscar presentation for Best Animated Short Film of 1990. The idea for the parties came out of the Spaffords' experience in England, when they were working on "Who Framed Roger Rabbit." (Dave drew the piano duel between Donald Duck and Daffy Duck.) There, animators socialized at a local pub after work, connecting with the film-and each other. Back home though, animation get-togethers didn't seem to work. "We tried sitting over margaritas at this Mexican restaurant, but it wasn't the same," Dave says. So the Spaffords decided to do it at home-with its Alice-meets-Haight-Ashbury decor, a cartoon fantasy of weird fiberglass horses, spinning mirror disco balls, four pinball machines, a pool table and a '30s-era jukebox. "This is no football bar," says Dave. "After a few beers, we put out grease pencils and draw on the table, so our whole bar ends up being one big cartoon! We're all freaks. Who else wants to do cartoons?" Byline: Judy Raphael [Illustration] PHOTO: COLOR, "Ren & Stimpy" production manager Maureen McCann, left, with the Spaffords. / Dale Berman Sorry, but the picture doesn't seem to be available.

On 2006-11-07 21:33, bigbrotiki wrote:
I put my resident Burbank researcher, my girlfriend Naomi Alper, (owner of the swank 8-Ball store now on Magnolia Blvd) on this, who has done some local Tiki research for me before, here is what she found so far:

Pago Pago WAS a real bar; it did exist. In fact, many of the people who assisted me in my search remembered it, yet no one seemed to be able to recall what it looked like, inside or out, and I haven't come up with any photos or ads yet. So name aside, we still don't know yet if it was actually a Tiki bar.

But this is what I know so far:

According to a 1952 Burbank City Directory, the Pago Pago Club was located at 2413 W. Alameda Ave. and owned by a Mrs. RT Swartz (a woman!). If you try to get a satellite photo of this address through Google, it will land you in the middle of the street and not on a building, but I have a feeling that it was located where a Disney building now stands (someone called it a travel center in this thread, but I'd always heard it was a day care center). Even if this isn't the exact location, chances are that the original building has been torn down; the only period building that remains on that block is California Kitchens (2305 W. Alameda), a beautiful mid-century gem with gorgeous signage.

One of the librarians who assisted me in the search recalled hearing that a Disney animator liberated the Pago Pago sign when the bar closed. This story was corroborated by this blurb that I found in the LA Times archives from an article dated 1/23/1994:

"A sign in the back yard reading "Pago Pago" offers a clue to the party's origins. "It used to hang outside this bar across from the Disney studios, in Burbank, where the old-time animators met and drank," says Dave Spafford, a Disney vet himself before forming Spaff Animation with [Debbie Spafford] in 1989. Among their credits: "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and Woody Woodpecker's Oscar presentation for Best Animated Short Film of 1990."

(Unfortunately, you have to pay to read the rest of the article, and the scripts on the LA Times page kept freezing up my computer, so I didn't want to risk it.)

Another librarian gave me the name of a gentleman who has worked at Disney since 1966, so hopefully he'll be able to provide more info when I call him tomorrow--and maybe provide us with some photos or ephemera? We can only hope!

---Reporting from Burbank, Naomi "Legs" Alper
[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2006-11-07 22:27 ]

I got the full article via my SDPL account (Love them libraries!):

PALM LATITUDES Los Angeles Times Magazine; Times Magazine Desk, Los Angeles Times (pre-1997 Fulltext). Los Angeles, Calif.: Jan 23, 1994. pg. 9
BY: Judy Raphael
(Copyright, The Times Mirror Company; Los Angeles Times 1994all Rights reserved)

Dave and Debbie Spafford's neighbors have gotten used to the noise and the laughter and even the occasional limo. They know that every Friday night, a corner of their quiet neighborhood becomes the center of the world-well, the animation world.

For the past five years, the Spaffords' Friday night house party (or "animation roadhouse" in Debbie's words), has drawn animators from all over the city, with W.O.M. spreading as far as Europe and Australia. Recent guests have included "Nightmare Before Christmas" director Henry Selick, Ralph ("Fritz the Cat," "Cool World") Bakshi and John Kricfalusi, creator of "Ren & Stimpy."

A sign in the back yard reading "Pago Pago" offers a clue to the party's origins. "It used to hang outside this bar across from the Disney studios, in Burbank, where the old-time animators met and drank," says Dave Spafford, a Disney vet himself before forming Spaff Animation with Debbie in 1989. Among their credits: "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and Woody Woodpecker's Oscar presentation for Best Animated Short Film of 1990.

The idea for the parties came out of the Spaffords' experience in England, when they were working on "Who Framed Roger Rabbit." (Dave drew the piano duel between Donald Duck and Daffy Duck.) There, animators socialized at a local pub after work, connecting with the film-and each other.

Back home though, animation get-togethers didn't seem to work. "We tried sitting over margaritas at this Mexican restaurant, but it wasn't the same," Dave says. So the Spaffords decided to do it at home-with its Alice-meets-Haight-Ashbury decor, a cartoon fantasy of weird fiberglass horses, spinning mirror disco balls, four pinball machines, a pool table and a '30s-era jukebox.

"This is no football bar," says Dave. "After a few beers, we put out grease pencils and draw on the table, so our whole bar ends up being one big cartoon! We're all freaks. Who else wants to do cartoons?" Byline: Judy Raphael
[Illustration]
PHOTO: COLOR, "Ren & Stimpy" production manager Maureen McCann, left, with the Spaffords. / Dale Berman

Sorry, but the picture doesn't seem to be available.

Post #265651 by freddiefreelance on Thu, Nov 9, 2006 9:44 PM