Atencio was born in
Walsenburg, Colorado in 1919. He was a Disney artist from 1938 to 1965, when he became an Imagineer to help design the
Disneyland Railroad's Primeval World diorama segment. He then contributed to various Disney attractions. He wrote the scripts for
Adventure Thru Inner Space and
Pirates of the Caribbean. For the latter, he also penned the lyrics of "
Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me)" and provided the voices of various characters, including the talking skull that appears before the waterfall that carries riders into the main body of the attraction and the drunken pirate on the bridge who heckles the auctioneer. He also wrote the script for the
Haunted Mansion, and the lyrics of its theme song, "
Grim Grinning Ghosts (The Screaming Song)." His voice can also be heard emanating from the coffin in the Mansion's
conservatory scene. In the
Disneyland Mansion, it is Atencio who reads the emergency spiel when the ride comes to a halt. Another brief
voice-over Atencio provided was for the
Submarine Voyage Thru Liquid Space, where he is addressed as "Bridge." He also wrote the lyrics to
Buddy Baker's music for the retired
Magic Kingdom attraction
If You Had Wings. Atencio served as a photo interpreter in the
U.S. Army Air Forces from 1941 to 1945 during
World War II, reaching the rank of captain in the
2nd Photo Tech Squadron. Stationed in England, he was part of a team that analyzed aerial surveillance. He retired from
The Walt Disney Company in 1984 and was named a
Disney Legend in 1996. He died in
Los Angeles, California on September 10, 2017, six days after his 98th birthday. His great-nephew is television and film director
Peter Atencio. ==References==