Creating Secret Spot

by John Lamb, Laguna Beach, California - 1973

In the rearview, Secret Spot was a pivotal moment in my life, but at the time I was simply making an animated film about what I knew best, surfing. For years, I'd been surfing the secret spots of So Cal and Baja. “Willy Makitt” became the streamlined stylemeister of my imagination,who could ride anything.

Willy’s lightning bolt entrance was inspired by Gerry Lopez Lightning Bolt Surfboards, and he maintained that energy through the first two animated films that featured him, Secret Spot and Rocket 88, which both made it to the big screen. As the opener to Forgotten Island of Santosha, by the Yates brothers of Laguna Beach, Secret Spot was the first modern animated surf cartoon to pull off seemingly impossible aerial and shuvit manuevers that became expected tricks by pros some 10 years later.

Rocket 88 was featured in Five Summer Stories by MacGillivray-Freeman Films in 1975. In Rocket 88, Willy pulls off a "shuv it", where the board is kick flipped and spins, while the rider lands it perfectly to continue the ride. The shuv it would show up first in skateboarding in 1979, and would eventually make its way into surfing as new, more extreme moves were introduced in the 1980s and beyond.

While Secret Spot and Rocket 88 paddled off into the sunset of psychedelic inspired animation, Willy took on a life of his own and was featured on Hang Ten’s fiberglass skateboards in 1975. This classic news clip on “the phenomenon of skateboarding” includes footage of the Willy Makitt Hang Ten skateboards being manufactured.

2009 - Oceanside, California

In 2009, the California Surf Museum built a new location in downtown Oceanside.  

The museum curator at the time, Ric Riavic, approached me with an interesting proposition... the new museum had the perfect location to feature Willy and honor Secret Spot by dedicating a bigger than life, permanent exhibit.

Totally stoked, I drew up plans which would embody the gonzo spirit of Secret Spot and enhance it with one of the biggest waves ever ridden by Willy. The experience would be immersive, complete with indigenous coastal scenery, a stoked tiki in a hot rod, a VW combi filled with surfer girls and a vintage woody wagon.

Secret Spot is now a permanent installation at The California Surf Museum. I am humbled and grateful to the California Surf Museum Board of Directors for the honor.

Enjoy the Secret Spot photo gallery