You might not notice the names painted into holiday decorations at Disneyland.

They’re written in small script. You’ll probably ride right past. Here’s what you don’t know: How much joy, pride and pain two of those names represent.

Tucked among the plump pumpkins, smiling skeletons or colorful Christmas presents on the Jungle Cruise ride, inside the Haunted Mansion and on the Santa’s Mailroom float in the holiday parade, two names appear over and over again.

Harry and Betty.

Disneyland’s senior art director Brian Sandahl put them there. He designed many of Disneyland’s decorations during the holiday season.

He was instructed not to put names in his designs, but, after the year his family had, Sandahl did it anyway.

“No one will know who Harry and Betty are,” Sandahl said, tears welling in his eyes. “But I will. They’re my mom and dad.”

• • •

Brian Sandahl was born to be a Disney cast member.

When he was 14, his parents bought him balsa wood, cardboard, chicken wire, plaster of Paris and plywood. For two years, they watched as he made a 10-by-14 foot replica of Disneyland with an 18-inch Matterhorn in their San Bernardino garage.

“They spent lots of money,” said Sandahl, 58. “They let me go. I’m sure they thought, ‘Thank God this kid has direction.’”

Harry Sandahl was a manager at Bank of America. Betty was an administrative assistant at a school.

Their son had two passions – Disneyland and theater. From his bedroom, Sandahl could hear performances from the stage at the Perris Hill Park Roosevelt Bowl. Every summer, young actors would perform in adapted fairy tales.

“I knew I wanted to be in those shows,” Sandahl said.

As a teenager, he auditioned for and was cast in “Tom Sawyer.” He also played Captain Hook, a warlock in “The Wizard of Oz” and a hermit in “Pinocchio.” Sandahl participated in plays for a company called Junior University for 38 years as an actor, set designer and director.

He built his first set – for “Sleeping Beauty” – at 18. He might have grown up to become an actor, but he inherited a responsibility gene from his parents. “I wanted to make a living, and I could make a living at set design,” he said.

• • •

During his teen years, Sandahl wrote a letter to Disneyland, applying to be the 1,000th ghost in the Haunted Mansion.

He got the following response from the Disney publicity department: “Regarding your interest in a post-lifetime lease in Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion, we will gladly add your name to our frightfully long waiting list. That is not to say that you don’t stand a ghost of a chance to be inhabitant No. 1,000, but the list is full of many spirited applicants who are dying for a chance.

“We hope (and assume) that you are not in a hurry, as, outside of No. 1,000, we don’t anticipate any openings. Remember, all current residents have signed long-term leases (for eternity) and so far, not a soul has left us. Thanks for your interest in this rather grave matter. We will keep your request locked in our doom tomb.”

It wasn’t until 1995 that Sandahl and Disneyland finally found each other.

Sandahl had designed the sets and was acting (he played Simeon) in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” The actor who played Joseph was Scott Westmoreland, whose day job was in the Disney arts department. Westmoreland helped Sandahl get a job interview.

Disney hired Sandahl in October 1995 to work in the art department. His first project was to rent a palm tree and build a sign for the Indiana Jones ride.

It wasn’t long before Sandahl became a holiday expert. First, he became the art director for Mickey’s Halloween Party. As Disneyland morphed into a Halloween destination, Sandahl began focusing on what is called the “holiday overlay.” Every year, he fills the park with scarecrows and pumpkins. He gives holiday facelifts to the Haunted Mansion and the Jungle Cruise.

Now, Sandahl works on Disneyland’s holiday decorations year round.

He didn’t even like the movie “The Nightmare Before Christmas” the first time he saw it, but he was assigned to use images from the movie in his work. He’s grown to love that film.

“Now it’s part of my life,” said Sandahl, who lives in Yorba Linda.

Changing the way Disneyland looks is a daunting enterprise.

“As a job, it was very intimidating,” he said. “I was afraid I was going to mess up Disneyland.”

Asked about his best moment as an art director, Sandahl said it came when his mother watched the Christmas Parade. He heard her tell people around her in the crowd that her son was the art director.

“That made me so proud,” Sandahl said.

• • •

Harry Sandahl didn’t age gracefully. His mind began playing tricks on him. Along with dementia, he was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, which causes muscle weakness. Harry needed constant care.

Betty Sandahl took care of her husband for years. They moved into a retirement community in Banning. As they aged, Betty kept working hard.

The last time they came to Disneyland, Brian took them on a tour of Walt Disney’s apartment above the Fire Station on Main Street.

He could see his father was in trouble. But what happened next caught him by surprise.

In June of 2014, Sandahl got a phone call from his father in the middle of the night.

“She’s gone,” he said.

Betty had died suddenly of a heart attack. She was 84.

“She was the strong one,” Sandahl said through his tears.

In October, Sandahl found his father in a pool of blood. He had been wandering outside his home when he fell and hit his head. Sandahl spent seven days with his father in the hospital before he died.

“It was an awful year,” Sandahl said.

• • •

Harry and Betty are on the “Naughty or Nice” list inside the attic of the Haunted Mansion. The boxes of fruitcakes in the “Jingle Cruise” scene are labeled Harry and Betty.

“When I’m gone, I will insist Harry’s and Betty’s names will be there,” said Sandahl, who just celebrated his 20th anniversary at Disneyland. “Their names don’t disrupt the show. It’s very subtle, very soft.

“But they live on.”