 Stevens gave the film 's production designer Jim Bissell and his two art directors his entire reference library pertaining to the Rocketeer at that time period , including blueprints for hangars and bleachers , schematics for building the autogyro , photos and drawings of the Bulldog Cafe , the uniforms for the air circus staff , and contacts for locating the vintage aircraft that were to be used . Stevens remembers that they " literally just took the reference and built the sets " . Disney originally intended to change the Rocketeer 's trademark helmet design completely . President Michael Eisner wanted a straight NASA @-@ type helmet but director Johnston threatened to quit production on The Rocketeer . Disney relented , but only after creating a number of prototype designs that were ultimately rejected by the filmmakers . Stevens asked Johnston for one week to produce a good helmet design . He proceeded to work with a sculptor he knew , made a cast of the film 's main stunt man 's head and brainstormed ideas with the help of his sketches . They produced a helmet that the filmmakers agreed looked appropriate from all angles ; in most respects it was identical to the helmet design Stevens had used for his comics series . 
