Category — Imagineering

Imagineers Rolly Crump and Don Edgren were recently honored at Disneyland by having their name added to what are effectively the ‘credits’ for the theme park, the Windows on Main Street.

Don Edgren was known for his mastery of resort development and his ‘can-do’ attitude. Rolly Crump was a designer who created many of the iconic looks that have come to symbolize the ‘Disney theme park’.

LaughingPlace.com was there and brings some great video and photos of the dedication event.

Upcoming Pixar has an interesting rumor about which Pixar character is next to get the Living Character Initiative treatment from Walt Disney Imagineering. Ratatouille’s lead rat Remy appeard first in Paris Disneyland Resort and is now in EPCOT’s France Pavilion. The rumor is that Luxo Jr., the iconic lamp from the first Pixar short, will be animated via audio-animatronics at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

There already is a ‘hidden’ Luxo Jr. in the Pixar Place area of DHS. Look for the street sign near the huge Pixar Studios sign as you enter from the central plaza.

While I think a ‘live’ Luxo Jr. would be interesting, I’d rather WDI concentrate its efforts on the larger LCI like Muppet Labs.

Here’s a video of Disney’s smallest Audio-Animatronics figure ever. Watch as the Living Character Initiative brings ‘Chef Remy’ from Ratatouille to life at Les Chefs de France in Epcot.

The full press release is below the cut:

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So today on twitter, I thought I’d ask a poll as I do from time to time. Well this one really got people excited. So what was the question?

If you could have Disney Imagineers theme your house/apartment to one Disney attraction (ala Extreme Makeover) which would you choose?

I correctly felt that Haunted Mansion would be the most popular. But I really thought that Pirates Of the Caribbean would be second best. It wasn’t even close. Here are the full results with the number of votes listed first.

8 Haunted Mansion
5 Enchanted Tiki Room
4 Tower of Terror
3 Peter Pan
3 The Matterhorn
3 Rock’n'Rollercoaster
3 Splash Mountain
2 Carousel of Progress
2 Cinderella Castle
2 Indiana Jones
2 it’s a small world
2 Great Movie Ride
2 Mickey’s Toon Town
2 The Adventurers Club
2 Swiss Family Robinson (with plumbing)
2 Space Mountain
Alice in Wonderland
Beauty & The Beast Stage Show
Castaway Cay
Canada Pavilion (EPCOT)
Cinderella Castle Suite
Contemporary “Bay Lake Towers” Rooms
Expedition Everest
Fab 5 themed
Germany Pavilion (EPCOT)
Haunted Mansion (NBC version)
Horizons
Innoventions Dream Home
Italy Pavilion (EPCOT)
Maelstrom
Mexico Pavilion (EPCOT)
Muppets
Pirates of the Caribbean
Snow White Adventures
Toy Story Midway Mania
UK Pavilion (EPCOT)
Winnie The Pooh

Thank you to everyone for participating! Let’s do it again sometime.

If you’ve gotten this far and wonder what I’m talking about, you should sign up for Twitter and follow @TheDisneyBlog. In the meantime, feel free to add your own ideas in the comments.

The change that we all knew was coming has been announced. Once Disney announced that they would be offering severance packages to hundreds of Parks and Resorts Division Executives, I knew the next shoe to drop would be a further consolidation of the east and west coast management structures.

Frankly, Disney has been trending this way a long time. Disneyland lifers have been holding out against the move fearing they would lose some of what makes Walt Disney’s original park special, but the economic crisis has given Jay Rasulo the ammunition to install the changes.

This new action will result in some job loss even below the executive level that was offered severance packages. Unfortunately the details were not announced so we don’t know how deep job loss will go.

Two areas we know are going to get hit hard are: Imagineering and Theme Park Operations. At Walt Disney Imagineering everyone will be consolidated into a single group that handles design for all parks.

The operating infrastructure at Walt Disney World and the Disneyland Resort will also be merged to create a single domestic organization and “back-of-house” operation.

Disney execs were putting the final touches on these changes last week while in town for the American Idol Experience launch.

The changes announced today are effective immediately.

Disney’s Press Release on the reorganization is below the cut and don’t miss Jason Garcia’s coverage at the Orlando Sentinel.:

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Be good at something; it makes you valuable… have something to bring to the table, because that will make you more welcome. – Randy Pausch

Those words honoring Dr. Randy Pausch adorn the plaque place outside the Mad Tea Cups attraction at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. Pausch was a Carnegie Mellon professor, Disney Imagineer, and family man known for his “last lecture” given at CMU when faced with the knowledge he had just a few months to live.

I was worried that the medallion would be out of place, however I think it fits in very well with other decorations in the area. It is located next to a table, so I see how it fits geographically, but I’m confused as to what the message of the Mad Hatter Tea Party has to do with Paucsh’s quote. The story says the attraction meant something to Dr. Pausch, so that will have to do.

I was also thinking about how Disney has incorporated memorials into the park. Typically it’s been through the ‘Cast Credit’ like windows or other in-jokes. I don’t recall anything so directly quoting anyone other than Walt or Roy Disney. Stay tuned to see if it becomes a trend.

Previously: Raundy Pausch honored by Disney with Memorial Fellowships at CMU.

Today is “D Day” for hundreds of executives throughout The Walt Disney Company’s east coast and west coast divisions that support the parks and resorts (including Imagineering). Today’s the day they have to decide if they’ll take a severance package or risk future layoffs with severance that won’t be as generous. While Disney hasn’t mentioned how deep of cuts they want, it’s thought they want deep cuts in upper management where salaries are high so as to prevent layoffs in the parks where the guest experience might be directly affected.

I don’t envy anyone who has to make this decision for themselves and their family. But at the same time, I hope enough people opt to take the package and prevent even worse layoffs in the future. During the 1Q result conference call, Bob Iger made it clear that he wants to keep as minimal impact on the guest experience as possible during the recession. So cuts in management are likely to be deep.

(More at the Orlando Sentinel)

The Walt Disney Company has announced the creation of the Disney Memorial Pausch Fellowship at Carnegie Mellon University in recognition of the passion and energy Dr. Randy Pausch brought to his work at both Carnegie Mellon and Walt Disney Imagineering. Pausch is best known for his life-affirming “Last Lecture,” which he delivered to his students and colleagues a few weeks after learning he had just months to live. Intended as a roadmap for his three young children, the lecture included his insights on finding the good in other people, working hard to overcome obstacles and living generously.

“Randy Pausch lived his life inspiring his students, colleagues and co-workers. Now, the vitality and energy he brought to his classroom lives on and serves as an inspiration to millions of people he never had the chance to meet,” said Disney President and CEO Bob Iger. “We are proud to honor Randy’s passion by supporting the innovators and dreamers of tomorrow with these fellowships.”

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