News Bruce Vaughn Returns to Disney as Co-Lead of Walt Disney Imagineering

[jpeden]

As long as the IP mandate exists WDI will be nothing but an extension of the marketing department.

The problem with having a unit that bills itself as the most creative and innovative in the industry is when you don’t let them be, well…creative and force them into a box their work product will inevitably decay.

 

[jpeden]

Agree, many seem like intern-age and they look to be running projects at, arguably, the most elite creative institution on the planet. Weird.

But hardly ever seeing Imagineers in their 50s or 60s, it's creepy and off-putting to me, and it evokes Ageism. How can an organization that's over 70 years old not have people in their 50s or 60s working there in the mix?

They laid 90% of them off during COVID and realized they could hire cheaper replacements post-COVID.

 

[JD80]

As long as the IP mandate exists WDI will be nothing but an extension of the marketing department.

What does having a Studios IP vs. a WDI IP matter for the ability to make experiences?

 

[DisneyHead123]

Agree, many seem like intern-age and they look to be running projects at, arguably, the most elite creative institution on the planet. Weird.

But hardly ever seeing Imagineers in their 50s or 60s, it's creepy and off-putting to me, and it evokes Ageism. How can an organization that's over 70 years old not have people in their 50s or 60s working there in the mix?

I agree in this specific situation, although I’ll add that companies may not always have age diversity for a variety of reasons and imo sometimes that can be ok. In this situation though - this isn’t a young tech company where everyone who understands the relevant technology is under 30. We know great people all disappeared at the same time and clearly something was going on there.

 

[lazyboy97o]

What does having a Studios IP vs. a WDI IP matter for the ability to make experiences?

You’re not open to just whatever would provide the best experience.

 

[HMF]

Agree, many seem like intern-age and they look to be running projects at, arguably, the most elite creative institution on the planet. Weird.

But hardly ever seeing Imagineers in their 50s or 60s, it's creepy and off-putting to me, and it evokes Ageism. How can an organization that's over 70 years old not have people in their 50s or 60s working there in the mix?

To be honest, it's kind of infuriating for me personally. When I was in my late teens /early 20s I wanted to work for WDI. I had elaborate plans for attractions like HM, POTC, most of Magic Kingdom, A complete plan for EPCOT which probably would have been more efficient and cheaper than the one they actually did including a complete script for SSE. Same with Hollywood Studios which would have been more in line with expanding the original theme rather than no theme with Random IP lands. My dreams were crushed by a combination of the realization that Iger's Disney would never use my ideas and a medical incident that nearly ended my college career in 2013. In 2017 I accepted that I would never work forr them and wrote my articles on my feelings about what has happened to EPCOT DHS, DAK and a few other subjects.

 

[co10064]

What does having a Studios IP vs. a WDI IP matter for the ability to make experiences?

Imagine if the IP mandate existed from the beginning… gone are classics like Space Mountain, Pirates, HM, Big Thunder, PeopleMover, Spaceship Earth, Soarin’, Safari, Everest, etc.

There’s no doubt that IP rides can be done well (Splash, Rise, Tower of Terror), but IMO a good theme park needs both original IP and familiar/sourced IP.

 

[JD80]

Imagine if the IP mandate existed from the beginning… gone are classics like Space Mountain, Pirates, HM, Big Thunder, PeopleMover, Spaceship Earth, Soarin’, Safari, Everest, etc.

There’s no doubt that IP rides can be done well (Splash, Rise, Tower of Terror), but IMO a good theme park needs both original IP and familiar/sourced IP.

That's a very short sited view of what you think the IP mandate is. Tropes like pirate adventures and haunted houses have existed for a very long time. Whose to say we wouldn't have gotten a Muppets Haunted House with an IP mandate instead of the existing one?

When things like Space Mountain, Pirates and HM were being built for the first time, Disney didn't have nearly as much IP as they do now which is why you got a lot of generic stories that you grew to love.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

There’s no doubt that IP rides can be done well (Splash, Rise, Tower of Terror), but IMO a good theme park needs both original IP and familiar/sourced IP.

Tower of Terror wouldn't be built today because The Twilight Zone isn't a Disney owned IP

And it's not just rides. Think of hotels, shows (Illuminations), restaurants that are also not tied to a Disney owned movie

You would wipe out most of the things that make WDW great.

 

[lazyboy97o]

That's a very short sited view of what you think the IP mandate is. Tropes like pirate adventures and haunted houses have existed for a very long time. Whose to say we wouldn't have gotten a Muppets Haunted House with an IP mandate instead of the existing one?

When things like Space Mountain, Pirates and HM were being built for the first time, Disney didn't have nearly as much IP as they do now which is why you got a lot of generic stories that you grew to love.

For one, The Muppets weren’t what we know as The Muppets until the 70s.

This is also just distorting history. The franchise mandate is Iger’s claim to fail in the parks. He’s given interviews about it (“non-descript roller coaster themed like India or whatever”). Disney wasn’t lacking in properties beforehand, it just wasn’t how they were operating because the idea of a creative box around one specific medium is nonsense.

 

[JD80]

Tower of Terror wouldn't be built today because The Twilight Zone isn't a Disney owned IP

And it's not just rides. Think of hotels, shows (Illuminations), restaurants that are also not tied to a Disney owned movie

You would wipe out most of the things that make WDW great.

The concept of a drop hotel ride was already being developed prior to the Twilight Zone got tagged on to it. At least according to Behind the Attraction on D+.

 

[JD80]

For one, The Muppets weren’t what we know as The Muppets until the 70s.

This is also just distorting history. The franchise mandate is Iger’s claim to fail in the parks. He’s given interviews about it (“non-descript roller coaster themed like India or whatever”). Disney wasn’t lacking in properties beforehand, it just wasn’t how they were operating because the idea of a creative box around one specific medium is nonsense.

For one, I was responding to a point that the HM would never have existed because of an IP mandate. And I responded that with an IP mandate Disney may have built a Muppets Haunted House ride instead and it could have been just as amazing as the current attraction. The IP mandate exists in a time period where the Muppets exist.

Not sure what you're trying to claim in the next paragraph. Your posting style is way too hostile and combative.

 

[lazyboy97o]

For one, I was responding to a point that the HM would never have existed because of an IP mandate. And I responded that with an IP mandate Disney may have built a Muppets Haunted House ride instead and it could have been just as amazing as the current attraction. The IP mandate exists in a time period where the Muppets exist.

Not sure what you're trying to claim in the next paragraph. Your posting style is way too hostile and combative.

The Haunted Mansion was the product of its time and very unique circumstances, which included wide ranging exploration of ideas and lore. Nothing about The Muppets aligns to that scope of work.

You are pushing that Disney today is only doing what they always wanted to do but could not. That just isn’t true. It’s a fan excuse that even Disney doesn’t push. The franchise mandate comes from one person, Bob Iger, who doesn’t understand why people liked Disney parks before he “fixed” them.

 

[JD80]

The Haunted Mansion was the product of its time and very unique circumstances, which included wide ranging exploration of ideas and lore. Nothing about The Muppets aligns to that scope of work.

You are pushing that Disney today is only doing what they always wanted to do but could not. That just isn’t true. It’s a fan excuse that even Disney doesn’t push. The franchise mandate comes from one person, Bob Iger, who doesn’t understand why people liked Disney parks before he “fixed” them.

Ok bud. Right over your head.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Ok bud. Right over your head.

No, I get it. You think a limited started point is somehow equivalent to an unlimited one.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

I agree in this specific situation, although I’ll add that companies may not always have age diversity for a variety of reasons and imo sometimes that can be ok. In this situation though - this isn’t a young tech company where everyone who understands the relevant technology is under 30. We know great people all disappeared at the same time and clearly something was going on there.

Makes me wonder if Disney got rid of them or they quit because they didn’t have the freedom and resources to actually make what they wanted to make.

We know a lot left to go to Universal and work on Epic, we also know some high profile ones like Rhode left on his own.

I’m not sure Imagineering still has the same appeal it did when I was a kid dreaming of working there, it’s possible it was always a “corporate” job but when I was a kid it sounded like it was all about creativity and doing the impossible, now it sounds like it’s probably budget meetings, mandates, and doing what you’re told.

 

[JD80]

Makes me wonder if Disney got rid of them or they quit because they didn’t have the freedom and resources to actually make what they wanted to make.

We know a lot left to go to Universal and work on Epic, we also know some high profile ones like Rhode left on his own.

I’m not sure Imagineering still has the same appeal it did when I was a kid dreaming of working there, it’s possible it was always a “corporate” job but when I was a kid it sounded like it was all about creativity and doing the impossible, now it sounds like it’s probably budget meetings, mandates, and doing what you’re told.

Any time you working on a multi-million (or billion) dollar project you'll ALWAYS have budget meetings, mandates and project managers yelling about deadlines.

The TWDC typically always does a good job highlighting their creative talent to make it look like a magical job. It's PR.

There's a reason a lot of their IG-type stories always have a young excited imagineer on camera and not a 30-40 something year old project manager sitting behind a desk with a gantt chart on one screen and an excel spreadsheet on another.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Makes me wonder if Disney got rid of them or they quit because they didn’t have the freedom and resources to actually make what they wanted to make.

We know a lot left to go to Universal and work on Epic, we also know some high profile ones like Rhode left on his own.

I’m not sure Imagineering still has the same appeal it did when I was a kid dreaming of working there, it’s possible it was always a “corporate” job but when I was a kid it sounded like it was all about creativity and doing the impossible, now it sounds like it’s probably budget meetings, mandates, and doing what you’re told.

Most leave because their project ends. The image of Walt Disney Imagineering as this career people have for decades is the rare exception. Most people are moving back and forth between not just Disney and Universal, but other experience design companies.

 

[DisneyHead123]

Makes me wonder if Disney got rid of them or they quit because they didn’t have the freedom and resources to actually make what they wanted to make.

We know a lot left to go to Universal and work on Epic, we also know some high profile ones like Rhode left on his own.

I question whether he left on his own or was basically told he was taking a retirement package. He was in the middle of the Lighthouse Point project when he left.

I’m not sure Imagineering still has the same appeal it did when I was a kid dreaming of working there, it’s possible it was always a “corporate” job but when I was a kid it sounded like it was all about creativity and doing the impossible, now it sounds like it’s probably budget meetings, mandates, and doing what you’re told.

I don’t know. I have zero insight into why there was seemingly a purge of Imagineers… I can think of a few plausible reasons, but they would just be random guesses.

 

[el_super]

You would wipe out most of the things that make WDW great.

For some. The real reason Disney mandates IP inclusion is simple: the audience responds to it, quite favorably.

What makes the parks great are the connections to the films and properties people already love. That wasn't different in Walt's time. The media was just a different flavor of westerns and sci fi. It's all pretty much the same.