News Walt Disney Imagineering makes organizational changes and new creative leads at the theme parks

[Model3 McQueen]

Yes, and looking it up it was Scott...

Walt Disney Imagineering move Scott Trowbridge to a new dedicated Star Wars Studio at WDI

Walt Disney Imagineering move Scott Trowbridge to a new dedicated Star Wars Studio at WDI

www.wdwmagic.com

Now it really makes sense why Hyperspace Mountain just wont die.

 

[Lilofan]

It's hard to really know what these people actually do. Disney is not very open about their "creative" process. Behind the scenes is a 1 minute fluff video on YouTube using the same outdated campy television format. They do not divulge much in interviews. They all seem to be riding the same IP cash cow wave.

While I love that Tom Fitzgerald is the "if we can dream it" Horizons, king of the darkride guy, he was also up there on stage smiling and talking about a Marvel coaster replacing Energy darkride.

The job surely comes with travel perks spending time in those exotic foreign lands doing research.

 

[wdwmagic]

That is not at all what has happened. The franchise portfolio leadership didn’t go away and the park portfolio leadership isn’t returning because it did not go away.

Yep Drake remains over Marvel and Trowbridge remains over Star Wars.

 

[ThatMouse]

In my naive youth, I always thought that that creative process was the essence of Imagineering, the true soul of what they do. The lack of evidence it really even exists anymore or is treated seriously as any sort of fount for future park inclusions probably hurts me more than anything else Disney has done in the Iger era. And considering I've hated just about everything he's done with the fury of ten thousand suns, that's saying something.

I know what you mean -- I just assumed when Horizons, Motion, Communicore went away that Disney would surely come up with something even better in its place, and I think there is 100% agreement that Mission Space is not better, and Test Track is mixed. Innoventions I can't even! Everyone has a list of 10 or 20 other things where the replacement was disappointing or there just was no replacement. We do want new things, but Frozen and Guardians is the total opposite you see...

 

[ThatMouse]

Good to have Joe overseeing Animal Kingdom since the start. One creative mind overseeing a park throughout its life is a great positive.

Joe is overhyped. The creativity came from James Cameron. Joe just removed the Space Marines, which really if you think about it are a lot nicer and less genocidey than the villains in Star Wars yet those characters are doing meet and greets.

 

[flynnibus]

Joe is overhyped. The creativity came from James Cameron. Joe just removed the Space Marines, which really if you think about it are a lot nicer and less genocidey than the villains in Star Wars yet those characters are doing meet and greets.

Sorry.. was there a theme park in James' movie?

Don't assume something wonderful in one medium means its just a copy/paste to make it work in other mediums.

 

[EricsBiscuit]

I don't think there is one. The IP flavor of the month, handed down from someone way, way higher than even the highest guy at Imagineering, dictates what is being worked on. I'm not sure there's even pitch meetings anymore where the artists and storytellers present something they've dreamed up, and you get all sorts of wonky ideas and seeds for other ideas and is just an overall way of working the creative juices.

In my naive youth, I always thought that that creative process was the essence of Imagineering, the true soul of what they do. The lack of evidence it really even exists anymore or is treated seriously as any sort of fount for future park inclusions probably hurts me more than anything else Disney has done in the Iger era. And considering I've hated just about everything he's done with the fury of ten thousand suns, that's saying something.

Just because you don’t like the projects they’re working on now doesn’t mean that they’re not creative.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Just because you don’t like the projects they’re working on now doesn’t mean that they’re not creative.

Except he is right. Attractions are not developed based on having a compelling experience and the Bobs have both admitted as much.

 

[TP2000]

do they really need overall, then site executives and then individual park execs too? The site exec seems fluffy...

The sales manager at Tesla of Glendale would disagree with you.

 

[Hotamber]

They need a shakeup after deciding to spend billions on an IP land with just secondary characters that is not even as interactive as Diagon Alley which opened in 2014. My $55 wand does more then a $200 glow stick and you can actually wear a Wizard's robe if you want to. Jedi robes being banned says it all. They even made the Disneyland Paris mistake again by wasting money building a hotel before having demand. Live your own adventure but use your droid and wear your robe at your own land

 

[Mickeyboof]

They need a shakeup after deciding to spend billions on an IP land with just secondary characters that is not even as interactive as Diagon Alley which opened in 2014. My $55 wand does more then a $200 glow stick and you can actually wear a Wizard's robe if you want to. Jedi robes being banned says it all. They even made the Disneyland Paris mistake again by wasting money building a hotel before having demand. Live your own adventure but use your droid and wear your robe at your own land

Don’t forget you now gotta stand in a parking lot to get a glimpse at the press only immersive X Wings.

The current Imagineering cast is an exhausting cavalcade of people who make better self-bios than theme park lands.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Joe is overhyped. The creativity came from James Cameron. Joe just removed the Space Marines, which really if you think about it are a lot nicer and less genocidey than the villains in Star Wars yet those characters are doing meet and greets.

Joe is overhyped compared to who?

 

[techgeek]

Joe is overhyped. The creativity came from James Cameron. Joe just removed the Space Marines, which really if you think about it are a lot nicer and less genocidey than the villains in Star Wars yet those characters are doing meet and greets.

I’m still of the opinion that Pandora doesn’t really ‘fit’ in AK, but I think the only reason it works as seamlessly as it does is because the park has a strong identity and message tying literally every experience, in every land, together.

Since we’ve watched Disney collectively screw this sort of thing up at every other park it oversees, you start to ask yourself ‘why is AK still so cohesive? Even with terrible mandates from above, how does it stay on message and usually with above quality results, 20 years later?’

If you’ve got another explanation, I’d be glad to hear it.

 

[RobWDW1971]

I’m still of the opinion that Pandora doesn’t really ‘fit’ in AK, but I think the only reason it works as seamlessly as it does is because the park has a strong identity and message tying literally every experience, in every land, together.

Since we’ve watched Disney collectively screw this sort of thing up at every other park it oversees, you start to ask yourself ‘why is AK still so cohesive? Even with terrible mandates from above, how does it stay on message and usually with above quality results, 20 years later?’

If you’ve got another explanation, I’d be glad to hear it.

Did I just dream the asphalt mess of the Dinoland carnival? Or are ring toss games and spinners “on message”?

 

[cjkeating]

Did I just dream the asphalt mess of the Dinoland carnival? Or are ring toss games and spinners “on message”?

In short... yes.

There is a whole thread about Chester and Hesters in General Discussion if you want to have a read without starting another debate here.

 

[MisterPenguin]

In short... yes.

There is a whole thread about Chester and Hesters in General Discussion if you want to have a read without starting another debate here.

No thanks. He wants to start the same debate in every thread.

 

[Liberty6]

They need a shakeup after deciding to spend billions on an IP land with just secondary characters that is not even as interactive as Diagon Alley which opened in 2014. My $55 wand does more then a $200 glow stick and you can actually wear a Wizard's robe if you want to. Jedi robes being banned says it all. They even made the Disneyland Paris mistake again by wasting money building a hotel before having demand. Live your own adventure but use your droid and wear your robe at your own land

I’m not sure that “shake-up” is the right word. Kareem Daniels is just being “promoted” while continuing to be groomed to take the chairman role if Chapek get some promoted/leaves. The bigger thing is this Executive Design & Delivery role that’s being added. No doubt a sacrificial role that takes the heat off the top leadership when the next project goes wrong.

 

[tirian]

I don't think there is one. The IP flavor of the month, handed down from someone way, way higher than even the highest guy at Imagineering, dictates what is being worked on. I'm not sure there's even pitch meetings anymore where the artists and storytellers present something they've dreamed up, and you get all sorts of wonky ideas and seeds for other ideas and is just an overall way of working the creative juices.

In my naive youth, I always thought that that creative process was the essence of Imagineering, the true soul of what they do. The lack of evidence it really even exists anymore or is treated seriously as any sort of fount for future park inclusions probably hurts me more than anything else Disney has done in the Iger era. And considering I've hated just about everything he's done with the fury of ten thousand suns, that's saying something.

I get annoyed every time I turn on the TV and he’s doing an interview about his successes or his book or his political dreams—as if he were actually a genius like Walt or Steve Jobs (whom Iger keeps name-dropping).

Disney is financially successful because Iger bought Marvel, Lucasfilm, and Pixar—three companies responsible for their own successes. Iger was smart enough to let those operate themselves for the most part: let’s not forget the MCU began before Disney owned them. Iron Man was a Paramount film.

He’s also wasting a lot of other brands and IPs (Exhibit A: the Muppets). Disney’s own content ranges from awful (Nutcracker) to great (Moana), along with creatively bankrupt reboots of previously animated films. In other words, there’s no quality control because none of the leaders are visionaries. They see themselves as a conglomerate of brands, and they talk that way in presentations too.

Iger’s tenure may have made my stock soar, but I also know it’s been destructive for long-term creative viability because it’s all based on leverage existing brands and peddling nostalgia instead of innovating anything.

And he was basically uninterested in the parks — even willing to sell them — until Chapek made them the golden goose to buoy their over-budgeted tentpole film strategy.

IMHO.

 

[tirian]

In short... yes.

There is a whole thread about Chester and Hesters in General Discussion if you want to have a read without starting another debate here.

No thanks. He wants to start the same debate in every thread.

Eh, everyone knows Chester and Hester’s Dinoland was shoehorned in as part of Eisner’s cost-cutting initiative. Along with DCA 1.0, it was actually a key complaint among stockholders during the “Save Disney” era. The elaborate backstory and clever street segmentation were added after the decision to shove in cheap carnival attractions. No amount of retconning can pretend it’s well themed.

All that said, I do have a soft spot for the area, because it’s the cleanest, best maintained old-fashioned roadside carnival in history.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I get annoyed every time I turn on the TV and he’s doing an interview about his successes or his book or his political dreams—as if he were actually a genius like Walt or Steve Jobs (whom Iger keeps name-dropping).

Disney is financially successful because Iger bought Marvel, Lucasfilm, and Pixar—three companies responsible for their own successes. Iger was smart enough to let those operate themselves for the most part: let’s not forget the MCU began before Disney owned them. Iron Man was a Paramount film.

He also bought a lot of other brands and IPs that he’s wasted (Exhibit A: the Muppets). Disney’s own content ranges from awful (Nutcracker) to great (Moana), along with creatively bankrupt reboots of previously animated films. In other words, there’s no quality control because none of the leaders are visionaries. They see themselves as a conglomerate of brands, and they talk that way in presentations too.

Iger’s tenure may have made my stock soar, but I also know it’s been destructive for long-term creative viability because it’s all based on leverage existing brands and peddling nostalgia instead of innovating anything.

And he was basically uninterested in the parks — even willing to sell them — until Chapek made them the golden goose to buoy their over-budgeted tentpole film strategy.

IMHO.

Iger gets praise for spending billions to acquire Fox but would he have needed to buy so much content if he had not shut down Touchstone Pictures and Hollywood Pictures? Not sold Miramax (which is obviously more problematic now)? If Walt Disney Pictures had not only focused on tentpoles? Actually revived a means of making the sort of singles and doubles that more easily make a profit and make a streaming service look nice and full.