Joe Rohde announces retirement from WDI

412

Well-Known Member
Joe Rohde is one of the all-time greatest Imagineers. Joe conceptualized Animal Kingdom from clear themes: the intrinsic value of nature, transformation through adventure, and a personal call to action. To match the realism of the live animals, Joe spearheaded new levels of realism and detail, applying the authentic artistry of EPCOT's Morocco pavilion to an entire park.

When an Avatar IP infusion threatened to disrupt Animal Kingdom's themes, he found the narrow space where the film and the park aligned and built Pandora in that small, overlapping slice of the venn diagram. It's been the most successful Disney park expansion in recent history, and – seemingly against all odds – reinforces the core themes of the park.

As EPCOT, Magic Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios seem to blend together, I hope that Joe's commitment to theme finds new life at WDI.
 

Squishy

Well-Known Member
Might as well start the rumor now...
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MerlinTheGoat

Well-Known Member
Welp, there it is. Not everything he did turned out well (Mission Breakout). But he was among the final remnants of actually talented imagineers who still commanded at least some degree of influence over executive leadership at Disney. I can't fathom any possibility that this will have anything besides a negative impact on the parks. Especially Animal Kingdom, of which I am now bracing myself for the likely inevitable ruination in the coming years.

I don't know whether he was actually Baxter'd or not, but it wouldn't surprise me.
 

monothingie

Proxy War 2024: Never Forget
Premium Member
Beyond what’s currently in the on track for the next 2-3 years, what’s WDW really planning for the next decade? COVID has killed anything long term and the next several years is going to be uneventful maintaining of status quo. Nothing interesting for him to stick around for.
 

Rteetz

Well-Known Member
Welp, there it is. Not everything he did turned out well (Mission Breakout). But he was among the final remnants of actually talented imagineers who still commanded at least some degree of influence over executive leadership at Disney. I can't fathom any possibility that this will have anything besides a negative impact on the parks. Especially Animal Kingdom, of which I am now bracing myself for the likely inevitable ruination in the coming years.
I think that depends on who you ask. Mission Breakout has a lot of fans and is popular. Its also a project he was sort of pushed upon.
 

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
I know many believe he was pushed out. Maybe he was but I am not sold on that. Joe is one of those within the company that sort of is untouchable in many cases. Joe likes adventure too. I wouldn't be surprised if this was truly his decision and he wanted to do new things. He is a world traveler, artist, designer, etc. I wouldn't be surprised if he consults on future projects as well.
Why would he be untouchable? This is the same company that pushed out the Kirk Brothers, Tim Delaney, Tony Baxter and Tom Morris.
Universals Epic Universe is calling Joe..Please answer
It's not.
 

MerlinTheGoat

Well-Known Member
Also, I assume Epic Universe is dead at this point.

I think that depends on who you ask. Mission Breakout has a lot of fans and is popular. Its also a project he was sort of pushed upon.
It's not a good attraction, and a horrible replacement for ToT (thankfully WDW's superior original hasn't met the same fate quite yet). But I don't really blame him for its failure as he did indeed seem forced into it and likely did the best with what little he was given to work with.

Hard for me to have a net negative opinion of him overall anyways. I adore Animal Kingdom and (despite gripes with the rides themselves) think Pandora was beautiful and impressive.
 

Creathir

Well-Known Member
I know many believe he was pushed out. Maybe he was but I am not sold on that. Joe is one of those within the company that sort of is untouchable in many cases. Joe likes adventure too. I wouldn't be surprised if this was truly his decision and he wanted to do new things. He is a world traveler, artist, designer, etc. I wouldn't be surprised if he consults on future projects as well.
I agree.
He’s 65, just got back from a long vacation over the summer, and a bunch of his friends were just let go.
He was working on the resort in the Caribbean, assuming it’s been shelved, he would be between projects, or he did what he needed to in order to give it initial direction.
The timing is perfect for his exit, I wish him the best.
 

dreamscometrue

Well-Known Member
While certainly possible, this is only coming one month after information was coming out about Disney potentially letting him go and coming up with good retirement negotiations with him.
Perhaps, but I retired this year myself, and many people didn't expect it because I loved my job. Sometimes you just want to do something different, and the older you get the more your perspective might change. I'm kinda old so I can say that. :)
 

SplashJacket

Well-Known Member
If my memory serves me right, wasn't he leading the Lighthouse Point project? I wonder what that means for the development. The website is still operational.
 

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