Kim Irvine - LA Times Interview

Disney Analyst

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
This is a fantastic interview. I love the history of her family, her ability to mention mistakes made in the parks by her, her fear of fan reactions, her love for the parks. Worth a read. Makes me proud to be a Disneyland fan.

Here's a highlight for me:
She appears relieved, for instance, when casually mentioning that requests over the decades to make Sleeping Beauty Castle larger were deemed impossible without irrevocably damaging its structure. And when asked whether there’s anything she’s touched that hasn’t been mentioned, instead of singling out a project or highlighting a fellow Imagineer, she stops to offer an apology.

In 2014, Irvine was tasked with expanding and remodeling the costly members-only Club 33; as part of that change, a quiet, serene and elegantly designed alcove in New Orleans Square, the Court of Angels, was closed off to regular guests. It was a move viewed by regulars as Disney catering to big spenders, forgetting that ordinary parkgoers need a place to sit and relax — or even propose — away from nosy, cheering crowds.

“There’s always been a part of me that felt badly about taking anything away,” Irvine says. “Taking away that Angels courtyard from our guests was really hard. It was a decision that was made, and I just had to try and make the best of it with the design of the doors and everything. That is something we try to never, ever do — to take a place that was theirs and turn it into something that they can no longer go to.”

Irvine is still working on a compromise. Though not ready to discuss it yet, she says, “we’re working on something right now.”

It’s a further sign that her goal of making sure Disney never loses sight of where it’s been won’t be finished when the tarps come off the castle.

“If I'm at the table,” Irvine says of business decisions that don’t feel right to her, she believes she can find a middle ground by reasoning. “‘I understand what you're trying to get, but that that doesn't fit in our story.’ We have to stay within the original intent. That was always [Hench’s] mantra. You can change things, update things, make them more relevant, but always with the original intent.

“Don't forget those stories. Those are all laid out for you. It's so simple, really.”

 

VJ

Well-Known Member
I replied in the Castle thread, so I'll just say (and expand on) what I posted there: Beautiful, beautiful interview. I appreciate that Kim is able to talk about both her successes and, not necessarily failures, but missteps. I also appreciate the respect she has for Disneyland and the history that the park has accrued over its 64-year existence. This article made me feel good to be a Disney fan, honestly. Walt would be so proud of her.

I do feel bad about her being so haunted by the negative reactions, though. I guess it's part of the job, but at the same time it's hard to make something, hope that people will love it, and then have them say "no, I don't like it, that's the worst thing that's ever been done to the park." I don't envy the weight on her shoulders, but I'm glad that most of her additions to the park are positive.
 

Disney Analyst

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I replied in the Castle thread, so I'll just say (and expand on) what I posted there: Beautiful, beautiful interview. I appreciate that Kim is able to talk about both her successes and, not necessarily failures, but missteps. I also appreciate the respect she has for Disneyland and the history that the park has accrued over its 64-year existence. This article made me feel good to be a Disney fan, honestly. Walt would be so proud of her.

I do feel bad about her being so haunted by the negative reactions, though. I guess it's part of the job, but at the same time it's hard to make something, hope that people will love it, and then have them say "no, I don't like it, that's the worst thing that's ever been done to the park." I don't envy the weight on her shoulders, but I'm glad that most of her additions to the park are positive.

Totally, especially when they personally blame the person in charge of the work. She doesn't make the decisions to do a project, she is assigned projects to do.

And I think we'd all agree people love Small World more then ever... honestly I was bummed when I worked at WDW and there were no characters waiting to be found.
 

VJ

Well-Known Member
Totally, especially when they personally blame the person in charge of the work. She doesn't make the decisions to do a project, she is assigned projects to do.

And I think we'd all agree people love Small World more then ever... honestly I was bummed when I worked at WDW and there were no characters waiting to be found.
What's great about the Small World redo is that it doesn't change anything fundamentally about the attraction itself. There are Disney characters, yeah, but it's still the same voyage around the world that it's always been. The changes are subtle and not in-your-face, as they should be. The ride isn't about the Disney characters; it's about "it's a small world". Same as always, as it should be.
 

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
What's great about the Small World redo is that it doesn't change anything fundamentally about the attraction itself. There are Disney characters, yeah, but it's still the same voyage around the world that it's always been. The changes are subtle and not in-your-face, as they should be. The ride isn't about the Disney characters; it's about "it's a small world". Same as always, as it should be.
Disney said otherwise. Until word got out about the Disneyland plans, Hong Kong Disneyland’s attraction was very specifically advertised as a game of hide and go seek with the Disney characters.
 

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
While large decisions are made outside Walt Disney Imagineering, they are still responsible for the execution. Club 33 is a great example. Yes, the Court of Angles was a decision from above but elements that are out of scale and prioritize the interior over the exterior are not something that is going to be dictated from above.
 

Travel Junkie

Well-Known Member
Interesting article. I believe it does paint some Disney fans in a bad light. It is one thing to criticize projects, but there are Disney fans that take things way too far. #Distwitter in particular is often a depressing portrait of fandom. The vitriol over mundane changes that shouldn't be given more than a few seconds of thought.

This isn't specific to Disney. Take a look at the Game of Thrones reactions for other examples, but I find the extreme negativity leveled at a company to be depressing. I'm disappointed in some of the decisions they make, including Irvine. I didn't like the Club 33 changes for reasons mentioned above along with the removal of the Court of Angels from the general public. I didn't have a meltdown though like some did.
 

SuddenStorm

Well-Known Member
It's a good read. The Disney characters in Small World, the cruise ship version of Club 33 and Project Curbstomp are unforgivable though.

Yep, and the Auction scene change and the Disney Dream Suite getting rid of the Disney Gallery. And now the weird stars on the castle.

I might be ignorant, but I'm having a hard time thinking of a project she's been in charge of that I think was well executed.
 

SuddenStorm

Well-Known Member
What's great about the Small World redo is that it doesn't change anything fundamentally about the attraction itself. There are Disney characters, yeah, but it's still the same voyage around the world that it's always been. The changes are subtle and not in-your-face, as they should be. The ride isn't about the Disney characters; it's about "it's a small world". Same as always, as it should be.

What's wrong with the Small World redo is that it fundamentally changes the attraction. It reduces each location to a simple "Hey! This is where this Disney film took place!". It's now a Where's Waldo: Disney Edition. Having Disney characters inside the ride cheapens the meaning of the attraction and dates it... since they're not adding any new Disney characters to it to keep up.

Heck, they even threw in The Little Mermaid who resides in a made up Mermaid Kingdom. Yeesh.
 

Stevek

Well-Known Member
Interesting article. I believe it does paint some Disney fans in a bad light. It is one thing to criticize projects, but there are Disney fans that take things way too far. #Distwitter in particular is often a depressing portrait of fandom. The vitriol over mundane changes that shouldn't be given more than a few seconds of thought.

I’m glad she said what she said and this fanbase absolutely deserves to be painted in a bad light. We suck, a lot of the time.
 

Stevek

Well-Known Member
What's wrong with the Small World redo is that it fundamentally changes the attraction. It reduces each location to a simple "Hey! This is where this Disney film took place!". It's now a Where's Waldo: Disney Edition. Having Disney characters inside the ride cheapens the meaning of the attraction and dates it... since they're not adding any new Disney characters to it to keep up.

Heck, they even threw in The Little Mermaid who resides in a made up Mermaid Kingdom. Yeesh.
After the first couple of “where are the characters” rides, it became a non issue for me. The ride is still a classic...only the Toy Story section really feels like a bit much at this point. But really, nothing that takes away from the magic of the attraction...in my opinion of course which I’m sure someone will tell me is a bad take.
 

SuddenStorm

Well-Known Member
After the first couple of “where are the characters” rides, it became a non issue for me. The ride is still a classic...only the Toy Story section really feels like a bit much at this point. But really, nothing that takes away from the magic of the attraction...in my opinion of course which I’m sure someone will tell me is a bad take.

The fact you refer to it as the "Toy Story" section and not the America section perfectly explains my issue with the Disney character additions.
 

donsullivan

Premium Member
Disney geeks freak out about everything. I remember how everyone freaked out about the new fence they added to the drawbridge on the castle. "The drawbridge will never operate again!" as if it opens and closes every day! It's just Disney geeks bleating. Pay it no mind.

I get that so-called fans will not like some of the choices that Disney makes with the various projects but it is wildly inappropriate when they believe they have some right to personally attack the people who worked hard on them. It's okay to not like their choices, but the personal attacks we've started to see in recent years and disparaging people by name is absolutely not okay.
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom