Steve... maybe this IS about the legendary folk at WDI.
Anyone own the "Imagineering" book? "Disneyland, Then Now and Forever?" How about the "Nickel Tour?" "A Brush With Disney?" "Walt's Time?" These works were written with the help of Disney author, Bruce Gordon.
Bruce joined Walt Disney Imagineering in 1980, and has contributed to a wide variety of projects at Epcot, Disneyland, Tokyo Disneyland, cyberspace and beyond.
Disney author, historian, creative force behind dozens of attractions and Project Director and Creative Developer for Walt Disney Imagineering.
...yeah, he was laid off.
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From Kevin Yee on MiceAge.com:
Imagineering Layoffs Continue
I've heard rumors in recent months that Imagineering management may have something up its sleeve: a long-term goal to prune the division to absolute, rock-bottom minimums. Meaning a few dozen administrators. This horrifying plan would see virtually all creative folks laid off by late 2005, with the idea to oversee projects with only one or two individuals, and outsource just about everything else.
You may think, based on that description, that it sounds like only the producers are safe, and that all other grunt work will be hired from outside. Well, think again. Just two weeks ago, Imagineering management laid off Senior Producer Bruce Gordon, the man directly and single-handedly responsible for the Nemo subs project at Disneyland. Everyone else wanted the subs gone, but Bruce persevered, and now we'll be getting his vision.
Sadly, he was taken off the project after it was green-lit, and anyone without projects at WDI is in danger of a falling ax.
It's hard to fathom. Bruce was a creative force (though not always the primary one) behind dozens of Disneyland attractions. He is the author of the most prominent Disneyland books. Since the death of his coauthor David Mumford, Bruce has become, together with Tony Baxter (who manages to still be employed, for now), the remaining custodian of Disneyland's history and legacy. Firing Bruce would be somewhat similar to firing Walt's brother Roy.
Why would you do such a thing? Even if it saved a few pennies?
Marty Sklar was there when Walt Disney Imagineering really took on steam, after starting at Disneyland in 1955. Marty knew Walt, and understood what Walt wanted back then. It's almost a moot point to ask what Walt would want now. But is this really what Marty himself now wants? To hollow out, eviscerate, and decimate his own division of the company? Is that the legacy of Marty Sklar? "He came, he saw, he took over Imagineering, and after a few decades he burned it."
Sklar's Scorched Earth may not yet be over. Those same rumors I've heard indicated layoffs in fits and starts, so that the mainstream media does not learn what's going on at the division. This might yet prove to be every bit as far-reaching as the layoffs in Feature Animation; a kind of "Dream on Silly Dreamer" moment for Imagineering. It happened over at Universal Creative a while back -- the outsourcing movement seems unstoppable. But to time the layoffs and space them out, so as to avoid such bad press, seems both wise from a marketing perspective and evil at the same time. Well, I'm here to watch as best I can. If the high-profile departures in recent years are joined by more and more such layoffs, I'll keep sounding that horn.
Silly dreamers indeed!"
(not to take anything away from the people of course, they have an important role)
