Tony Baxter D23 Interview: slams NextGen and The Myth of the Story

Seabasealpha1

Seabasealpha1

Well-Known Member
You know Tony, you could stick around...God knows they still need you! Heck of a great interview...he seems very open and relaxed...I sincerely hope that there might be some kind of "revival" in imagineering...problem is, they still need guys like Mr. Baxter to lead them...I hope someone higher up sees some of this kinda stuff too...
 
Figments Friend

Figments Friend

Well-Known Member
Tony said he was 'semi-retired' at the end of the DL Presentation ...when Tom Staggs told him shortly afterwards he was getting a window on Main Steet.
Tom then had some comments about how swell it is that Tony is working for them still but not getting paid....seemed a tad awkward to say during such a announcement..

Tony is indeed a fan celebrity. Fans eat him up. They love him.
He will be around in some form if he can until he drops....un-officially even if need be.
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
theRIOT said:
I think he made his point that he disagrees, and he did it with class.
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Yeah, he sure did. That point Tony made at the 2:30 to 4:00 mark regarding Social Media and the Pirates ride sums it all up beautifully and succinctly, and with class.

And what's sad is that NGE executives like Nick Franklin will have absolutely no idea what the heck he's talking about. And Nick Franklin still needs to see the Personal Shopper at the Florida Mall Nordstrom's to be fitted for his first navy blue sport coat since he stopped attending Sunday School to wear for his NGE interviews with the media, but I digress.

But Tony Baxter gets it.
 
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alphac2005

alphac2005

Well-Known Member
Figments Friend said:
Tony said he was 'semi-retired' at the end of the DL Presentation ...when Tom Staggs told him shortly afterwards he was getting a window on Main Steet.
Tom then had some comments about how swell it is that Tony is working for them still but not getting paid....seemed a tad awkward to say during such a announcement..

Tony is indeed a fan celebrity. Fans eat him up. They love him.
He will be around in some form if he can until he drops....un-officially even if need be.
Click to expand...

It was quite awkward. My wife kept saying that Staggs was akin to a robot with his constant corporate reference to Disney Parks and Resorts.... Over and over again.
 
Captain Neo

Captain Neo

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
WDW1974 said:
That's true.

There's only a handful left. These children they have at WDI are akin to many of the young bloggers. They have a passion for Disney, but their history is murky and based more on something they found in a 1977 VacationLand magazine. There's no context, no depth and no deep understanding.

What's going to happen when folks like Kim Irvine and Tom Morris and Kevin Rafferty leave?

Do the kids who designed New Fantasyland inspire you to feel good about the future?
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At that point they should just shutter imagineering and outsource to universal creative
 
WDWDad13

WDWDad13

Well-Known Member
Funny I didn't catch any real negatively from his interview other than he doesn't think people should be busy doing things like entering codes so a pirate talks to them if they are in the middle of riding etc

For those quick to re-bash nextgen it won't work like that anyways
 
HMF

HMF

Well-Known Member
Captain Neo said:
At that point they should just shutter imagineering and outsource to universal creative
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A few years back that was a somewhat alarming concept but I would rather have a few creative people who actually care supervising outsourced work than have dueling internal factions with competing agendas in a Rat Race delaying things which apparently is what WDI has devolved into.
 
P

ptaylor

Premium Member
WDW1974 said:
That's true.

There's only a handful left. These children they have at WDI are akin to many of the young bloggers. They have a passion for Disney, but their history is murky and based more on something they found in a 1977 VacationLand magazine. There's no context, no depth and no deep understanding.

What's going to happen when folks like Kim Irvine and Tom Morris and Kevin Rafferty leave?

Do the kids who designed New Fantasyland inspire you to feel good about the future?
Click to expand...
You mean you don't think WDI is in great hands with staffers like the two Jasons? I'm shocked ;)
 
D

dadddio

Well-Known Member
WDWDad13 said:
Funny I didn't catch any real negatively from his interview other than he doesn't think people should be busy doing things like entering codes so a pirate talks to them if they are in the middle of riding etc

For those quick to re-bash nextgen it won't work like that anyways
Click to expand...
I agree. He seemed to believe that a person entering a code or sending a text to get a ride to interact with him would be the wrong way to go, but that if the ride interacted with you without your taking active steps to make it happen, then that would enhance the guest experience. It seems that in this sense that he would be a big supporter of attractions responding to the magic bands of individual guests.
 
BlueSkyDriveBy

BlueSkyDriveBy

Well-Known Member
Figments Friend said:
Tony said he was 'semi-retired' at the end of the DL Presentation ...when Tom Staggs told him shortly afterwards he was getting a window on Main Street.
Click to expand...
Hmm. Very interesting.

Tony openly admitted that he was 'semi-retired' yet he's already received his Legends Award and will soon be honored with a Main Street Window. Most Imagineers had to wait years after full retirement to receive these awards. Yet Tony is getting both within a year of going from full-time SVP to part-time consultant? :confused:

Tom then had some comments about how swell it is that Tony is working for them still but not getting paid....
Click to expand...
Not getting paid?

Legends Award... Main Street Window... maybe a pilot on ABC/Family for a Discovery Bay series...

Methinks Tony is getting paid. Just not in the usual manner.

:cool:
 
WDW1974

WDW1974

Well-Known Member
ptaylor said:
You mean you don't think WDI is in great hands with staffers like the two Jasons? I'm shocked ;)
Click to expand...

I hAve only met one of them, but I sorta think they and some chap by the name of Andy Sinclair Harris apparently exist largely to Tweet up fanbois and
get them all hot and bothered over largely nonsense.

In other words, they are the Imagineering version of Blondie without the and the PhD in , I kid you not, texting.
 
WDW1974

WDW1974

Well-Known Member
BlueSkyDriveBy said:
Hmm. Very interesting.

Tony openly admitted that he was 'semi-retired' yet he's already received his Legends Award and will soon be honored with a Main Street Window. Most Imagineers had to wait years after full retirement to receive these awards. Yet Tony is getting both within a year of going from full-time SVP to part-time consultant? :confused:

Not getting paid?

Legends Award... Main Street Window... maybe a pilot on ABC/Family for a Discovery Bay series...

Methinks Tony is getting paid. Just not in the usual manner.

:cool:
Click to expand...

Methinks you be right.

Tony's exit strategy really was masterful.
 
D

doctornick

Well-Known Member
dadddio said:
I agree. He seemed to believe that a person entering a code or sending a text to get a ride to interact with him would be the wrong way to go, but that if the ride interacted with you without your taking active steps to make it happen, then that would enhance the guest experience. It seems that in this sense that he would be a big supporter of attractions responding to the magic bands of individual guests.
Click to expand...

Agree. Seemed to me that Tony, if anything, was slamming interactive stuff like the Perry and Sorcerers games in the parks. If anything, the way he talked about technology enhancing experiences would imply that he would be supportive of using NextGen to have more personalized and engaging experiences.
 

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