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

[Captain Neo]

Yes, but... Sklar was pushing out second generation Imagineers he had personal grudges with. Ditto for Fitzgerald, who is a second generation Imagineer himself.

Vaughn, OTOH, is pushing out just about anyone who's a second generation Imagineer, period. Those with whom he has personal grudges or with whom his minions have personal grudges get the first boot. But in the end, they will all be gone.

Just like the rest of Corporate America, Disney prefers them very young and very cheap. Experience be damned.

Outside of joe rhode and the Disneyland Paris and disney sea teams (which have long ago left,were fired, or are sadly no longer with us) the second gen imagineers were nothing special. No one will cry when Fitzgerald goes and the people who destroyed all those amazing epcot rides and replaced them with "hip" stripped down attractions and who went right along with Sklar and Barry Braverman in designing and building DCA should all be walked out in my opinion. I'm willing to give the "young and cheap" a chance maybe they can get cost under control and eventually produce good products at a realistic price tag like Universal does, maybe some of those younger imagineers are hungry to make a name for themselves and will strive for perfection. We won't know until Team Fitzgerald goes. Also keep in mind alot of the second gen imagineers are getting older now and will soon be at retirement age anyway where they would just be serving as advisors anyway.