Tony Baxter has announced his retirement, effective TOMORROW 2/1/13

Nmoody1

Nmoody1

Well-Known Member
Im sure if Tony has been with the company since the 1950s then he'll have a great pension package. Im syre he wont be running off to Universal any time soon for a number of reasons.

Its a sad day though, the slippery slope just got steeper!
 
thehowiet

thehowiet

Wilson King of Prussia
Lee said:
Tony was making a...um...substantial salary at WDI. No doubt they wanted that off the books.
(This has been predicted for quite a while, right here on these boards, even that it would likely happen right about now.)
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I wonder how big of a salary we're talking here...

Also, would you or anyone else be able to elaborate on his relationship with Fitzgerald and Jacobson? By the sounds of it, it isn't good but I just never knew why.

Either way it's sad to see him go, but as others have said it seems as though he's been underutilized for quite some time.
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
asianway said:
Are they waiting until after 4 to bury the announcement?
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If there's an announcement this afternoon, it will also be on California time. Tony Baxter's main office is in Anaheim, behind the Indiana Jones Adventure building. (And he lives in Anaheim Hills but sometimes shops at the same supermarket as me; the Ralphs Fresh Fare in Villa Park. My brush with celebrity!)

And the announcement would be aimed at the California team and core executives, not Disney World where Tony hasn't worked in decades.
 
asianway

asianway

Well-Known Member
TP2000 said:
If there's an announcement this afternoon, it will also be on California time. Tony Baxter's main office is in Anaheim, behind the Indiana Jones Adventure building. (And he lives in Anaheim Hills but sometimes shops at the same supermarket as me; the Ralphs Fresh Fare in Villa Park. My brush with celebrity!)

And the announcement would be aimed at the California team and core executives, not Disney World where Tony hasn't worked in decades.
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True - but he is noteworthy enough as a personality it should merit an outward facing press release
 
BlueSkyDriveBy

BlueSkyDriveBy

Well-Known Member
Quotes from the official announcement by Bruce Vaughn have been posted in the Tony Baxter thread on LaughingPlace:

BRUCE VAUGHN, CHIEF CREATIVE EXECUTIVE, WALT DISNEY IMAGINEERING
“Tony has been involved in some of the most iconic Disney attractions around the world, and was the creative lead for our second international park, Disneyland Paris. Like so many Imagineering greats before him, his creativity, passion and knowledge will have a remarkable impact on the next generations of WDI dreamers and doers. We thank Tony for his immeasurable contributions to the Disney legacy so far, and look forward to the next chapter of his Disney story.”

TONY BAXTER
“It has been a wondrous 47 years spanning the opening of Walt Disney World to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Star Tours, from Epcot’s original Journey into Imagination to Disneyland Paris and Indiana Jones Adventure. The Imagineers I have known and shared these times with have provided invaluable experiences not to be found anywhere else on earth. The future of Imagineering and Disney Parks is incredibly bright.”


Has anyone seen the entire announcement posted elsewhere?
 
Genie of the Lamp

Genie of the Lamp

Well-Known Member
BlueSkyDriveBy said:
Quotes from the official announcement by Bruce Vaughn have been posted in the Tony Baxter thread on LaughingPlace:

BRUCE VAUGHN, CHIEF CREATIVE EXECUTIVE, WALT DISNEY IMAGINEERING
“Tony has been involved in some of the most iconic Disney attractions around the world, and was the creative lead for our second international park, Disneyland Paris. Like so many Imagineering greats before him, his creativity, passion and knowledge will have a remarkable impact on the next generations of WDI dreamers and doers. We thank Tony for his immeasurable contributions to the Disney legacy so far, and look forward to the next chapter of his Disney story.”

TONY BAXTER
“It has been a wondrous 47 years spanning the opening of Walt Disney World to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Star Tours, from Epcot’s original Journey into Imagination to Disneyland Paris and Indiana Jones Adventure. The Imagineers I have known and shared these times with have provided invaluable experiences not to be found anywhere else on earth. The future of Imagineering and Disney Parks is incredibly bright.”


Has anyone seen the entire announcement posted elsewhere?
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http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/sho...s-Letter-of-Resignation&p=1781369#post1781369

The full letter of Tony Baxter's letter of resignation.

What a great way for a great man to go out on style. Love how he talks about his mentors and the one's it looks like he's gonna get a crack at to watch over.
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Genie of the Lamp said:
http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/sho...s-Letter-of-Resignation&p=1781369#post1781369

The full letter of Tony Baxter's letter of resignation.
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Thanks for the link! The letter explains a lot.

He's retiring from his full-time executive position, but remains on the WDI payroll as a part-time "advisor".

I liked his closing sentences in his letter, it sums up the career change for him and stays very classy...

My role will be one of supporting your visions in the best way I can, and encouraging you to maintain and build upon this already special place. I will have availability, and if you would like my assistance in any way, please e-mail Bruce Vaughn's office to request my time.

This is not a goodbye, but hopefully a letter of introduction to the many of you that I have not yet had the chance to meet personally.

Tony Baxter

Feb. 1, 2013
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Californian Elitist

Californian Elitist

Well-Known Member
TP2000 said:
Thanks for the link! The letter explains a lot.

He's retiring from his full-time executive position, but remains on the WDI payroll as a part-time "advisor".

I liked his closing sentences in his letter, it sums up the career change for him and stays very classy...
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TP, pray Disneyland will continue to receive rehabs and plusses for the attractions. Some people seem to think this is all going to stop.
 
HMF

HMF

Well-Known Member
TP2000 said:
He's retiring from his full-time executive position, but remains on the WDI payroll as a part-time "advisor".
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Which is corporate speak for "Honorary Title to keep him from having any creative authority until we force him to fully retire like we did with Marty and to prevent him from writing the book about how he was creatively stifled after DLP and given doomed to fail projects so we could blame him for it, Trashed his arguably biggest success and promoted his rival to be his boss while he worked on small scale-projects for one park and then forced him into retirement.
It's really sad because the last 15 years have basically been Tony being screwed over and over again culminating in today.
 
Genie of the Lamp

Genie of the Lamp

Well-Known Member
TP2000 said:
He's retiring from his full-time executive position, but remains on the WDI payroll as a part-time "advisor".
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Sorry, meant to say resignation of his current/ex role with WDI. At least he remain on payroll not that it matters to him probably.

Edit: I wasn't the first person to discover this link though, Mr.Spirit found it and posted it on his thread before me. Darn it. O well, at least I was the first one to post it on the acutal thread related discussions.
 
SirLink

SirLink

Well-Known Member
BlueSkyDriveBy

BlueSkyDriveBy

Well-Known Member
Genie of the Lamp said:
Sorry, meant to say resignation of his current/ex role with WDI. At least he remain on payroll not that it matters to him probably.
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As I posited in another spirited thread, I suspect the "still on the payroll" part of his departure has more to do with enforcing a non-compete than the genuine desire to welcome his creative input.
 
Figments Friend

Figments Friend

Well-Known Member
articos said:
Mark runs Universal Creative. Thierry is SVP, Creative Studio for Uni. And no, they are not. Tony's not going to go to the competition, regardless. There's more to come from all of this from Disney and from Tony. This is not full-time retirement, and he still has some pet projects.

In other words: Don't panic.
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Tony*s pet project he must finish before sailing off into the sunset :

JII re-do. Ooooh yes.....
I hope it happens.
 

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