What is the Mount Rushmore of Imagineers?

[mickEblu]

Just saw a vlog on my YT feed pop up regarding the Mount Rushmore of Imagineers. I never really thought about it before but immediately put in Marc Davis and Tony Baxter. Who gets the other two spots I’m still debating. Between Claude Coats, John Hench, Bob Gurr, Rolly Crump, Mary Blair, X Atencio, Joe Rhode, Yale Gracey, Alice Davis etc.

Some of these se imagineers are great but their work might be a bit too limited in scope to get a Mount Rushmore nod. Does Walt Disney count as an imagineer? Haha. For what Disneyland means to me personally X Atencio might actually get a nod as he has so much to do with why Mansion and POTC are great which both have so much to do with the mythos of Disneyland and what started the love affair for many of us fans.

For my final two spots I’m going with John Hench and X Atencio but I could see how that last spot could/should go to Claude Coats, Bob Gurr or Yale Gracey.

In no particular order:

Tony Baxter
Marc Davis
John Hench
X Atencio

 

[Phroobar]

I tried to get copilot to generate the Mt Rushmore of Disney Imagineers. It seem Imagineer employee's likeness are IP of Disney.

 

[mickEblu]

Id imagine most people have Tony Baxter on their Mount Rushmore. It's such a shame that Disney has one of, if not, the greatest imagineers at their disposal and they don't utilize him. Not even to retheme Splash Mountain. Smh

 

[Touchdown]

Gurr needs to be there, he made so many rides actually move Tony, Bob, Marc are for sure on that mountain, not sure of imagineer #4.

 

[mickEblu]

Gurr needs to be there, he made so many rides actually move Tony, Bob, Marc are for sure on that mountain, not sure of imagineer #4.

I respect this. If we're going strictly off body of work Gurr should get the nod over X. But for many of us is the reason we fell in love with Disneyland because of the ride vehicles or is it because of the magic and mystique of POTC and Mansion which X has much to do with.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Marvin Davis gets left off these types of lists way too often.

 

[PiratesMansion]

I think Claude Coats should be a shoe-in; the only reason he's often forgotten is that he was not the type to draw attention to himself, he died earlier than many of the other early Disneyland movers and shakers and before any attention was really given to who made the parks work, and attempts to further share his legacy haven't really amounted to much. But he was right there with Marc Davis, Bob Gurr, and the other foundational members of WED. Without him, there wouldn't be a Baxter.

The recent animatronic attempts have led me to believe that Blaine Gibson's talent was taken for granted and underappreciated in his time. Not sure if that puts him on Rushmore, but he was definitely more talented than he was credited for in his lifetime.

 

[Disney Irish]

In order to properly do this you sort of have to come up with some criteria, as (especially in the beginning) there are so many Imagineers that could make the list. And then do you limit it to just 4, or do you expand it to "9" as a nod for obvious reasons.

 

[mickEblu]

Marvin Davis gets left off these types of lists way too often.

Probably because he's more associated with Disney World.

 

[mickEblu]

I think Claude Coats should be a shoe-in; the only reason he's often forgotten is that he was not the type to draw attention to himself, he died earlier than many of the other early Disneyland movers and shakers and before any attention was really given to who made the parks work, and attempts to further share his legacy haven't really amounted to much. But he was right there with Marc Davis, Bob Gurr, and the other foundational members of WED. Without him, there wouldn't be a Baxter.

The recent animatronic attempts have led me to believe that Blaine Gibson's talent was taken for granted and underappreciated in his time. Not sure if that puts him on Rushmore, but he was definitely more talented than he was credited for in his lifetime.

X should be higher on your list PIRATES MANSION

 

[lazyboy97o]

Probably because he's more associated with Disney World.

He was responsible for the layout of Disneyland and was working on it before most everyone else named.

 

[PiratesMansion]

X should be higher on your list PIRATES MANSION

Didn't say he was off my list, just that Claude needs love.

 

[mickEblu]

He was responsible for the layout of Disneyland and was working on it before most everyone else named.

Right but do you think he's more associated with Disney World for whatever reason?

 

[lazyboy97o]

Right but do you think he's more associated with Disney World for whatever reason?

Not really. I think he is generally glossed over or confused with Marc.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Personal opinion

Sklar, hench, gurr, Baxter

Second tier. Blair, Davis, Coates, Gracey


But great topic and no real “bad”
Answers to this one

 

[mickEblu]

Personal opinion

Sklar, hench, gurr, Baxter

Second tier. Blair, Davis, Coates, Gracey


But great topic and no real “bad”
Answers to this one

I feel $hitty now for not even mentioning Sklar. For me I always associate him more with the publicity and marketing stuff.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I feel $hitty now for not even mentioning Sklar. For me I always associate him more with the publicity and marketing stuff.

I actually agree with you…he wasn’t a hands on

But I think he is that important for basically guiding the construction choices on a macro level from the 1970s into the 1990s…the golden age
And the lions share was handling Eisner…who was not easy