Why Imagineering may be one of the greatest art forms...

[PhilosophyMagic]

What do great paintings, sculpture, music, and architecture all have in common? Perhaps their catagorization as "art" is based upon the fact that so much creative talent, time, and effort go into their making, as well as that in their complete form they encourage powerful emotions and asthetic appriciation.

So too does great Imagineering. The tremendous time, effort, and human talent that went into the construction of the Disney masterpieces, such as Disneyland's Pirates and Spaceship Earth, has allowed for the creation of immersive experiances that cause an overwhelming sense of amazement and wonder to the millions of guests lucky enough to have a chance to enjoy them.

These adventures are placed within an equally well designed and immersive setting- the theme park. Visitors are whisked to far away or non-existant lands and experiance what would otherwise NEVER BE POSSIBLE IN THEIR LIFETIMES. If properly presented and appriciated, all of this can be one of life's most amazing experiances.

Humans go to great lengths to preserve environmental treasures like the Grand Canyon and the Himalayan mountains. We safeguard human achievements like the Great Pyamids, Roman ruins and the Mona Lisa. All because we wish for everyone, including future generations, to have the oppertunity to enjoy them.

Perhaps theme parks are no different. Maybe Walt Disney World is one of the wonders of the world. What if we should take very seriously the art of Imagineering, foster its growth, and preserve its greatest accomplishments?

Just a thought.

 

[Main Street USA]

Very nicely done.

That's easily one of the best posts I've read in a long while. It's very insightful, and in my opinion, very true.

When one person's imagination and creativity has the capability to touch others as so many things at WDW do, it HAS to be considered as something amazingly wonderous....something that most definitely needs to be treasured.

Thanks for the post. Hopefully, it will open some eyes to the importance of what has been happening down in central Florida since 1971, and in a less physical matter, earlier than that.

 

[DCA Fan]

I agree with all that you've said. Now we need management to start giving it the budget it needs.

 

[t3techcom18]

Great explanation! I never thought about that art would inspire them a lot. I say this one of the best posts on Imagineering I have seen so far. Now, if the head executives will get that in their heads....

 

[SpectroMan]

Beautiful!

Visual art, sculpture, architecture, landscape architecture, music, and theater are the great arts. Well and if you think about it, Imagineering is a combination of all of these arts. So because it combines all of these arts, it is a great art in itself.

 

[Woody13]

"I never called my work an "art". It's part of show business, the business of building entertainment." Walt Disney

 

[SpectroMan]

"I never called my work an "art". It's part of show business, the business of building entertainment." Walt Disney

I wish I could see this quote in context.

Anytime you create, you are creating some type of beautiful art. God's creation of the universe is beautiful and art. The making of a child is beautiful and art

Since Walt Disney died, show business and entertainment has become one of the biggest arts of today.

No, because of Walt Disney show business has become an art.

 

[Woody13]

Anytime you create, you are creating some type of beautiful art.

Even The Blair Witch Project?

 

[SpectroMan]

I have never seen the movie, but I bet there is at least something in there that has a little bit of truth, and all truth is beautiful.

 

[Woody13]

I have never seen the movie, but I bet there is at least something in there that has a little bit of truth, and all truth is beautiful.

Truth is beautiful, without doubt; but so are lies. Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

[SpectroMan]

Truth is beautiful, without doubt; but so are lies. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Lies can be beautiful, but is beauty a lie?

We know that everything in any of the Disney theme parks is basically a lie. World Showcase, Main Street, Africa, Hollywood Blvd. We can say all these are beautiful and hold beauty with in them. Even though these things are lies, they still give us truth in the facts that they are telling us something about the beauty of our lives and the beauty of the world we live in.

In other words, to go along with the many quotes that have already been in this thread:

"We all know that art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth." -Pablo Picasso

 

[Woody13]

Lies can be beautiful, but is beauty a lie?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. However, often, beauty is a big fat lie!

 

[SpectroMan]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. However, often, beauty is a big fat lie!

Beauty is subjective. We cannot lie about beauty in the deepest part of our heart. So, beauty has to be truth.

On a side note, I feel like neither one of us will win this debate, but this is the most fun I have had yet on these boards.

 

[Woody13]

Beauty is subjective. We cannot lie about beauty in the deepest part of our heart. So, beauty has to be truth.

On a side note, I feel like neither one of us will win this debate, but this is the most fun I have had yet on these boards.

Beauty comes from within. If you don't have it, you will never find it. I think you have it. Vincit qui se vincit. :wave:

 

[PhilosophyMagic]

I wonder how many of those in WDI actually view their work as important art? Does Disney management understand that there are many people who view it this way?

 

[PhilosophyMagic]

Even The Blair Witch Project?

Are you kidding me?!? Of COURSE the Blair Witch Project is artistic! It's an impressive accomplishment, though I personally didn't like it that much.

 

[TRITON4ME]

That's an excellent theory. I have never even thought of that. That is a brilliant thought is THE BEST POST I have read so far on these forums. Excellent work!

 

[Master Yoda]

Even The Blair Witch Project?

Oh my god that site is still up?

 

[ClemsonTigger]

As designers, we Imagineers create spaces-guided experiences that take place in carefully structured environments, allowing our guests to see, hear, even smell, touch, and taste in new ways. Ultimately, we give them a place to play, something Walt believed adults need as much as children. We give power to the guests' imagination, to transcend their everyday routine. Our special notion of form, together with Walt's insistence that our guests should "feel better because of" their experiences in Disney theme parks, establishes the foundation for the art of the show.

Form begins with story, and renders each situation within the story primarily in visual terms. The work of the Imagineers is an adaptation of moviemaking procedures. At the Disney studio, whether working on animated or live-action films, we always started with a storyboard sequence and expanded the concept of the space, making it a place where certain actions could happen. We build on the sequence and expand the space to arrive a well-defined visual forms appropriate to the story.

-John Hench Designing Disney, Imagineering and the Art of the Show


Spectroman, never waste your time and energy arguing with a Woody, particularly of the chronically stalking variety.

 

[ArchiDanDisney]

Beautiful!

Visual art, sculpture, architecture, landscape architecture, music, and theater are the great arts. Well and if you think about it, Imagineering is a combination of all of these arts. So because it combines all of these arts, it is a great art in itself.

To be perfectly honest, I do not consider Architecture and Landscape architecture works of art... But then again, what is the difference between architecture as an object, and architecture and a place

Architecture itself can be considered an object when viewing it, only when it is interacted with does it truly become a place. How many works of art can you interact with, touch, feel, explore, not to many, thats what makes architecture so much more so than an art form; I, as a student of this fine profession, consider it the science of interaction and being. It is meant as a means to gather the people and have them be immersed in their surroundings.