Disney Analyst
Well-Known Member
Now that’s how you turn around a thread. Good work everyone.
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Zach Riddley promoted to Global Creative Strategy Executive
- Thread starter flynnibus
- Start date
doctornick
Well-Known Member
Also I don’t know how much of a role he had on this but I thought the implementation of Ratatouille and how it fit with France works well
WoundedDreamer
Well-Known Member
If he was the man who came up with the Spaceship Earth redo he is not... The brightest bulb. As a reminder of what his Spaceship Earth redo would have entailed:
"Throughout the attraction, you’ll hear new narration and see how light plays a central role in our shared human journey, coming to life in dynamic ways in a celebration of the magic that’s possible when we all come together."
So, if we come together we create magic which is symbolized by light in the attraction. Maybe? Not sure. And I assume magic here is a metaphor for ingenuity or something? This is Ridley's post on the blog. It's pretty incoherent. Are we supposed to believe that this writing could have manifested into a good story? Excuse me if I doubt his creative talent.
Zach Ridley's products do not inspire confidence. While I am sympathetic to the argument that we have never seen his true creative talents unleashed, that does not make this a good promotion. I fear we are seeing a repeat of the old Josh D'Amaro incident. A mediocre talent creates a fanbase on social media and then uses that to leverage their position to the heights of the business. This bizarre posturing might preclude less media-savvy creatives and executives with actual talent from ascending the ranks.
As for GotG... I liked it. It was essentially a Space Mountain reboot. The concept worked in the 1960s when Walt Disney and his original Imagineering team came up with it. But again, this is not creative masterpiece or great storytelling. Remaking a popular but aging attraction with new technology will be successful.
"Throughout the attraction, you’ll hear new narration and see how light plays a central role in our shared human journey, coming to life in dynamic ways in a celebration of the magic that’s possible when we all come together."
So, if we come together we create magic which is symbolized by light in the attraction. Maybe? Not sure. And I assume magic here is a metaphor for ingenuity or something? This is Ridley's post on the blog. It's pretty incoherent. Are we supposed to believe that this writing could have manifested into a good story? Excuse me if I doubt his creative talent.
Zach Ridley's products do not inspire confidence. While I am sympathetic to the argument that we have never seen his true creative talents unleashed, that does not make this a good promotion. I fear we are seeing a repeat of the old Josh D'Amaro incident. A mediocre talent creates a fanbase on social media and then uses that to leverage their position to the heights of the business. This bizarre posturing might preclude less media-savvy creatives and executives with actual talent from ascending the ranks.
As for GotG... I liked it. It was essentially a Space Mountain reboot. The concept worked in the 1960s when Walt Disney and his original Imagineering team came up with it. But again, this is not creative masterpiece or great storytelling. Remaking a popular but aging attraction with new technology will be successful.
RSoxNo1
Well-Known Member
I've knocked Captain Flooring several times, but the reality is the front part of EPCOT will look better than it did when he started. I just fear that he's an Imagineer in the mold of Chris Beatty: more style than substance. Imagineering needs both.
ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
Truthfully, the styling is all any Imagineer could control anyway. The specific content added is there because the Bobs wanted it. As an example, if we HAD to have a Guardians ride, at least the one we got looks cool and is a blast to ride. It’s certainly better than TRON. I imagine the new central area will look quite nice and better than the millennium tarp ever did.
Captain Neo
Well-Known Member
To be fair the ruination of Epcot was decided by Bob Iger and his executive team. I don't know why you are blaming the engineering project manager for that. If anything it sounds like he did a good job with what he was given to work with.
Disgruntled Walt
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- No
Not blaming him. I said he is the public face of the project, because that's what he was.
FettFan
Well-Known Member
Once again, corporate brown-nosing replaces actual skill and talent.
Pretty sure the Bobs didn't come in with 'world celebration' sketched out on napkins and said "build this!". No the Imagineers don't work in a vacuum, but they also are the ones who come up with the creative offers that fit within the vision the executives may have. They are still responsible for what's in 'the box' defined by the requirements.
They also are not immune from why projects drag on forever. If they were done, they would have packed their bags and waited for Ops to decide when to open. But yet, they are still there in EPCOT... while... does anyone even remember when this thing started and when it's supposed to be done?
Some of the most amazing Disney work came as solutions to constraints. I just don't even know what anyone is supposed to praise design wise for about EPCOT 2023. Removal of the tombstones and LEDs on SSE? Land names that are pure fluff?
This is likely a 6year project for Disney and we got ripped off IMO.
Welcome to the real world at some places.
Poseidon Quest
Well-Known Member
I think that the issue is the content. It's the difference between Joe Rohde describing why certain painting choices in the Everest queue were chosen to reflect Nepalese culture and beliefs and Zach describing flooring options for a space that is ultimately trying to emulate current design trends started by Apple.
I don't blame Zach, but I do think he is a victim of Disney marketing which I find to be terrible and often even condescending because of how self-gratulatory it often is. I do wonder how much input he had on the details. I hate Connections aesthetically, but I can't dismiss the mural of international citizens along the wall. I suspect he might have had a part in implementing old Epcot iconography throughout the hub as well and while I actually hate it because it's surface level call-backs and not an actual effort to continue the theme of the park, at least it's an acknowledgement of the history.
Tha Realest
Well-Known Member
Just catching up on all this. So Riddley was the “single accountable WDI leader for the EPCOT project, including master planning, story and concept, detailed design, and delivery/construction elements.”
But wait! All the things you didn’t like weren’t his responsibility - that was Bob (take your pick).
If anything, Bob I’s cost-cutting saved us from the SSE and Mary Poppins abominations.
But wait! All the things you didn’t like weren’t his responsibility - that was Bob (take your pick).
If anything, Bob I’s cost-cutting saved us from the SSE and Mary Poppins abominations.
AdventureHasAName
Well-Known Member
The older I get, I'm beginning to find this tactic the most offensive. It's like saying, "Yeah, we know you want the old stuff, and are going to hate the new stuff, but we're going to throw this minor bone at you that we can continuously point to in hopes you'll shut up about how much better it used to be."
ChrisFL
Premium Member
Just wondering, right now in WDI, outside of Zach are there any other "famous" designers that are recognizable that haven't retired/left?
Edit: another one I thought of is Scott Trowbridge, mostly because he was in the early Universal IOA promos before moving to WDI
Edit: another one I thought of is Scott Trowbridge, mostly because he was in the early Universal IOA promos before moving to WDI
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doctornick
Well-Known Member
Bruce Vaughn maybe?
AdventureHasAName
Well-Known Member
Are there a lot of "well-loved" Imagineers in the company? Baxter and Rohde (and they are both gone now) ... is there anyone else? And that's coming from me (who thinks Rohde is super-overrated).
Tha Realest
Well-Known Member
It feels the heralded Imagineers of the past had their profiles grown organically, whereas the latest iterations feel like them being pushed and cultivated inorganically.
The current gen can't even get The Hatxbox Ghost in the right spot with far beyond a reasonable amount of time to do so. Be it the fault of them, or the fault of the overlording Exec level.
It is what it is.
The terrible light saber switch from the finale of the Galactic Starcruiser was another great example of creativity taking a dive.
It is what it is.
The terrible light saber switch from the finale of the Galactic Starcruiser was another great example of creativity taking a dive.
AdventureHasAName
Well-Known Member
It is because they created things that people loved so much (and for so many decades) that they naturally wanted to learn more about who made them. I wouldn't know anything about Mary Blair or Marc Davis if there was no It's a Small World or Pirates of the Caribbean. I wouldn't know who the Sherman Brothers were if I didn't ride Journey Into Imagination in the summer of 1983. Sad to say, but modern WDI isn't making anything that people love.
With the exception of a few recent E tickets that are hard to tell if they stand the test of time and 2005's additions...
People are returning for the same things they have since the 90s, which are the classics you mentioned. Crazy to think about. Imagineers stand on shoulders more than ever, be it by their ways or the ways pushed to them.