The first set of letters this week come to us from two of our contributing writers, Maggie Parr and George McGinnis. First, Maggie answers some questions regarding her work on the proposed Beastlie Kingdomme section of Animal Kingdom in Walt Disney World (link).
Peter Jacubinas writes:
Oh, what could have been! I always enjoy seeing the “ones that got away”!
Thank you so much for all you’ve done for us on the “outside” in keeping Walt’s dream alive. It means so much to my family and me. We all appreciate the hard work that you and the other Imagineers do.
In fact, that’s why I’m writing you. You must get this all the time, but for the last 8 years I have strived will all my might to be the best graphic designer that I can be, and while I know that I will always have much to learn, I have always dreamed of becoming an Imagineer myself. In fact, I have either e-mailed, talked to or written anyone I come in contact with that is associated with Disney, or claims to have a connection in some way to Imagineering (from Jim at Main Street City Hall to Wing Chao) so many times that have ended with a polite, but rather short, call from someone over in Media Relations that I’m beginning to think that it’s me.
Please understand, I’m not looking for an “in” or a freebie to becoming an Imagineer here. I want to “earn my ears”, as it were, but I have no idea how to go about it. If I could have just a moment of your time to ask three (yes, honestly only three) questions that may help me begin, I would be eternally grateful.
Once again, thank you for all the countless hours that you must put in on all the magic you help produce.
Thank you for your letter. I’m always happy to share my Imagineering experiences with anyone who’s interested. Go ahead and ask me your questions and I’ll do my best to answer them. It is harder to get into Imagineering these days because of cutbacks, but I firmly believe that nothing is impossible if you set your mind to it.
Gary McKenzie writes:
Thanks for giving us a glimpse of what could have been. It really sounds like it could have been one of the best reasons to visit Animal Kingdom. I even remember the Animal Kingdom’s logo, from when it first opened, having a dragon silhouetted in it.
When considering the caretaking of the plants, did you ever consider using fake flowers? I, and I’m sure many of the other MousePlanet readers, would be more than happy to sign a petition to bring this back to the Disney drawing board. Remember, Walt said that his vision would never be fully completed—or something like that.
Thank you for your letter and kind words. I’m glad you like the attraction design. When the project was shut down, we still had a lot of issues to work out—and yes, the possibility of using fake flowers did come up, but mostly in the underground unicorn chamber. In the outdoor areas, we were more interested in using real flowers whenever possible. With a warm, humid climate like Florida’s, it wasn’t too much of a problem. The main concern was protecting the hedges and flowers (whether fake or real) from damage.
I’m sure Joe Rohde and the Animal Kingdom folks know about the widespread enthusiasm for a fantasy animal addition to the park—and if there’s ever an opportunity to expand the park, Beastlie Kingdomme (or some form of it) will enter into the design.
Brent M. Parker writes:
Just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed your article on MousePlanet about your plans for the Quest for the Unicorn attraction. It sounds like it would have been a wonderful attraction for a fascinating land (I also went back and read your article on Beastlie Kingdomme.) I hope that they do wind up building it, but it was nice having the experience of feeling like I went there by reading your articles.
I adore mythical creatures, especially unicorns, and I’d like to see something done with them at the Disneyland Resort, which I’m closest to.
I wanted to see something done with gryphons at California Adventure—because of the mythical idea of there being gryphons on the “Island of California”—but most people probably wouldn’t make the connection. (Then again, they do have Queen Califia from the same myth in the Golden Dreams theatre.) It would also be nice to see them do a Narnia-based attraction.
Also, while I was on your site, I noticed that you did some of the concept art for Mickey’s Toontown, which, looking back, was a large influence on my own artistic style.
Thanks for your kind words! I apologize for taking so long to get back to you—I was preparing for my speech at the Disneyana convention. I checked out your Web site (link)—you do very interesting work! A very surreal, psychedelic approach to cartoons? Or a cartoon influence on surrealism? Have you ever heard of the artist Meinrad Craighead (link)?
Next, George McGinnis (link) answers the common question—how to become an Imagineer.
Vicki writes:
Our 13-year-old daughter is very interested in becoming an Imagineer in the future. What would you recommend as an academic path? She is most interested in coming up with new ideas for rides, attractions, etc. for the parks. She is becoming a good artist, but didn’t know if that would be enough. Should she plan to take engineering, drafting, or classes like that? Is there a recommended major while in college?
Thank you for any information and personal advice. We love Disney and have already been to Disneyland for the 50th and will get to Walt Disney World before the celebration is over there, too. We admire your work and all of the work of everyone at Disney.
There are many different kinds of Imagineers. I liked to design as a kid—especially model airplanes. I liked art also and would use up my tablet in the first weeks of school. What did I like to draw? Well, airplanes fascinated me and were my favorite subject. Art classes were fun, but instruction was weak.
I decided on automobile design and after two years of college in my hometown I enrolled in the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles (link), now in Pasadena, California. I changed my major to Product Design halfway through but still kept an interest in transportation.
As you can see, the school has many fields of art so your daughter has lots to choose from if she decides to use her art talent. If your daughter is good in science courses, she may choose an engineering profession. Again there are many engineering fields represented at Walt Disney Imagineering.
I particularly liked sculpting in clay. I learned industrial sculpting at the Art Center. It came in handy when designing monorails. I took mechanical drawing in high school and that proved to be my most important tool in my career. I worked as a draftsman for several years before finishing school and this is all-important when defining a design. But, when dreaming up a design you need to sketch and make perspective drawings.
After graduation I took painting and sketching classes to loosen up. This made it possible for me to do both concepts and finish designs. I started getting interested in computer-aided design in the 1980s and was doing vehicle designs such as the Indiana Jones vehicle and the Animal Kingdom vehicles when retirement caught up to me in the mid-’90s.
I hope my information helps with finding a career direction for your daughter.
I hope she joins Walt Disney Imagineering some day. It’s a great place to work, but there are many others—spin-offs from Disney that do similar work and are contracted by Disney to do projects. So there is always a need for artists and designers.
MousePlanet CEO Alex Stroup answers some reader questions regarding Disneyland. Scott writes:
Do you know if the people who bought the Premium Disney Pass where able to get an invite to the Pirate’s movie premiere? If they did I will think about getting one so I can hopefully see the last one (if they have it here again which I hope they do). Thanks for any info you have.
No, there was no way for a Disneyland park guest to get an invitation to the actual premiere of the movie. While the event was held in Disneyland it was pretty much run by the movie studio and they controlled access. Only people invited by the studio and necessary park staff were allowed into the area after 5:00 p.m.
There were some radio contests for tickets to the premiere but those were also controlled by the studio and were local to Los Angeles so far as I know.
Michelle writes:
I really had a blast at the last Patina event at Downtown Disney (last April?); any word or approximate date for the next one?
I’m glad you had a blast. We probably won’t know about the next event (or for sure that there will be a next event) until immediately before it is officially announced, but so far the three they have done have been about six months apart from each other.
Finally, some helpful feedback from readers in response to our Disneyland Park Guide on smoking areas at the Disneyland Resort (link). Pammer writes:
Regarding your updated story about smoking at the Disneyland Resort, you may want to change the reference to Superstar Limo, which is now, of course, the new Monsters Inc. attraction!
Sity writes:
Thank you for your article regarding smoking at the Disneyland Resort.
I’d just like to add that there is an additional smoking area in Disneyland, although it’s not marked on the park maps. It’s in Tomorrowland underneath the old People Mover loading area (I believe Radio Disney was once there).
As I said, it’s not on the maps but there are clear signs designating it as a smoking area. I’m not sure how much longer it will exist (I discovered it last October and used it again last week), but I thought your smoking readers might like to know.
Malachi writes:
Don’t smoke myself, but I do like to know where the smoking areas are for when I am with other people who do. The recent article about Disneyland ‘s smoking areas said there were three. I am pretty sure you missed one. There is a smoking area at the base of the Observatron in Tomorrowland (on the Space Mountain side), near the “big rock sphere” fountain. Keep up the great work!
