Managing the Creative Factory

An old Imagineer once told me this about WED in the 50’s and 60’s:

“You had Walt, and all that great talent thrown together with him… something great was bound to happen! It was just a magical time!”

But was it just magic? Or is there some logical formula for managing the creative process to get superior results? Throughout the entertainment industry there have been many other times when just the right mix of people came together and exceptional things were created. Look at MGM during the 30’s and 40’s. We hear it was a factory that ran like clockwork, yet they produced classics like the Wizard of Oz, Grand Hotel, Philadelphia Story, Meet Me in St. Louis and so many other quality musicals and dramas.


The same type of thing happened at the Disney studio in the 30’s with the birth of feature animation and amazing films like Snow White and Pinocchio. It was also another factory with a creative product and Walt successfully figured out how to manage it. Later, he did the same thing with WED.

Today the same thing is happening at Pixar. John Lasseter knows how to manage creative talent and the result has been one mega-hit after the other. If you look back, you can come up with many other examples of the right mix of people getting together to create great films, television shows, and, of course, themed environments.

So what did these successful ventures have in common?

They all had a great leader and a commitment to quality product. And although they ran their businesses like factories, they realized that they were different than other factories that made things like paper clips. The difference was that these factories ran on the creative process.

So we can see three things those successful ventures had in common; a knowledge of how the creative process runs, a commitment to quality product throughout the organization, and a great leader. How or why did WDI stray so far from these basic concepts and is the current re-structuring considering these points?

Over time WDI began to be run more like a paper clip factory and a culture emerged where an artist or craftsperson that was better at working with administration was considered more valuable than those with exceptional talent. (Can you imagine if back in the golden days of MGM they sacked people like Vincent Minnelli or Clark Gable in favor of those who excelled in planning and scheduling meetings?) And some WDI departments are run with their own survival as the goal, rather than by the desire of producing the finest end product. It takes a special talent to manage a department that is part of a greater creative process. You can’t run it with blinders on as if paper clips are your only responsibility. One of the most important jobs of a manager is to be able to recognize talent and nurture it for the overall good of the organization.

Under Eisner’s direction the idea of producing top quality themed attractions was replaced with a commitment to product based on marketing calculations (Pressler). That’s how we got DCA. At the same time, the Oriental Land Company in Japan believed in quality product, and made the commitment to have WDI produce the fabulous Tokyo DisneySea project. So the idea of a commitment to quality product has to come from the top, and the people at the top have to know what a quality product is. Right now this is Bob Iger’s responsibility.

Finally, John Lasseter’s appointment as creative advisor to WDI makes perfect sense. But will he be able to fill the role of the great creative leader, or will he be spread too thin running Pixar, Disney Animation and WDI at the same time? With Imagineering easily being one of the biggest white elephants in the room at the Disney Company, one can only hope full-time attention will eventually be paid.

“When Mickey Comes Marching Home Again…”

It is a sparkling Southern California day as I step off the Monorail into Tomorrowland. The kind of day I associated with Disneyland as a kid, when the drive to Anaheim brought sunshine, ocean breeze and brilliant color to eyes more accustomed to the miserable grey of a Tule fog winter.

Fitting weather for a celebration. Walt Disney’s Submarine Voyage is recommissioned nearly ten years after a critical battle, when the historic attraction was torpedoed by sharp-shooting accountaneers of a tragic wartime Kingdom.

Now the fleet has returned to a hero’s welcome.

Watching the gleaming yellow subs circle though their shimmering lagoon, the future again looks bright, fading the long nightmare of an era when all life was drained from these once-vital waters. Looking across the landscape, there are further signs of that miraculous Tomorrow we were promised by Walt, a world that in recent years was left to rot and ruin for the duration.


Though the hulking skeleton of the Rocket Jets, now a dismembered mechanical corpse, still dominates Tomorrowland’s skyline to remind us of past atrocities - signs of utopia’s reconstruction are evident everywhere. The spires of Space Mountain shine white once again. Modernist sculpture graces the civic spaces of the future city. It’s a world slowly on the move and the mend.

But beneath the surface of Tomorrowland’s lagoon, renewed life is fully vibrant.

As I climb down that spiral staircase into the submarine, I'm embraced by the joy of finding an old friend lost in battle. My sense memory streams with déjà vu of the voyages we had shared. As I dutifully polish a porthole with my sleeve to remove a greasy nose-print, as I had so many times before, I'm carried back to those simple, happy times before the fall.

This is no wallow in nostalgia. Through the bubbles, a new adventure unfolds, colorful, detailed, filled with character and delight. The new voyage is not a pasteboard paradise, but a living environment of quality and imagination, to a depth we have not experienced in many years. The new “Finding Nemo” show elements fill the enormous flippers passed down by fondly recalled sea serpents, giant squid and mermaids. The unique infrastructure of the original Submarine Voyage provides an incomparable platform from which to launch new technological wonders, resulting in a fully animated hybrid that would not be possible to build from scratch today. It is worth every penny, and the smiling crowds that have turned up to greet the fleet underscore the success.

So who are the true heroes of the campaign? To whom do we dedicate this octopus’s victory garden?

We salute those who fought for the Magic Kingdom, those who risked politics and livelihood to pass Walt’s world of wonder to a new generation. Prime among them, Tony Baxter and his fellow Imagineering traditionalists, who kept the lights on in the lagoon during every blackout. And to Matt Ouimet, former President of Disneyland, who recognized the value of the shared treasure with which he was entrusted. Without their passion, dedication and perseverance through the dark decades, these waters might now be landfill; the subs scrap metal, like their Florida cousins.

Along with the submarine fleet, another long lost unit has come marching home again… the animators. And they are bringing the “Walt” back to Disneyland.

While cartoons have never strayed far from the Kingdom, in fact they have been rather persistent in expanding their reach, the specialized cartoonist's-eye and the inventive ideas that made characters into something more than franchise floggers has increasingly become an offshore import.

Walt Disney’s original voyages into theme park design benefited greatly from the taste and talents of Walt Disney Productions artists and animators, the creators of his classic cartoon features. Studio stalwarts like Marc Davis, Mary Blair, Eyvind Earle, Ken Anderson, Claude Coats and so many others that helped set the style for the films, did the same for Disneyland. These initial Imagineers knew how to tell stories visually, to art direct an environment that brought the unreal to convincing life. With personality, detail, color and corn, they took us to other worlds without a trace of irony. Their contributions helped make a trip to Disneyland like stepping into the frame of a Disney film. After all, they had created the originals.

Since the early 1990’s, when corporate gatekeepers began to close the inner-kingdom to animators, artists and other creatives of the Walt kind, we began losing portholes of imagination to MBA-holes of management efficiency. Yet that time too has passed.

In the acquisition of Pixar, Disney has bought back their wandering soul and healthy inner child – at a premium – and it could not have been a better move. Here are to be found the traditional Disney talents and ideas, the Walt spirit in exile.

While Pixar’s artists had contributed ideas and comments to their attractions in the past, their people were more-or-less peripheral to the process. Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage is the first opportunity WDI’s new creative skipper, John Lasseter, has had to fully supervise the execution of a major attraction - - and the increased level of creative spit and polish is more than evident. His efforts to “plus” the project ensured that the fleet’s return was well-worth waiting for.

On sparkling display too, is the Pixar eye for design through the efforts of “Finding Nemo” alumni, including Robin Cooper, texture art director for the film, who helped bring the look and feel of the movie environment to three-dimensional life – and “Nemo” production designer Ralph Eggleston, whose dazzling attraction travel poster at the main gate pays homage to the stylish mid-century original, while adding the fun of the film, ride and characters to the design. While only part of a larger hardworking team, the animation artists help to bring that special “Disney touch” back to the park, with colorful detail at once fresh and new, yet part of the timeless whole.

Through Pixar, we can only hope the entire Disney Company will again be animated by animators, as it has always been, as it ever should be.

As I step from the submersible with a happy heart, I catch an angle on Tomorrowland that I haven’t seen in a decade. From that vantage point, other phantoms of The Happiest Place on Earth live again in my mind’s eye. The bleak Observatron spins again with stellar Astrojets high above, the PeopleMover carries relaxed travelers of tomorrow’s highway on its slender beams, Skyway gondolas fly overhead into icy caves of the mighty Matterhorn, giving a rarified bird’s eye view of this World on the Move. And there are new wonders too, attractions that surprise and delight beyond expectation… It is Walt's utopia reborn from the depths of decay.


The union of Pixar artists and Disney Imagineers will help to further renew, revive and define that dream Tomorrowland for the next millennium, perpetuating the optimistic futurism of the founder though creative application of design and technology, visual storytelling and immersive experience. The triumphant return of the submarine fleet is only leading a pageant of promise from the past to future voyages of discovery in waters of the imagination yet to be explored.

Walt Disney’s great, big beautiful tomorrow is on the horizon once again, thanks to those who let their hearts soar above the bottom line. Though there are surely still mid-level monkeys in the machine, clinging to their spreadsheets on remote islands long after surrender, the news will reach them sooner or later - - or they will simply be left behind.

“When the world is truly ready for a new and better life, all these things will one day come to pass, in God's good time,” predicted Captain Nemo in Walt Disney’s “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.”

Maybe “God’s good time” is now...

The Nature of the Business

For decades, the relentless expanding and contracting of Walt Disney Imagineering has been explained away as "the nature of the business." WDI (formerly WED Enterprises) has existed for over fifty years, and has been conducting cyclical mass layoffs since the early 1970s. The most notable layoffs have taken place after the completion of Epcot and Tokyo Disneyland (1982-1983), after the completion of Disneyland Paris (1992) and after opening three theme parks in nineteen months, Disney's California Adventure, Tokyo Disney Sea and the Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris (2001 - 2002). Perhaps Disney's twenty-five year massive worldwide theme park expansion is taking a breather--providing us with the perfect opportunity to reevaluate the validity of the oft-used phrase: "It's just the nature of the business."

Why is it the nature of the business? Perhaps because WDI is project driven and projects fluctuate based on the needs of their clients. WDI however has only two clients; the Walt Disney Company (WDI's own parent) and the Oriental land Company (which operates Tokyo Disneyland and is beholden to the Walt Disney Company per their licensing agreement).

WDI doesn't exactly have to exist in the competitive world of independent design firms. If fact, for decades WDI held all the cards. They dictated every little detail to the park operators. But things changed and now the park operations folks are in charge. Park executives order what they want from WDI the same way a client would from an independent firm. This causes WDI to behave like an independent firm, always looking to sell its wears to whatever park executive has the money to spend. WDI is constantly begging for work, which leaves no time or motivation to prepare for the future, and no opportunity to play the role of master planner.

WDI is a reactive organization, not a proactive one.

For Your Consideration

Consider that it’s WDI's job to maintain the identity and theme of eleven parks around the world as well as dozens of resort experiences. Consider that WDI is responsible for painstakingly designing and updating minute details on a canvas that covers more than 35,000 acres of land around the world and must do so in a four dimensional environment (in addition don't forget about the basic wear and tear of time). Consider that the attention to detail, which is one hallmark of WDI, is actually what first separated Disney Theme Parks from amusement parks, and the consistency and continuity of those details creates the show that elevates Disney theme parks above all the rest (along with the contribution of a tireless front line operations cast).

Consider that the other hallmark of Imagineering is creative and technological innovation, which generates new attractions and drives repeat guests to return to Disney parks (again, with considerable help from cast members). And let's be practical here, too; this attention to detail plus innovation is what allows The Walt Disney Company to charge more for their parks than any other firm, and thus create a distinctive experience for which the public is willing to pay a premium price--wider margins and more profit.

Considering all this, if you were an executive at the Walt Disney Company and your jurisdiction included theme parks, shouldn’t it be important to make sure that Disney maintains its premium status, and shouldn’t you know the role that Imagineering plays in that maintenance?

With all that considered, let's move to the topic in hand.

Photo courtesy Bernie at disney.rocket9.net

The Nature of the Business

The decade-long cycle of layoff, rebuild, expand, reinvent, innovate, renew, release, and layoff, has had some positive effects. It allowed the addition of new blood, people from different fields and backgrounds to come into WDI and to keep the perspective fresh and vital. It allowed WDI to explore new directions. A fluid work force adapts quickly to change.

But, it also had a very serious downside. The choice to layoff uniquely talented and experienced workers is like ringing the dinner bell for the competition. Arguably the most impressive non-Disney theme park in the world is Universal's Islands of Adventure in Orlando, just a few miles up I-4 from Walt Disney World. Islands of Adventure was designed almost entirely by laid-off Imagineers and now sits on Disney's front door step siphoning off guests who could be spending an extra day of their vacation on Disney property. Add Harry Potter to the mix and suddenly the trickle of departing muggles becomes a flood.

But the concern of losing good talent to the competition is minor in comparison to the other drawback created by WDI's expand-and-contract cycle. In the wrong hands, the constant threat of layoffs can be used as a political tool by management. It enables a corrupt management to rule through fear and in doing so negate all the positive effects of a cyclical change-out of talent. Unfortunately, this is exactly what has happened at Walt Disney Imagineering for the past several years.

Dream On Silly Imagineer

Try to imagine, just for a moment, that you have, since the age of eight, wanted to work in a magical place called Imagineering. In your mind, it is a dream factory more spectacular than any created by Santa Claus or Willy Wonka, and you work your whole life to get there. Then one day the Flower Street gates open to you and you are allowed in. Walt Disney Imagineering! (For a more visceral explanation of this emotion please see the wonderful short film "Dream on Silly Dreamer" by Dan Lund. Much of what happened at Animation applies to Imagineering as well).

Now you're working, you're drawing, you're building and it's great. But then one day you discover you've said something to upset an executive. You didn't realize it at the time, because it was a brainstorming meeting and it was a free exchange of ideas. You were just trying to contribute the best input possible with no idea that saying, "We need more Audio-Animatronics figures in the parks," or, "Why don't we write original songs anymore?" could upset someone, but it did...and does...a lot.

You see, some executives at WDI believe that it is just as effective to tell a "story" by using film rather than Audio-Animatronics figures. And loads cheaper. Those executives just made an argument that the AA guys and gals need to go and the filmmakers need to stay, and your little comment is not helping their agenda. So, a friend tells you that you need to keep your mouth shut or they’ll get rid of you during the next round of layoffs. At WDI nobody needs an actual reason to fire you.

So, now you choose your words carefully in “brainstorming” meetings, you try to appear dispassionate about your work, moving silently from task to task. After all, dispassionate people are less likely to have strong opinions and are therefore easier to manage. Maybe you even try to fit in with the cool kids; best way to do that is to make fun of diehard Disney fans; call them geeks or foamers (because they foam at the mouth when they see something Disney).

And most important, you don’t suggest anything that might be original or creative. You never ever suggest building an original attraction as you now understand it’s better to just repackage an old idea (unless that old idea was created by somebody now unpopular with management, or unless it necessitates the involvement of a department management is trying to eliminate.) Hmm...maybe it’s best if you just don’t speak at all.

Welcome to WDI. Welcome to a culture of fear.

The WDI of 2001 - 2007

So let’s recap. WDI’s role is vital to maintaining the Disney Theme Parks’ position in the minds of the consumers as a premium product. The culture of fear created by WDI’s management (the guys who wear jeans and sit behind desks in Glendale) discourages innovation and creates a hostile work environment for creative people. The results of this culture of fear are quite evident. We call them Disney’s California Adventure, Walt Disney Studios Paris, Stitch’s Great Escape, Tiki Room Under New Management, DinoRama, and Journey into YOUR Imagination among others.

Unfortunately the management of the Walt Disney Company (the guys who wear suits and sit behind desks in Burbank) don’t have the time or the interest to look at the problems within Imagineering. They just see that their newest parks are losing money and that the Imagineers are spending too much. Like most of the world they see Imagineering as one solid amorphous blob, and they are more than happy to throw out the baby with the bath water. What they don’t see is the enormous talent that still exists at WDI just below the surface.

On the promising side WDI just went through yet another restructuring in the hope that a new management team will succeed where their predecessors failed. And despite what some people think, this blog’s mission is to help build a happier, healthier, more creative, more efficient WDI by chronicling past mistakes in the hope that WDI can learn from its own history to build a better future.

What could the new Walt Disney Company management do if they wanted to?

Let's return to the original question. Is the constant expanding and contracting of Walt Disney Imagineering necessary? Is it really the nature of the business? This contributor would have to say, "no". Even if it was unavoidable once, it’s not today.

The Walt Disney Company has 11 theme parks around the world, plus water parks, resort hotels, entertainment districts, a sports complex, cruise ships, a private island, and all of these things need to be held up to Disney quality. A steady stream of work should be coming into WDI from all these sources, because every one of them needs attention. Because of the aforementioned client/design firm relationship, however, this is not the case.

If WDI were given a standard budget to make improvements and enhancements (which could be as small as a flower bed or as big as an E-ticket attraction) to existing parks, the basic staff of WDI should be kept busy indefinitely. WDI would have a set amount of money to work with (adjusted for inflation each year) and the Walt Disney Company management should prioritize what work needs to be done first. When a big project comes along like a new theme park or two huge cruise ships then some of the work on the existing park would have to be deferred. If this sounds like harsh neglect of the existing parks, it's important to note that this is work not being done at all today.

Of course there is no way to eliminate layoffs completely. Economic fluctuations make that an impossibility. But given the size of the Disney empire and the constant need for updates and improvements to existing parks, a smart management team could minimize the modulation...if they wanted to. And the payoff for guests and stockholders would be enormous.

Walt Disney Feature Animation was at its best when it was only making one film a year. Those were the days of Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, and Pixar is enjoying an incredible run making new films every 18 months. There is something to be said for restraint, especially when it comes to creative organizations. The Walt Disney Company’s decision to build three theme parks at the same time is what doomed WDI (like its decision to make multiple animated features and dozens of cheap sequels destroyed Animation a few years back). With three park projects to feed, Imagineers were promoted to lofty positions and given even loftier salaries. Labor rates soared. This was all digested into the budgets of three very large-scale projects. But when all three parks opened, WDI was left with a gaggle of Vice Presidents with no work to do. Try justifying absorbing those salaries into overhead costs.

The fatten-up-slim-down fad diet WDI has been on for the past three decades just isn’t healthy. WDI will be fifty-five years old in December, and it’s time to appreciate the value of moderation. As for the culture of fear that resides within WDI, it will take a lot more than a steady stream of work to fix that problem, but removing the constant fear of layoffs is a good first step.

Unfortunately the fear of layoffs has proven such an effective tool for controlling unruly creative types so some old executives at WDI may see no reason to change it. Here's hoping some renegade executive has the courage to make a selfless decision that would be in the best interests of the company and remove the culture of fear at Imagineering; to challenge the very 'nature of the business'.

All of us here at Re-Imagineering wish them the best of luck.

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Starry Eyed Optimism

With the recent news from Glendale last Tuesday, May 15th, Re-Imagineering may have the most compelling reason to shut its doors to date.

• Former Research and Development Vice President Bruce Vaughn just grabbed the reigns from previous Chief Creative Executive Tom Fitzgerald.

• Former Vice President of Environmental Design and Show Engineering Craig Russell is now Chief Design and Delivery Executive at WDI.

• Former WDI President Don Goodman moves out of WDI and into his new role as executive Vice President for resort development. As Bruce and Craig collectively fill his shoes, there will be no President title moving forward.

Creative executives at WDI (Joe Rohde, Joe Lanzisero and Tony Baxter among others) now report directly to Bruce Vaughn, signaling for many the best news at WDI in years, as fledgling projects will now get pitched directly to upper brass without excess or superfluous management filters.

Since the shake-up feelings over at Imagineering have ranged from cautiously optimistic to ecstatic. Regardless, the announcement is a substantial one and could signal the beginning of the end of WDI’s paranoiac, toxic and grade school culture as well as set the stage for the renaissance of WDI into the creative powerhouse and industry leader it once was.

As the days progress look for more restructuring at Imagineering. As Bruce has made clear his feeling that many in creative have been miscast, you can bet that more internal re-org memos will be hitting the inboxes at WDI for a while. And with them a much needed boost to morale at 1401 Flower.

Perhaps it is a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow after all!

Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Watergate

First came the Dolphin & Swan, then came the Wand and Hat. Now this.

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One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing!

Eisner’s mid 80’s decree to avoid bankrolling new Disney attractions unless they were liberally slathered in ‘story’ (See ‘The Myth of Story’ Nov. 25 2006) may have effectively shut the door on the future development of plot-free pageants like ‘It’s a Small World’, Jungle Cruise, the original Submarine Voyage or even classics such as Pirates of the Caribbean or Haunted Mansion but certainly the creative geniuses at Imagineering were capable of capitalizing on the strengths of this new mandate rather than it’s limitations. If guests had to have literal plot points fed to them while onboard their boats, trains, subs or rickshaws then at least Imagineering could be counted on to deliver wildly original ones.

Guests would have been wise to keep expectations low.

From the late 80’s on Imagineers indeed affixed ‘story’ after ‘story’ after ‘story’ to their rides, shows and attractions. What eluded most of them, however, was originality.

While certainly WDI saw some unbridled successes under Eisner’s ‘What’s the story?’ ordinance, it seems Imagineers had little more than one ‘story’ up their sleeve. And they shamelessly told it again and again and again.

It goes something like this: a character or prop has gone missing and the guests and/or other characters are tasked with finding it/them.

1989 - Splash Mountain

Br’er Rabbit is missing from home and Br’er Fox and Br’er Bear are out to find him. We find Br'er Rabbit in the Briar Patch and escort him safely back home.

1989 - The Great Movie Ride

Our onboard guide goes missing either in the old West or old Chicago but joins us at the Raiders of the Lost Ark set.


1991- Muppet-vision 3-D

Bean Bunny is missing from the movie and it's up to Sweetums, with the help of the audience, to find him in the theater and bring him back.

1994 - Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

Five unfortunate guests of the Hollywood Tower Hotel went missing in 1939. Guests join them in the ‘Twilight Zone’.

1995 - Extraterrorestrial Alien Encounter

An alien goes missing after breaking out of his teleportation chamber. Guests are unwillingly tasked with joining him as he gets up close and personal.

1998 - Kilimanjaro Safari

A baby elephant has gone missing, probable victim of ivory poachers. Guests are tasked with helping to find him before it’s too late.

1998 - Dinosaur

A stray baby dinosaur has gone missing and guests are tasked with rescuing it before an asteroid hits the planet.

2003 - Mickey’s Philharmagic

Mickey’s sorcerer’s hat, victim to Donald Duck’s shenanigans, has gone missing. Donald is tasked with finding it.

2004 - Stitch’s Great Escape

Stitch, captive of the Galactic Federation, has gone missing after escaping during prison transport. Guests, having been tasked with guarding him, are rendered powerless as Stitch wreaks havoc and eventually runs off into the Magic Kingdom.

2006 - Monster’s Inc.: Mike & Sully to the Rescue!

Boo has gone missing in Monstropolis and guests join Mike and Sully as they try to find her.


2006 - Pirates of the Caribbean 2.0

Pirate Jack Sparrow, treasure in hand, has gone missing among the villagers on the Isla Tesoro and Captain Barbossa is out to find him.

2006 - The Seas with Nemo and Friends

Nemo is missing again so guests join Marlin and Dory as they search the seas for him.

2007 - Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros

Donald has gone missing before his big concert in Mexico City so it’s up to Panchito and Jose to find him.

2007 - Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage

Nemo is missing again so guests board a submarine to help assist Marlin and Dory as they search the seas for him.

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If new management at Imagineering eventually decides to stop hog-tying many of their park attractions to this same old banal formulaic story convention in lieu of truly original E-ticket attractions that dare to forgo plot for pageantry, wonder and charm then you can bet all those aliens, dinosaurs, fish, ducks, rabbits, pirates and little girls won’t be missed.

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Thinking Inside the Box

Imagine, if you will, a Disney theme park with no centerpiece—no castle or geosphere, no ornate Chinese Theater or majestic Tree of Life. Imagine a Disney theme park with no Audio-Animatronics figures or full service restaurants or nighttime fireworks display. Impossible right?

Well, nothing’s impossible for the dream makers at Disney. Once again Walt Disney Imagineering has done what many thought impossible. They created a theme park less impressive than Disney’s California Adventure.

Walt Disney Studios Paris is basically a collection of soundstages grouped together with asphalt paths and some landscaping, everything coated in lovely shades of pale tan. It’s billed as a full-day Disney theme park but it opened with only 10 attractions, 3 quick service restaurants and 5 shops. That’s a worthwhile way to spend a day out of your expensive European vacation, n’est pas?

Okay maybe not, but it sounds like Disney saved a lot of money on the project, so at least the shareholders should be happy.

But they’re not.

On June 30, 2004 the Walt Disney Company agreed to a restructuring of Euro Disney SCA (the owner and operator of Disneyland Resort Paris) that would cost them hundreds of millions of Euros. The goal was to prevent Euro Disney SCA from defaulting on $2.9 billion of debt.

On June 9, 2004, Bloomberg Market News reported: “Euro Disney's debt problems stem at least in part from the Walt Disney Studios park, which it opened in March 2002. The park has failed to attract enough visitors to help Euro Disney meet its debt payments.”


The resort is no stranger to financial hardship. It opened in 1992 amid a recession and incurred harsh criticism from French intellectuals, the press dubbing it a “cultural Chernobyl”. Corporate management in Burbank reacted the way they always do; they found a scapegoat, fired him and then hired two guys to replace him.

In this instance they hired the right two people, Philippe Bourguignon and Steve Burke. The pair bridged the cultural gap by making concessions to the French including selling wine in the park (the French like wine, who knew?) and implementing an aggressive financial restructuring. When the dust settled, the strategy had worked. Disneyland Paris saw its first profit in 1995 and remained profitable for the next six years. In March of 2002, the Walt Disney Studios Park opened. In 2002 and 2003 the resort once again reported losses.

How does something like this happen? Disneyland Paris is one of the great ‘Cinderella’ stories of American business abroad. Just how could they screw it up twice?

Misidentifying the problem is a big problem.

In a universe defined by a spreadsheet, intangibles don’t exist. Cultural differences, taste, and emotional connections are absent. There is only investment and return. The management of the Walt Disney Company seems to have come to the conclusion that Disneyland Paris failed because too much money was invested in it. If they had built a smaller, less expensive park (see Hong Kong Disneyland) it would have yielded a better return on investment—theoretically. The Magic Kingdom at Disneyland Paris, for those not familiar, is easily the most ornate, beautifully themed, meticulously detailed kingdom of them all (there is even an Audio-Animatronics dragon living in a dungeon under the castle). This expensive theming, management decided, is the problem and refused to acknowledge other drawbacks that have nothing to do with the level of investment in the park itself.

For instance, the climate. Paris is not Orlando or Anaheim. Its latitude is farther north than that of Seattle, Washington or Augusta, Maine or even Toronto, Canada. Also, it’s in France. The French, need I point out, aren’t fond of having their culture Americanized. They’ve been very vocal on this issue for the past fifty years. Can’t imagine how the Disney executives missed it.


However, the biggest problem with the investment in Euro Disney was not due to climate or culture but was, in fact, financial. The pencil jockeys did get one thing right; the investment was too high. Just not necessarily in the theme park.

It was Disney’s investment of hundreds of millions in Michael Eisner’s newest hobby, architecture, that truly blew the bank. (Eisner, it seems, was entranced by the pastels and minimalist structural forms found in postmodern architecture. Whatever.) Michael was determined to use Disneyland Paris hotels as his foray into the world of “respectable” architecture. As a result, Disneyland Paris opened in 1992 with six hotels, all to support one park (Walt Disney World opened with two). The train ride from the park to Paris, a city with a few decent hotels of its own, takes less than thirty minutes. It seems those Harvard MBAs missed the class on supply and demand.

But the mistake could not have been their fault, they reasoned; it must be the fault of those annoying creative people. They spent too much building the park. So, the MBAs decided that they would not let the creatives make the same mistake twice. Many of the creative folks responsible for the original Paris park were slowly weeded out over time and were replaced by “more cooperative” creative executives--possibly the most serious result of the whole debacle.


Fast forward to the late 1990s when the clearly defined corporate strategy was for all Disney resorts world wide to become “destination resorts” like Walt Disney World. Destination resorts are marketed to out-of-town tourists who spend significantly more than locals on everything from theme park admission to jacket potatoes to ice-lollies (the Parisian equivalent of turkey legs and Dole Whip). Plans were set in motion to add “second gates” to Anaheim, Tokyo and Paris. An executive decision was made. Without regard to local conditions, a blanket statement set a series of events in motion that would reverse all the good work done in the mid-1990s.

The Walt Disney Company vowed that the “mistakes” of ’92 would not be repeated. They believed that a second gate would extend the average guest’s length-of-stay and help fill up Eisner’s aging hotel rooms. But since the second gate, built by that new breed of more cooperative Imagineers, was far from a full day experience, it did nothing of the kind. The second gate became a tremendous drain on the resort's bottom line.

Euro Disney SCA spent about $550 million on the park; whereas an E-ticket ride would have cost him less than $200 million and would have been a more cost-effective way to bring additional traffic to the resort (evidenced by the attendance boost the park received when it added Space Mountain in 1994).

They were caught up in the notion that “two parks are better than one.” Instead of looking at the simple fact that 15 million guests a year are better than 10 million guests a year, regardless of the number of parks. The first gate wasn’t filling to capacity. It could easily take on an additional four to five million people a year—the stated goal of Walt Disney Studios Paris.

The extra-park-extra-day trick only works if the new park is both enormously appealing and is perceived to be a full-day experience (as Epcot was in 1982). The experience of Disneyland Paris can be seen as a microcosm for the problem with the entire company; a company so obsessed with growth that it was ignoring the foundation that growth needs to be built on.

No where in the world is the descent of Imagineering more evident than at the Disneyland Resort Paris. The most spectacular and the most banal of theme parks sit side by side in pasture outside of Paris; a contrast so striking that it’s nearly impossible to imagine they were birthed by the same company.


Ultimately Disney Studios Paris stands as a sad testament to the folly of designing from a spreadsheet.

Fixing WDI

The entire problem with Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) can be summed up in one word, “Accountability.”

At WDI, promotions are given out based on ones willingness to support management decisions, not ones ability to achieve results. Before any progress can be made, the WDI executives responsible for failures like Disney’s California Adventure, Disney Studios Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland need to be held accountable. So far, no one at WDI has taken any responsibility for these gargantuan errors in judgement. The fact is, nobody at WDI feels responsible. They all claim that they were just following orders, and on the surface this appears to be true. At WDI, the unofficial motto is, “to get along, you have to go along.” This means going along with bad ideas, inefficient production methods, poor casting choices, artificially inflated budgets…basically everything management dictates. To do otherwise is to risk your job.


However, there are those who did not simply keep quiet in order to protect their jobs, but actively supported many recent blunders. Some of them were rewarded with promotions, raises or choice assignments. These yes men and women should be called on the carpet by the new CEO. They are just as responsible as their bosses for the sorry state of the Disney Theme Parks and the tarnished reputation of Walt Disney Imagineering. Mortgaging the future of the company for a larger salary and impressive-sounding title can not be excused by the phrase: “I was just following orders.”

Accountability is the first step. The second is a shift in the corporate culture that rewards innovation and allows for a more open exchange of ideas. This is the foundation of any successful creative institution. After these elements are put in place, WDI will be on the road to becoming a healthy working environment again—with employees who are actually motivated to create value for the company.


Here are a few tips for the future management of Walt Disney Imagineering on how to foster a positive working environment:

1. Smaller, smarter management. Currently, WDI has a very top-heavy reporting structure. This needs to be reversed.

2. The integrity of the product should be more important than membership in the old boys’ network. WDI isn’t Hollywood. There is no need for WDI to imitate the worst business model in the country.

3. Reward those who achieve results.

4. Open communication with Walt Disney Feature Animation. WDI rarely takes advantage of its shared history and close proximity to Feature Animation. There was a time when the two creative groups worked together for mutual benefit. But today, WDI management has deliberately restricted communication with the Animation department (as well as many other divisions of the company).

5. Trust your people, and work to earn their trust.

6. Do not hire or promote slick Hollywood types or charcoal gray MBAs who think Disney is corny or sappy. People who are emotionally committed to Disney will stick around for the long-term and will make choices with the future of the company in mind (not just the next fiscal quarter). Emotional commitment and good business practices are not mutually exclusive. For a practical demonstration, see Pixar.

7. Do not rely on guest polls, surveys, and trend studies. They are never perfect and are easily slanted to produce a predetermined result.

8. Remember, not taking any risks is the biggest risk of all.

The New Nostalgia

Walt Disney never minced words. He loved the nostalgic and knew the value of celebrating the ‘things of the past’ in his films, television shows and later Disneyland.

It was from this appreciation for the nostalgic that Main Street U.S.A. was born, the central thoroughfare by which park visitors enter the lands of fantasy, adventure and tomorrow at Disneyland. Here Walt hoped the older generation of the day could relive their “fond memories of the past”.

It cannot be over-emphasized how much these senior Disneyland citizens delighted in this loving recreation of their childhood days gone by during the first couple decades of the parks existence. Nor can it be overstated how revolutionary the concept of catering to older visitors alongside younger ones within an outdoor amusement enterprise was.

And, being that Grandma and Grandpa weren’t staying at home while the kids played, how profitable.

The generation of Disneyland guests who were alive during the turn of century and took special pleasure in Walt’s nod to it are long gone now and consequently the very cornerstone philosophy that welcomed them to the Magic Kingdom as well. As the years progressed Disneyland stopped catering to the grandparents altogether, valuing more the thrill hungry teen market and the attention deficient kiddy quotient. Today Grandma and Grandpa are more likely to stay home.

Power players at Imagineering would be wise to lure this long ignored yet vital market share back to Disneyland. But how? What’s the Main Street equivalent for the Baby Boomers in the here and now? What could Disneyland do to embrace their nostalgia for days gone by?

One need not look any further than Disneyland itself.

Here’s the living embodiment of mid century mainstream; a park built on the back of that wild new gadget, the television, and exploding into the American consciousness alongside coonskin caps and Mickey Mouse ears. Those 60, 70 or 80 would remember that time fondly. For them Disneyland IS today’s nostalgia.

Or was.

Seems that along with the death of Walt’s generation, so too went much of the entertainment that catered to their high regard for whimsy, charm and nostalgia over visceral thrills. Current management would benefit immensely by bankrolling attractions that take their cue from these neglected classics; Circlevision 360, The Golden Horseshoe Revue, the Peoplemover, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, America Sings and many more.

Though much of the appetite for Disneyland nostalgia was sated with Disneyland’s 50th, a few thousand cans of paint isn’t enough. Those that grew up watching Annette grow out are going to need the reassurance that if they visit the park much of that corny flag-waving because-we-love-you Disneyland will still be there, a place happy to make room for Rocket Ships and Pirate Ships, singing birds and singing bears and leisurely rides high in the sky.

To embrace the heritage of Disneyland today is to embrace a long neglected member of the Disney family as well, individuals who would spare no expense to reconnect with some of those fond childhood memories of the past.

It’s time to give seniors their Disneyland citizenship back.

"You know, I have the strangest feeling I've seen that ship before - - a long time ago, when I was very young."

-Mr. Darling

Peter Pan

Cannonballing Down Through the Sky...

Could it be? Yes, it could.
Something's coming, something good,
If I can wait!
Something's coming, I don't know what it is,
But it is
Gonna be great!

- Stephen Sondheim 1957

Re-Imagineering Celebrates Year One!

Congratulations one and all on the first year anniversary of
Re-Imagineering!

It was one year ago today that a rag tag team of Disney Park aficianados, fueled by the announcement of John Lasseter's new post as Principal Creative Advisor at Imagineering, inspired this online forum for positive change at Imagineering.

Since then an incredible group of professional, talented and informed voices have come onboard from all corners of the Disney Experience to fervently challenge the status quo here at Re-Imagineering.

Thanks to the incredible contributors to this site. Your thoughtful analysis, wisdom and passion has been an inspiration.

Thank you to all the professional colleagues who championed the cause, providing ideas, discourse and encouragement every step of the way. You kept the fires burning.

Thank you to the insightful souls at WDI who continue to care deeply about the company's esteemed legacy. Hang in there.

Thank you to the readers who have offered up perceptive and challenging debate throughout. Ultimately Re-Imagineering owes it all to you. Keep the comments and suggestions coming!

And a final reminder to all those who read and participate. Though it may seem counter-intuitive, we assure you that all of us at Re-Imagineering do what we do because we sincerely care about the Disney parks; places that have informed and influenced each of our lives profoundly.

Congratulations and thanks to all of you. It's been an incredible E-Ticket Year.

Now, back to the good fight!