Day two of the D23 Expo didn’t really have many big reveals. So, instead of focusing on a single panel, Let’s do a quick recap of some of the Imagineer-themed panels I was able to attend at D23 Expo 2019.
Only at D23 Expo can you hear current Imagineers telling their stories and giving you behind the scenes information about our favorite attractions!
Our tour brings you to our first panel, I think you’ll find it delightfully dreadful!
Haunted Mansion: Celebrating 50 Years
This panel was a hodgepodge of various stories from Imagineers and a display of special effects. While the panel was going on, two artists (Yumi and Xiao Qing) painted one-of-a-kind Haunted Mansion portraits for a silent auction at the Ryman Arts Booth for charity. It featured Imagineers Daniel Joseph, Chris Merritt, and Jillian Pagan and was hosted by Kevin Lively.
The Imagineers told stories about their involvement and inspiration found in the Haunted Mansion. From histories in blacklights, lasers and mirrors the Imagineers showed the audience lots of the techniques used to bring the Haunted Mansion to life! We learned that the original hatbox ghost concept art shows that with every beat of the bride’s heart his head was supposed to disappear and then reappear on the next beat!
Kevin showed us a video of a Haunted Mansion tour. Apparently, he was a former Jungle Cruise Skipper and so he gave us a Jungle Cruise skipper’s Tour of the Haunted Mansion.
Jillian introduced a 1968 draft of the Haunted Mansion script and then actors came out to perform it! These are the kinds of things you can only see at D23.
The medium, performed by Kelsey McCullough (X. Atencio’s granddaughter) talked about her grandfather’s life, the time after he left Disney and how he was always trying to add magic to his family’s life. The Tight Rope Walker performed by Sally Slater (character performer) narrated the scene-setting elements while the muppet Uncle Deadly performed the Ghost Host part much to the surprise and delight of the audience.
Immersive Worlds: Bringing Stories to Life in Disney Parks
Now let’s head to Stage 28 where one of our favorite Imagineers, Joe Rohde, hosted a lively chat between three additional Imagineers. Joining Joe were Jeanette Lomboy representing Aulani, Luc Mayrand, representing Shanghai Pirates and Scott Trowbridge representing Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
The panel opened up with Joe Rohde asking Scott Trowbridge about the change in Disney Imagineering to create immersive worlds versus creating things to look at. Scott argued that Disney has always been building immersive worlds, so really this was carrying on in the traditions of Walt Disney saying “we’re doing today what Walt Disney would have wanted if he had the technology.”
(Do any of you readers have any thoughts about Scott’s assertion? I seem to recall Walt Disney having some very specific concerns about the Imagineers wanting to make the Haunted Mansion look run down on the outside and why New Orleans Square was built as an idealized and cleaned up version of the original)
Each Imagineer continued to speak from the perspective of what they worked on. Jeanette impressed that they knew they needed to show the world of Hawaii in the right way and she spent a lot of time explaining all the ways that the Aulani team has carefully researched and involved native artisans. We learned that Aulani actually houses the largest collection of contemporary Hawaiian art in the world. They wanted to create an immersive world that was also an informed world, based on the past. Luc said immersion is all about extending the story and once you expand to the size of the world you have agency. He went on to discuss the creation of Pirates in Shanghai and the stage show and talked about what a joy it has been to witness the Chinese culture engage in things Disney was told they wouldn’t like. Water features, for example, have been a big hit. Luc is excited to bring fun to people.
Scott explained that for Star Wars Land, “We want to have people feel like they’re empowered and enabled to become a hero in their own lives.” He continued to explain that for Galaxy’s Edge the very first question they asked themselves was, “who are WE”. Meaning who are we, as visitors to this planet. Is the guest a participant or a spectator? Scott wants the guest to be more of a participant and less of a spectator, he wants to move that line in Imagineering to push for more immersion. “Not reality. Believability.” Joe Rohde pushed against this idea and presented himself as the guy that gets picked to dance. But he explained that he hates being that guy, so how does Scott get people like that to engage when they might rather be a spectator? Scott said that people could do things like use the app to complete a mission, having their own adventure at their own pace. Joe chided Scott, reminding him of their first visit to Galaxy’s Edge when Scott refused to talk like a designer. He wouldn’t break the elements of the land aren’t “real” and he stayed in ‘play’ mode the entire time.
Scott explained that he is really into the idea of moments where the Imagineers encourage you to turn to each other for reflection and for engagement. That working together to fly the Millenium Falcon is creating an immersive experience with the people you came to the park with because you’re all completing a mission together instead of being a spectator.
Joe Rohde seemed to express concern. “You’re putting people in an envelope of imaginary reality and there are limits to it. How do I know where the bathroom is? I want to be able to say it. I don’t want jargon” Scott took the criticism confidently and said, “If we’re doing our jobs well, we’re constantly redirecting you to your center of experience.” Joe brought up how they deal with reality in immersion. Scott said, “What makes Star Wars Land different is that from the very beginning, it had a strong DNA of reality in it” For Scott, he feels he has succeeded in creating a successful land because he heard a child exclaim “Chewbacca is real! Which lead the child down a road of realizations. “Star Wars is REAL! The Force is REAL!
And last, let’s look at a glimpse from:
Travels with Marty: A Conversation with the Sklars and Imagineers
Marty Sklar was a beloved Imagineer with a history that stretched to the earliest days of Disneyland itself. Leah Sklar, who was married to Marty for 60 years, and their daughter Leslie Sklar were joined by Imagineers Kevin Rafferty, Daniel Jue and Bob Weis.
Leah had many lovely memories of getting to travel to all the theme park and attraction openings over the years. Leah and Leslie told us about how after Marty passed away, they went through Marty’s office in an effort to help finish the book he was working on. They found secret stacks of paper and had to decipher his handwritten notes.
Kevin explained his jovial and dear relationship with Marty. He explained that Marty had told him that… “the parks are not about escapism, they’re about the reassurance of fun”. He described Marty as a man dedicated to his work. He said there was not an opening that he didn’t show up for. He described him as a sarcastic prankster and expressed fondness at the close relationship they had for over 35 years.
Daniel told many stories about working with Marty on Tokyo Disneyland Resort. He explained that he was most inspired by Marty’s work ethic. He said Marty told him “You should love what you do and then someday you may be lucky enough to do what you love.” and that this advice had molded who he was and how he worked.
Bob Weis described Marty as Fun, Humorous, Sardonic and a trickster. He showed us the above photo which is of Marty standing on the site of what would become Cinderella’s castle as they broke ground for the Magic Kingdom in Florida. Bob sent the below photo to Marty when they broke ground on Shanghai, who was tickled they remembered. Bob said Marty had a soft spot for Imagineers who worked in the foreign countries and he tried to impress upon them what the Imagineering process is and to make sure that they felt supported.
They ended the panel saying “Marty’s unique contribution was understanding how to run a creative culture. He was a great editor of people without telling them to do. Imagineering is the house that Marty built. He wrote Mickey’s ten commandments, he set the rules. Marty established the kind of culture we have in Imagineering.
We love that D23 Expo offers these kinds of in-depth panels where we get to hear Imagineers tell us their experiences in their own words. For all the theme park nerds (like myself) it was a dream come true to hear these panels.
But what did you think about what they said?
Is there a difference in how Imagineering was run by Marty and how it’s run now?
Are the Imagineers making their values match their actions?
We want to know what you think! Give us your analysis in the comments!
Be sure to stay tuned to MiceChat for continued coverage, photos, and news from D23 Expo weekend! Find all of our D23 Expo coverage here:
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