The Imagineering Story

Walt Disney forms WED Enterprises for the purpose of building his dream - Disneyland. The Imagineers start a playful culture of making make believe believable. They discover and formulate a set of design principles that transport people from their everyday lives to lands of imagination. These places appeal to everyone, not customers, but Guests with a capital G. The original hand-picked band of Imagineers apply their moviemaking techniques to a three-dimensional space. Walt knows - if your eye sees something, your feet will follow. A park with themed environments, faithful to a story, has never existed before, creating a grand illusion. Disneyland achieves meteoric success, and a theme park industry is born. Walt Disney vows that, unlike a film which gets completed, Disneyland will never be finished as long as there is imagination left in the world. Embarking on a secret mission, Walt starts buying land in central Florida for a mysterious “Project X.” Applying the knowledge from the previous decade to conceive long term future plans, he lays the foundation for expansion but tragically passes away before constructions begins. Stunned, the Imagineers stop to catch their breath. The story of ingenuity might end here. Will there ever be another visionary like Walt Disney?

Roy O. Disney steps up to fulfill his brother’s wish, and another Magic Kingdom emerges. Walt Disney World becomes WED’s’ first foray into urban and master site planning. The long hours, stress, and hard work lead to Roy’s premature passing. A second generation of young designers and engineers and a new CEO, Card Walker, carry out the last and most ambitious of Walt’s ideas – EPCOT, striving for a higher purpose beyond entertainment. Another success follows with Disney’s first international park, Tokyo Disneyland. Both big projects are completed at the same time. With no future theme parks being developed, WED lays off most of its staff, and Card Walker retires. A hostile takeover attempt by a corporate raider threatens to break the Disney company, and its beloved parks, into pieces, and morale hits an all-time low. Will WED survive?

Two new executives, Michael Eisner and Frank Wells, revive the studio and usher in an age of growth, emphasizing celebrity talent and licensing non-Disney intellectual property for the parks.

Michael Eisner hires business minded managers to placate Wall Street, diversifying the company and placing an aggressive focus on consumer products and making money. After the challenges of Euro Disneyland, the Imagineers spearhead several successful projects, including designing two Disney-branded cruise ships for a new cruise line; rethinking the concept of a zoo with Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park; and receiving praise for Tokyo DisneySea, the second park at Tokyo Disney Resort. Despite these accomplishments, the next three parks, Disney’s California Adventure, Walt Disney Studios, and Hong Kong Disneyland, are criticized for being cheap, too small, and breaking the design principles so instrumental to the company’s early success. Michael Eisner is blamed and ousted, and the Imagineers worry that the pattern seems irreversible.

Bob Iger, a master at nurturing creative talent and fostering relationships, takes over as CEO of the Walt Disney Company and makes employees enthusiastic again. Respecting Disney’s heritage but with his feet firmly planted in the future, Bob returns Imagineering to its founding principles while also modernizing the formula for a contemporary audience. By strategically investing in creative content, international expansion, and technology innovation, he sets the company up for long term success. Rapid advances in technology see the rise of interactivity as a key design element in Imagineering projects. The decade is a golden era of Imagineering, achieved by following Walt’s original commitment to human ingenuity and a promise that these parks will never be finished, continually pushing the limits of imagination.

Through his relentless pursuit of perfection, Bob Iger personally shepherds Shanghai DIsneyland. He inspires the early design process and stresses cultural sensitivity, coining the phrase, “Authentically Disney, Distinctly Chinese.” This guiding principle steers and inspires the Imagineers to blend the two, forging a highly customized and unique theme park. During the five-year construction effort, the Imagineers balance between adhering to and breaking from their traditional design formula set forth by Walt Disney. Against all odds, from budgets and schedules to the laws of physics and the blank page, the Imagineers introduce the Happiest Place on Earth to a brand-new market. Bob Iger’s bold acquisitions of intellectual property from years prior come to fruition. Pandora: the World of Avatar, opens in Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park. Marvel super heroes break into three dimensions. And, the universe of Star Wars arrives from a galaxy far, far away. In the process, the Imagineers push the boundaries of artificial intelligence, immersive storytelling, and guest participation, influencing industries and consumers beyond theme parks, while always staying true to their original mission by bringing dreams to life.