First off, if the statement from one insider is true, the cause for making WDIers 'paranoid' would be PIXAR itself. PIXAR is setting the tone and changing the face of Disney. There may be the feeling of if they don't treat PIXAR's product well it could cost a WDIer his/her job.

I stated in an earlier post and repeat that no job should be rushed. If "Toy Story Mania" isn't ready to open than it shouldn't open. They are dealing with state-of-the-art technology here. Maybe they shouldn't be so eager to present the latest tech to the public if it isn't perfect. Simplify the attraction and get the troubled tech back to the lab for more work. Now what they have done is put out hype for a great and unique attraction that they can't deliver on. Back to the drawing board - and don't let PIXAR pressure you!  

No need to blame Emeryville-based animation studio informants - Disney fans have been saying this for the last decade or so. You can't get creative excellence from a group constantly being fired, downsized, and layed off. The Imagineers seem to do just fine when they get away from the Anaheim spreadsheet worshippers and create attractions in Japan. Shame on that Emeryville-based animation studio for wanting quality - how unreasonable.

Not sure I see the direct connection between a production studio that makes world class animated feature films...and the completely different world of Theme Park Ride Engineers. I'm guessing the guys who designed "Space Mountain" won't be sitting-in on any story sessions at Pixar any time soon. What's next, the guy at the guard gate at Pixar is gonna teach the guards at Disneyland how to tear tickets?

How does this reported million spent on the Potato Head figure break down? How much of it is parts, labor, etc?

JerryLundegaard said exactly what I was thinking the whole time I read this article... What the hell do Pixar animators have in common with theme park engineers?  Precious little, I'd say.  If anything, they should mind their own p's and q's because if Pixar ever churns out a bomb, they'll see what it's like to live in fear of their job, methinks.  

Huh ... I totally disagree with most of the posters here. I think WDI has been churning out near crap for years and I welcome an influx of opinions from a studio where people obviously get it.

I mean how can you overlook the two GLARING examples of how POORLY WDI is doing things today, right here in this article!!

#1, they plan on THROWING A SHEET over Mr. Potato Head if he breaks down??? Yeah ... that's good show.

#2, this attraction has been in development for close to 4 years now and they're JUST figuring that out about the rope pulls??? The ride is like 2 weeks from opening!

No, I'm sorry ... I completely disagree. If I ran Disney one of the first things I'd do is dismantle Imagineering as it is now and totally rebuild it. It's a disaster as it is. I think people have this romantic idea that it's still like all these Walt guys sitting in rooms somewhere thinking things up. WDI is largely made up today of nothing but typical engineers, project managers, and electricians. These guys don't make magic ... they need some creative leadership and if you're looking for creativity, I challenge anyone to point me in a better direction than Pixar.

You all must not know your Disney theme park history, because almost all the key people in building Disneyland were artists and animators. Oh yeah, and not to point out the obvious ... but the guy who invented the theme park (a guy who's initials may or may not be W.E.D.) ... he was an animator too.

Anyway, lastly I owe Jim an apology. Not a Pixar bashing article as I expected, so mea culpa. Good piece, Jim. One of your best lately.

Great article.  Thanks, Jim.

Well said, Pickstar.

It's not that an animator has to know anything about theme park engineering. It's about a corporate culture difference.

If the atmosphere at Pixar is truly what they say it is - do it right, and do it creatively - then they can say all they want to the Imagineers, who should be doing it that way, but instead have been taken over by a room full of suits and spreadsheets.

I don't care if you're making widgets or theme park attractions, the atmosphere in which you work under affects the outcome of the final product.

I have to say that I can understand Pixar's fears. I went to DAK last year and took my wife on Expedition Everest for the first time. I was so excited for her to see the Yeti, but then there was nothing at the end. They didn't even have the strobe on. It was pitch black dark. The second time we went on, they had the strobe on, but I was still disappointed.

Next to the magma creature at DisneySea's Journey to the Center of the Earth (or so I'm told), the Yeti is one of Imagineering's most impressive figures. You'd think they would have programmed a "limited movement" mode or something for whenever the figure isn't working properly.

As for Mr. Potato Head, why not a stage curtain for when he's not "performing"?

Well so far Pickstar has the best comment of the day and I couldn't agree more.

THIS is what happens when you build up a culture of spreadsheets and suits and wrongheaded ideas about how to run theme parks.  How can creative people work with a pendulum over their heads and a budget that constantly tightens.  Iger needs to look at this and do some major-league reshuffling of some suits.

Lap sitting is not a problem.  My two year old sits by herself on Buzz firing the gun and will do the same with Toy Story.  No affect on capacity.

The bigger problem may be keeping 3D glasses on kids and making sure glasses don't end up on the ride tracks.

The curtain idea is an obvious choice,  and might even include some behind curtain humor as well when the curtain is down.

Tuckenie said:

"Well so far Pickstar has the best comment of the day and I couldn't agree more."

In that case, I better shut up and hide. It's rare I get that kind of compliment around here, especially from someone who knows so much about the company.

Good article, Jim. The failure of the Yeti is astounding, given all the cash and effort put into it, and why someone at Imagineering didn't bring up the very real possibility that such a sophisticated figure was bound to be more accident-prone might be a perfect example of the purported paranoia rampant at WDI these days. I wonder if a similar mindset was at work during the creation of the disaster that is the Stitch ride. Honestly, that thing is a blight at WDW. When I sat through it, kids all around me were freaking out, and not in a good way, there wasn't a moment of real fun and there were NO smiles from anybody I saw as we exited. And the thing practically drips cash, it looks so expensive, and yet the payoff is extremely slight. I wonder if those at WDI who realized the ride was a dud during its test runs were too frightened to broach an honest opinion?

I agree that it's crazy to think Mr Potato Head can just have a sheet thrown over him - but on the other hand, is it any wonder WDI are constantly paranoid? And frankly, if the new attractions were sonstantly in risk of having budgets cut then surely there would be more time and $ to ensure these problems didn't occur/there were contingency plans in place.

Speaking as a creative, it's unfortunate but true that the state of Imagineering is becoming the standard these days for "creative" divisions of companies.  The people who are running things don't understand them, they don't understand what they do, and they expect them to create gold every time, while constantly picking away at their resources and environment.  Honestly, if the person quoted wants to see a more paranoid group of people, they are welcome to visit my office, or any number of other large companies with internal creative staffs.  They will find a lot of people who can’t be as creative as they would like, because they are worried that they won’t be able to pay their mortgage or put food on the table if they don’t churn out product with robotic frequency and at minimal cost.

Pixar's corporate culture should be a breath of fresh air for the Imagineers, but if they are anything like the people I work with, they see it as something that won't last... something the suits will shut down just like everything else, and if they jump on board, they will end up going down with the ship when the suits finally get their way.  And, of course, the management in Imagineering, who aren’t creatives, are going to fight it tooth and nail, because the idea of creatives running the creative department puts their jobs in jeopardy.

Hopefully, one of these days, a bunch of companies will buy the clue that, in order to develop truly exceptional creative product, the suits need to give the creatives a nurturing environment, with a culture based on team work and support, not threats and pressure, plus the resources to do the job right, and then get the heck out of the way.  Then they will, once again, start to see creative growth and products they can be proud of, which will also excite the consumer and end up bringing in the money that they are trying so hard to get.   Unfortunately, until they get it, they will keep hacking at that bottom line by treating their most valuable assets like dirt and nickel and diming their products to death.

But as Walt said, "If we can dream it, we can do it", so I'm going to continue to dream of a world where music and movies and theme parks and television and all the other creative mediums where we get to lose ourselves, once in a while, and just enjoy life, fall back under the control of the artists who create them.  When that happens... Imagineering will, once again, be the group that sets the bar, and I will, once again, want to be among their ranks.

I just watched "The Pixar Story" by Leslie Iwerks last night and for those that are saying, "what do Pixar animators know about anything..". You don't know Pixar! Pixar is animators, yes, BUT they also designed all the software to make their movies as well. Ed Catmull is NOT an animator. He is a computer scientist. When John L. joined Pixar he was the only employee that didn't have a PhD. The men and women of Pixar understand technology.

Disney is like most American corporations. They are always looking for someone to blame. And the Imagineers are like everyone else. They have kids to feed, mortgages to pay and bills to pay. It has been said before, but bears repeating. Culture matters. When Pixar has their famous sessions where they get together and try and work out problems, I doubt if anyone is worrying about their job. In those sessions, no one is going to get fired. They are getting together to work out problems, not decide who is to blame.

I HIGHLY recommend "The Pixar Story" if you have a chance to see it. It is making the rounds at film festivals around the country (I saw it at the Newport Beach Film Festival). It will help you to understand how and why Pixar works the way it does.

Regardin the Potato Head AA figure. Why didn't they build a secondary one? Building a spare couldn't cost that much more money.

I love it! "Okay, guys, bring in the STUNT 'tater!"

(Smile)

Yeah, I have to agree with Pickstar. For those of you complaining that Pixar doesn't know anything about being an Imagineer...how quickly we forget. The majority of the initial driving forces at WDI were all creative and technical types that Walt handpicked from animating and making classic Disney films.

Haha!  "Okay, guys, bring in the STUNT 'tater!"

That's classic.  Ok everyone, cross your fingers and say it with me:

"MRS. Potato Head!  MRS. Potato Head..."

Hey are they going to put the Darth parts on for Star Wars Weekends?

socalkdg: The behind-the-curtain jokes is actually a really good idea. Maybe he could be preparing for his routine and not realize that people can hear him. I'm sure Imagineering has already thought of this and that the sheet comment was an exaggeration.

Yeah... the day you need to have a degree, of any kind, to ask, "So what happens when it breaks?" is a sad day indeed.

Though what is really sad is that the guy with the degree's, or at least title of Imagineer, HIS only answer is, "Throw a sheet on it."

THAT is truly sad.

I will take a smart animator over a dumb Imagineer ANY DAY.

Amen, captainhook. Amen.

Digital BLINKING   shOOting  noises  !!   CLANGing !!!  BLANCHING-shimashing ... wait in line for CARSLAND  traffic JAMS  .....  [I appreciate Diane Miller's comments most  ....   "I've been there, why would I go back?"]

......   open space of N. CAL or OC nnoise & traffic  ....    les-see  ...  hmmmm

BAAAAAAA haaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

I'm assuming, then, that this page is completely messed up because of Gullywhumper's posts, which should have been rejected in the first place.  If Gullywhumper is not a bot then Gullywhumper should ask Gullywhumper's pharmacist to increase Gullywhumper's dosage.