Quotations from Walt and the Imagineers ! ! !

Started by Javey74, August 26, 2007, 09:02:34 PM

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Javey74

Have a look at these quotes, the first lot are from the man himself, by the time you read them and get the understanding behind them, you will appreciate just how clever and how much of a perfectionist Walt really was.....  :wink:

The second lot are quotes from Imagineers who worked with, alongside, for and after Walt's death......

Some of Walt's Personal Quotes....

"I only hope that we never lose sight of one thing-that it was all started by a mouse."

"Born out of necessity," Walt fondly recalled about his best friend, "the little fellow literally freed us of immediate worry. He provided the means for expanding our organisation to its present dimensions and for extending the medium of cartoon animation towards new entertainment." But mickey provided much more than that. He lent us a hand in giving all our parks a most magical character.

With reference to the Park, Walt said, "Herbie, I just want it to look like nothing else in the world. And it should be surrounded by a train."

"I could never convince the financiers that Disneyland was feasible because dreams offer too little collateral."

"All I want you to think about is when people walk through or have access to anything you design, I want them, when they leave, to have smiles on their faces. Just remember that. It's all I ask of you as a designer."

"Get a good idea and stay with it. Dog it and work it until it's done right."

"When we consider a new project, we really study it-not just the surface idea, but everything about it. And when we go into that new project, we believe in it all the way. We have confidence in our ability to do it right. And we work hard to do the best possible job."

"I don't want the public to see the world they live in while they're in the park. I want them to feel they're in another world."

"You don't build it for yourself. You know what the people want and you build it for them."

"It's kind of fun to do the impossible."

"What do you mean we can't get rid of those weeds in time? Then go over there and put some fancy signs with Latin names in front of them."


One of Walt's most famous quotes is imprinted on a plaque below his bronze statue with Mickey. It reads, "I think most of all what I want Disneyland to be is a happy place...where parents and children can have fun together."

On a personal note I think that really does sum it up.  :mickey2:

Imagineers Quotes...

QUESTION:How many Imagineers does it take to change a light bulb.
ANSWER:Does it have to be a light bulb?

"In the early days of Disneyland, it was incredible that WED accomplished all of the things it did because we were just a little machine shop and a tiny model shop. Of course, everything is bigger and better today, But I've never become blase because I continue to have the feeling that Walt is looking over my shoulder." - HARPER GOFF

"One of our first ideas for Main Street was a corset shop called 'The Wizard of Bras.' For some reason Walt didn't like it." - BILL MARTIN

"We had to take on things we never dreamed we'd have to take on." - FRED JOERGER

The tiniest spark of an idea is no small thing. Even if born upon the tattered edge of a paper napkin, it may well grow up to be the size of something special.

"If I could pick any job here, I'd move my office to the Imagineering building and immerse myself in all that lunacy and free-thinking." - MICHAEL D. EISNER

"Walt Disney Imagineering is a true Renaissance organisation. The only people I see who are successful at changing the world are right here-people with special dreams." - RAY BRADBURY

While dreaming and scheming, we give the idea shape, whatever it might be for now. We ignore any obstacles it may present, for we are not yet concerned with how.

"Our sculpture studio is full of life. It is a little museum containing the histories of all the Disney Theme Parks." - ADOLFO PROCOPIO

"Walt would always spontaneously drop into your room to chat and see how you were doing. By the time he left, you were fired up with excitement about whatever it was you were working on." - FRED JOERGER

"Our main model shop should be designated a historical landmark. It has always been the design centre of the company. Everything we built started right here in this room." - ROLLY CRUMP

"The model shop is where the answers are." - ROLLY CRUMP

"Last year alone, we made 150 models. We don't save every model we've ever made, because if we did, we'd need 30 buildings just to house them all. But we have stored about 1,700 of those we feel are significant." - BILL VANEK

"Engineering here is a collision of art and science. It's Imagineering." - BRAN FERRIN

"Much of Fantasyland was architecturally designed to lean, slope and have that 'caved-in' storybook appearance. When the contractor came on board to frame the buildings, we found that because he was not used to building things that were crooked, he proceeded to frame them straight to 'correct' our 'mistakes'. After a few weeks of Disney orientation, he was finally able to embellish our intent." - DAVID VAN WYK

"Despite the tremendous odds against us, we always seem to figure out how to make it work. You just have to be optimistic by nature." - BRUCE JOHNSON

"I relate what we do to ballet. The dancer makes it look easy although it is difficult to do. Their legs have to be so strong, and yet, they look so graceful." - DAVE TAYLOR

"In the year before Disneyland opened, you just couldn't escape Walt. He toured the place daily. After I finished planting a pepper tree beside the Plaza Pavilion Restaurant, Walt walked by and made a comment in passing that it was a little too close to the curb. So I moved all ten tons of it a little ways back. The next day he walked by and didn't say a word. He just smiled." - BILL EVANS

"Walt looked at every single graphic that went into the park, not just the main marquees. He knew them all. Along with everything else that established a sense of what the park was all about, they were well thought out. I still look at them and learn from them today." - RUDY LORD


Pause for thought............  :mickey2:


peep

#1
Wow, that must have taken you ages to type out.

Its great to read through those qoutes, shows how much detail was added to the parks and the standard Walt tried to keep it to, amazing.
Next visit to DLP: October 26th
Coaster Count: over 320

RnRCj

#2
Some of those quotes are quite interesting. I enjoyed reading through them :)

-breeno-

#3
Great quotes there javey, you must of spent some time looking for them and typing them out.  Well done :D
"You\'re dead if you aim only for kids. Adults are only kids grown up, anyway."
- Walt Disney

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Javey74

#4
Hi Everyone

Well it did take quite a while, between finding the quotes then typing them.  I added them initially to part of a website I was building.  :wink:  

Fortunately the second time I've displayed them is on this forum, so I cheated (nothing like the good old copy and paste)  :lol:

Saying that, I still had to run through them adding the italic and bolding where required.  :D

Still, pleased to see that you found some of them quite interesting.  :wink: