In our shop, we take a great deal of pride in finishing the edges and back of our signs. Woodgrains are carefully hand-carved onto the edges, and we texture and paint every square inch of almost every sign that leaves our shop. Today, a spectacular sign caught my eye as we walked around Tokyo Disneyland, taking in every detail. The sign was in front of the carousel. The detail of the front face was breathtaking, with beautiful textures, hand-painted blends, fades, and some gold-leafed lettering to add that extra sparkle. Translucent diamond-shaped jewels were set into the face, and a golden carousel horse pranced atop the fanciness. The scroll wound beautifully around the twisting, crowned posts. As I walked around the sign, careful attention to detail blew me away, and as I looked at the rear of the sign, I was blown away, for it was every bit as detailed as the front. As I marvelled at the craftsmanship, I had to sneak into the planter to give it a gentle tap with my knuckle to ascertain what material it was made from. With that knowledge, I could figure out how it was made. Hats off to the designers and fabricators, for it is truly a work of art from any angle.
Could have been...
Back in 1994, Janis and I had the opportunity to visit Disneyland Paris. We explored the park in great detail over a two-week period. It is, in my opinion, the most beautiful Disney park. I was so impressed with what I saw that I wrote Tony Baxter, vice president of Disney Imagineering at the time and the person in charge of the creation of Disneyland Paris (EuroDisney back then), complementing him and his team. I included pictures of some of our work, mostly to let him know that my compliment was heartfelt and was from someone who understood how hard it was to do this kind of thing. A short while later, I received a letter back thanking me for my kind comments, along with an invitation to visit the Imagineering offices should I happen to be in the LA area. You can bet that I immediately started planning a trip to Disneyland a few weeks later.
Peter accompanied me to the Imagineering headquarters in Glendale. After signing the required NDAs, we were ushered into Mr. Baxter’s office. We had a brief chat, and Tony asked to see the portfolio of our recent work I had brought. He flipped through the pages and commented that my work was very Disneyesque, which he meant as a compliment. He then took me out on his executive office balcony overlooking the vast model shop with many talented people. With a wave of his arm, he casually offered me any desk of my choosing. I was surprised and deeply honoured but instantly turned down his generous offer. I knew how big a deal that job offer was and how most would kill for that same thing.
Tony was a little taken aback and asked me why I had turned it down. I briefly explained that in my current job, I could do both the design and fabrication of similarly creative but much smaller in scale projects… and I could do it in my backyard studio alongside my family and talented crew. After a brief pause, Tony then asked me if I would instead hire him. He then kindly summoned one of his model makers, who gave us a guided tour of the facility. Peter and I finished off our visit with lunch in the Imagineering dining hall. All in all, it was a truly memorable experience. And while I still hugely admire the Disney team’s creativeness, thirty years later, I have no regrets about my decision not to be a Disney Imagineer.
Popcorn anyone?
I love how the Disney Imagineers work so hard to eliminate unnecessary distractions from interrupting the story of each area. Small things do matter. In the Tokyo parks, they take snack stands, popcorn wagons and even coin-op drink dispensers over the top. This especially speaks to us as designers and builders because this is the scale of projects we love to do and can easily accommodate in our shop. These could easily be prefabricated and shipped wherever our client happened to be.
