Wednesday, May 30, 2007

To all who come to this happy site...Welcome!


"To all who come to this happy site... Welcome... May it be a source of joy and inspiration to all who read it."

I thought that an appropriately geeky way to kick off this blog. For those that may not know W.E.D. (Walter Elias Disney) Enterprises was what Walt Disney originally called Disney Imagineering, the division of the company that came up with and executed ideas for all things Disneyland.

So who am I? And what is this blog about? Let me start off by saying...this isn't an attempt to get a job at Imagineering. Although it would be a blast to be an Imagineer, I'm very happy as an animator.

I grew up in Southern California and frequented Disneyland from a young age. In High School I was involved in the Herbert Ryman: Living Masters Program, now called Ryman Arts. A program set up by the late Imagineering artist Herbert Ryman. Being enrolled in this program I was able to attend the life drawing workshops at Imagineering in Glendale. And let me tell you- that was cool! I was so inspired by all the things I saw going on in that building. And man did I learn a lot drawing next to those guys. I eventually ended up going to CalArts for Character Animation and then went on to work at Disney Feature Animation for 4 years. I've since picked up the 3D animation tool set and am a happy, well adjusted, 3D character animator!

So that, in a nutshell, is my very loose affiliation with Disney and even looser affiliation with Imagineering. Now what is this blog about? This blog is me, as a guy who has always loved the Disney Parks, trying to make them a little better, or at least a little more user friendly. So I thought I'd start this little blog and offer my own ideas for what they are worth. Believe me, as much as I wish I was another Marc Davis... I know I'm not. But I do see some things that could be better and I think I have some OK and relatively practical ideas for the parks.

So stay tuned and enjoy!