Does anyone know the name Eddie Sotto? Anyway, here’s his interview

[DVC-Landbaron]

I found this on Themed Attraction.Com also called the Imagination Portal (I guess, it was my first visit there). It seems that Eddie Sotto was recently Senior Vice President of Concept Design at Walt Disney Imagineering and is currently Chief Creative Officer at Progress City (maybe AV or someone can fill in some more details).

He has a three part interview. I’m currently through about half of the second and thought some of you might like the link. It’s pretty long, but fairly interesting. Have fun!!!!


Eddie Sotto interview Part #1


Eddie Sotto interview Part #2


Eddie Sotto interview Part #3

 

[dragonflymanor]

DVC,

I've been at ThemedAttraction.com for a while. Eddie seems to be a real straight-up guy. Check out the message boards for some good debates on the finer points of attraction design. They move slower than Disboards (but what doesn't). There is one poster who used to work for Universal Creative and couple of people who work for ITEC (big guys in the Themed Entertainment business).

Have fun with the interviews, don't forget about Nate's interviews they are very enlightening.

Roger
Founder and Principal
Dragonfly Manor
Design, Entertainment, Productions

 

[Tannerman]

Sotto has done some interviews with LaughingPlace.com, you might want to search there for more context. I know he was involved with the Bon Voyage store at TDS...

 

[EUROPA]

Good read and I agree with him about the non-theme for the Dueling Dragon Coasters. Looks like they just cut the project short at the end. Maybe they spent too much on the queue.

Seems to have missed the mark about this prediction that Universal could not keep fresh paint on the place. What is it the Third or fourth year for IOA and the park still looks great.

 

[larworth]

I used to visit the site awhile back, but as dragonflymanor says it can be a little slow. I don't know if this is still the case, but there was also a particular personality that took some of the enjoyment away from the discussions for me.

I always found Eddie to be very gracious and open with everyone. It is clear the he has a real passion for trying to WOW people. I find him very credible and it would be great if we could get him to drop in here from time to time to set us straight.

 

[dragonflymanor]

Larworth,

Gee, I wonder who you might be referring to.... I think that personality's perspective is going to be changing. I just write it off as youthful exuberance. After all, I work with software engineers who have egos the size of Montana, so I'm used to it.

Roger

 

[Another Voice]

Mr. Soto was one of the people who really “got” what Disney Imagineering was all about. It’s evident in his work and in the interview. He made some interesting points in the interview that highlight a lot about what we’ve discussed around here. Just a couple of quick comments:

“Eisner thought the 1920's flapper jazz era made us look less innocent. (Of course, that is how Europeans see America at that time.) Later he admitted to me that we should have done the 1920's theme.

The fight over Euro Disney’s direction was more “energetic” than Mr. Sotto lets on and left a lot of bitter feelings between the creative staff (which wanted to build a masterpiece) and Eisner (and his relentless efforts to dumb-down the entire project). It was this gap between WDI and the executives that lead directly to Eisner’s dismantling of WDI as a separate organization and to exodus of its creative staff. And the funny thing is that Eisner’s version of the development cost much more than WDI’s version would have. It wasn’t a battle about over-the-top designers and sharp-penciled executives – it was a fight over design philosophy and intent.

Mr. Sotto’s work on the Space Pavilion was quite a while ago. It was replaced by the current ‘Mission: Space’ attraction. Read the parts about the difference between the Tokyo Disneyland version of ‘Winnie the Pooh’ and WDW’s version and you’ll get a hint about what’s going on.

Herb Ryman was a true genius – ”It doesn’t cost any more to do it right or add the value of a significant story,” he [Herb Ryman] said. "Bad taste costs no more."

Lastly from Mr. Sotto –

“Designers have the curse of knowing what things could have been. We see only the warts and missing elements in our projects and often miss the successes. The public is blessed; they see the good and want to believe.”

It’s that growing gap between what Disney COULD do and what they ARE doing that most distresses the people “behind the curtain”. Yes, there have been wild plans and grandiose ideas from the very outset. But never has the company had so many resources yet set its goals so low. It is nice when the public responds to any project, but the real designers don’t want people to be pleased with WDW ‘Pooh’ or just accepting of Dino-Rama – they want the public to be amazed.

The worst insult you can give to any designer is to say “that was a nice ride”. That is not Disney. They want people to be overwhelmed by the experience, they want people breathless and awed - that is Disney. Or at least it used to be.

 

[airlarry!]

I know I have said this before, but if you read the interviews with Eddie and with John L from Pixar, one can't help but wonder what this company would be like if they were in charge of Parks and Feature Animation, respectively.

Just a tidbit...if you have the Disneyworld Parks CD, and you hear his version of the Space Mountain theme (for DL I believe), you will hear Eddie's voice. He does the "This is tower: Launch sequence engaged" bit.