I had sent a letter to several Disney executives about my concerns over the current state of imagineering. I received one reply, from Marty Sklar (Vice Chairmand and Principle Creative Executive) head of WDI. The tone of the reply was very congenial as Marty said he just wanted to vent a little. While I won't rehash all the details, I thought it would be OK to share the following, since they relate to some on-going rumors we have discussed here in the past.
JIYI
WDI Downsizing
Coming Attractions
JIYI
Funny, since I never made any comment relating the lack of Figment and the quality of this attraction. Must have gotten me confused with all those other focus groups. I guess a surprise Monsters redo is not in the cards.No question we missed on this one. But it will have a new life, and I am confident you and other Figment fans will applaud the results
WDI Downsizing
He implied that the workload over the past 6 years has been abnormally high with TDS, DCA, and Studios Paris so close together, and it was just not practical to maintain this level of employment with only Hong Kong (2006) now in development. Assured me thay had sufficient core talent base to take on whatever challenge WDW asks them.Today we have 1700 Imagineers, and the number will remain close to that for the foreseeable future
Coming Attractions
Sounds like Mickeys Philarmagic could be a real winner. I dont know about you, but this strong endorsement sure got me excited. I wonder if Philarmagic will open in 2003 as well?I will eagerly await your rating of Mission:SPACE at EPCOT when it opens in 2003, and a new quintessential 3D experience we are creating for the Magic Kingdom. These are both examples of the highest order of what you refer to as our legacy of innovation and novelty. I can assure you that they will be two of the greatest attractions that have ever been created for Disney parks, anywhere in the world