Thank You for 54 Incredible Years

Today is July 17, 2009. It's the 54th anniversary of Disneyland, but it's also the last day Imagineering Ambassador Marty Sklar will report to work before enjoying a well-earned retirement. Marty is being honored today with the dedication of a new window on Main Street, U.S.A. It's an appropriate bookend in the place where his illustrious career started more than half a century ago.

Marty started working for Disneyland before the park even opened, helping to create the Disneyland News, a newspaper sold on Main Street from 1955 to 1957:

The next summer, after graduating from UCLA, Marty joined the Company full time, and he's been there ever since. He wrote the first official book on Disneyland. He contributed to countless shows and attractions. All those great quotes attributed to Walt Disney from the introductions to the TV anthology show? Marty Sklar wrote many of those. He is a Disney Legend in every way.

I feel incredibly honored to have had the opportunity to meet and talk with Marty Sklar, and it was a highlight of my career to work with him during my time writing at Walt Disney Imagineering. I first met Marty on opening day of the Disney-MGM Studios. Years later, when he would give me notes on some of my work, it was as if the voice of Walt were speaking through him to me.

Those notes remain a great treasure of mine, and they're representative of what will likely be Marty Sklar's greatest legacy: his passion for developing the next generation.

As Imagineering Ambassador, Marty has also done a tremendous service for both the future of WDI and Disney fans everywhere. Marty has worked tirelessly to get Imagineering and the Imagineers out of the secret shadows and into the public eye, most significantly through his support of the many books on the subject which have been published in the past decade.

Now, we just have to wait for Marty's book to be written (You reading this, Marty? Those blank pages are the most exciting thing in the world for us!). Until then, we can enjoy his work in the parks, in the forewords to the great Imagineering library, and in this letter he penned to his fellow Imagineers announcing the coming of this day in Disney history:

I’ve always thought that the two most important dates in Disney’s parks and resorts occurred in July and October. It was on July 17, 1955 that Walt realized his “dream come true” with the dedication of Disneyland. October 1, 1971 and October 1, 1982 marked the official opening days for the Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom and for Epcot (then “EPCOT Center”).

There’s an extra relevance for me: I was a working Disney cast member for all three of these openings…and for the eight that have followed. From Tokyo to Paris, Orlando to Anaheim, and finally (so far!) Hong Kong, I’ve sweated the final details of construction, installation and show “buy-offs” leading to the openings of all eleven Disney parks around the world. It is with considerable pride that I can say, “I’m the only Disney cast member who has participated in all eleven of those openings.”

I’m anxious to join my fellow Imagineers at the next grand opening, too. But for me, the thrill of watching those gates open and the first guests eagerly racing to the attractions that are already their favorites, will be different next time. Because I’ll be cheering you all on from the sidelines, as a retired Imagineer.

I have decided to turn in my name tag on one of those prime dates: July 17. In 2009, that date will mark Disneyland’s 54th birthday, and my 53rd year as a Disney cast member. (I returned to UCLA after Disneyland’s first summer to finish my senior year, then returned to Disneyland’s public relations department in September 1956.)

Naturally, I’ve been thinking back over those 53 years, and what memories they are, starting with that summer day in 1955. I can still see Walt reading the dedication plaque at Disneyland’s opening. Little did I dream that day, as a 21 year old, that I would spend parts of ten years writing personal material for that amazing man, one of the best known and loved in the entire world.

Of course, July 17, 1955 was just the first of those beautiful blank pages we would fill. It was my luck to be “the kid” among the pros…first in public relations at Disneyland, then at WED Enterprises, Walt’s own company – the home of the original Imagineers.

It was here at Imagineering, beginning in 1961, that my real education truly began. I owe much to UCLA (today I’m even a member of the Alumni Board of Directors), but my greatest “teachers” were right here in Glendale: John Hench, Dick Irvine, Herb Ryman, Claude Coats, Marc Davis, Blaine Gibson, Fred Joerger, Harriet Burns, Bill Martin, Rollie Crump, Roger Broggie, Bill Evans, Harper Goff, Bill Cottrell, Bob Jolley, Wathel Rogers, Yale Gracey. They were – they are – the true Legends, and though I was truly “the kid” among them, they accepted me and made me part of their team.

I had the privilege (as my own career grew from Staff Writer to Vice President of Concepts and Planning, and then to President and Vice-Chairman and Principal Creative Executive of Imagineering) of working with so many amazing talents, past and present. The Legends defined Imagineer and Imagineering, and you have carried on in the tradition they established: the standard of excellence. Walt created Imagineering, but Imagineers made it sing and dance. What Imagineers design and build has few precedents, but many followers.

Today your ability to marry new stories and characters with the wonders of new technologies is exciting to watch. I have long marveled at the capacity Imagineers have for letting new genies out of their bottles, granting wishes large and small for millions of guests around the world every year.

When I became the creative leader of Imagineering in 1974, one of the first calls I received was from the CEO of Disney, E. Cardon Walker. Walt Disney World had just celebrated its third birthday. “Now,” Card said, “what are we going to do about Walt’s idea for Epcot?”

The next 30 years or so filled so many blank pages they are almost like one of those “flip books”, where everything’s a blur. We created nine more Disney parks, including the five in international locations. Imagineering lived up to its roots and truly became the premiere design, engineering and construction organization in the world. The traditions of passion for our product, great storytelling and inspirational risk-taking – the traditions begun by Walt and those original Imagineers – not only continued, they grew and spread across the oceans.

For the last three years, as your Imagineering Ambassador. I’ve had a great time speechmaking and writing about creativity and leadership. I think I exceeded Jay’s expectations when he asked me to take on this role. We have created “Imagineering Week at the Studio”, represented all of you at special events and talked to thousands on college campuses, at IAAPA and TEA, at conventions across the country and Disney programs and events around the world. And I’ve had fun (that’s our business!) writing for many Disney outlets, especially my philosophy and history communications through Sklargazing on the WDI website.

Now it’s time to turn the page. So many of you have asked that I have finally actually begun writing that book about the people, the places and the passions I have experienced as an Imagineer.

As I said three years ago when my “ambassadorship” began, I know you will keep on dreaming big dreams, and creating the newest and best in the world. I’ll still be looking over your shoulders, cheerleading, and filling new blank pages. It’s the most important Imagineering tradition.