Joe Rohde Marks Final Day as a Disney Imagineer

Via wdwnt.com

After four decades of creating memorable Disney Parks experiences, Joe Rohde, one of the most prolific Imagineers is marking his last day at Disney. But on his way out, he left the company a gift.

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Joe Rohde shared this picture on his Instagram account, sharing a toast with his family to commemorate the day. He also expressed his ambitions for his life after Disney in the post:

“Well. This is it. I will be just Joe Rohde, creative guy, after today. I still plan to work some, but in new areas and new mediums, and I’d also like to just paint. I heard that the postponed Explorers Club expedition to Nunavut, way up north, is back on, so I can prepare for next August when that will happen. Since November when I announced my retirement from Imagineering, I’ve received lots of very nice congratulations and testimonials from people for whom my work has made a difference. That is gratifying and I’m very thankful to all. People have also warned me about feeling bored by retirement… but I truly have so many deferred projects that I know I cannot complete them all in any rational amount of time I may have. Books. Paintings. Sculptures. Plays. Chores. Expeditions, and time to spend with my wife Melody, whom I met when we were still in school and who has been with me through all of this huge adventure…and with my boys, now grown young men starting their own careers. As much as I have enjoyed my work, and the joy it has brought to so many…my family has always been my first and greatest love. Last night we all got together (only one lives off the Rohde campus right now) we raised our glasses and toasted. .. “Here’s to forty years.”

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Meanwhile, Imagineer Zach Riddley shared the gift on his own Instagram account. To cap off his career, Rohde donated his pair of work boots, which he wore on every project he worked on, to The Walt Disney Archives. Riddley also mused on Rohde’s impact, sharing:

“Joe Rohde is many things – painter, historian, conservationist, Imagineer, mentor and – most meaningfully – a friend. And that friendship goes to my first days at Imagineering. I met Joe like so many – in the midst of a project. He and his team were working on the design that would become Expedition Everest. My first meeting with Joe he pulled out a clay model he was sculpting to show the team how the rock work of the mountain would be positioned, leading and teaching while his hands moved the clay around the wireframe of the mountain, balancing craft and budget in each movement. In that moment it was clear to me what made Joe such a special Imagineer – leading a creative effort with both sides of his brain at once.

In the years since I have shared many meetings and personal conversations with Joe. He always made time to connect and discuss our work and our world – and I left every one of those conversations with a greater appreciation for what our work brings to the world. And greater respect for what it means to lead teams by example. 

Joe always followed his projects to the field. He led from concept to opening day, and fun fact that I learned just recently – Joe wore the same work boots for ALL of his projects, he’d just resole them when needed. That’s what you see in the pictures here – with names of each completed project scribbled on the side, capturing history in the making. 

Joe has donated these boots – that touched the ground during some of our most iconic endeavors – to the Walt Disney Archives. They will preserve these boots for future generations of Disney Imagineers, fans and historians. 

Thank you Joe for teaching us how to be better stewards of this world and how to create experiences that entertain, educate and inspire. No one can fill your boots, but we are ready to continue the legacy of curiosity and courage that defines your designs and teams. 

I can’t wait to see what you do next my friend.”

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Thanks to a close up, we can see some of the projects written on the boots, including EPCOT’s Norway Pavilion, Pleasure Island, Disney’s Animal Kingdom and related projects Asia, Chester & Hester’s Dino-Rama, Expedition Everest and Pandora: The World of Avatar, as well as Aulani, Disney’s resort in Hawaii.

Robo Carts Have Arrived at Walt Disney World Golf Courses

Walt Disney World Golf is continually looking for ways to enhance the golf experience and their latest innovation is already turning heads up and down the fairways around Walt Disney World Resort. Check out the details and visit below from DisneyParksBlog introducing the Robo-Cart!

If you’ve ever walked around an 18-hole golf course carrying your clubs or using a push cart, you know that can be exhausting. Disney Golf aims to ease that hardship with the Robo-Cart, a small robotic golf cart that uses GPS and Bluetooth technology to transport your clubs safely around the course.

Golfers merely clip on the cart’s small transmitter (I found that attaching it to your belt behind your back works best), load your golf bag on it and then the autonomous cart follows a few paces behind you wherever you go. If you stop, the cart stops. If you start walking, the cart starts moving (max speed is approximately 7 mph).

Obviously you have to be a little careful when you’re walking across narrow bridges or along any lakes on the course, but Disney Golf officials told me the GPS technology in the carts is very accurate and, as a result, they have not had any incidents of golfers leading the carts into any trouble.

Robo Cart at Walt Disney World Golf

The Robo-Carts, designed by Club Car, are also equipped with all of the amenities that golfers need –  beverage cooler, cup holder, sand bottle and even a USB port so you charge your smartphone while you play. The front of the cart has a color GPS screen that gives you all of the standard yardage information typically available on full-size riding golf carts.

Walt Disney World Resort is one of only a few places in the surrounding area where you’ll find these robotic carts in use. They are ideal for Disney’s Oak Trail golf course, a 9-hole walking course that appeals primarily to families and younger golfers, however they are also available if you want to walk the 18-hole Magnolia and Palm championship courses.

The best part is the Robo-Carts rent for only $10 in addition to your green fees. They are available only at the Palm, Magnolia and Oak Trail courses. Check out the Disney Golf website to learn more.

And here’s another tip for you: If you’re interested in playing on Saturday or Sunday mornings, you can book your tee time at least six days in advance to get a 10 percent discount on your green fees ($49 plus tax). It’s part of a new “Early Bird’’ program for weekend tee times before 11:30 am.

These two new features should help elevate your golf experience and maybe even help you get a hole-in-one. If you do, you’ll be added to our new Hole-In-One Club where you’ll be featured on our Hole-In-One Club website and presented with a personalized Hole-In-One Club certificate.

Just book your tee time at www.golfwdw.com and ask about our Hole-In-One Club and our Early Bird program, or rent a Robo-Cart when you check in at the clubhouse. See you on the tee box!

Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster at Disney’s Hollywood Studios Closed For Third Day In a Row

Via wdwnt.com

For the third day in a row, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster has failed to open at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. It has yet to open at all in 2021.

The attraction did not open on January 1, 2021, due to technical difficulties and remained closed yesterday. It is still listed as “temporarily closed” in My Disney Experience, as of 11:20 AM on January 3, 2021.

Pixar Artists Share a Behind the Scenes Look into Creating “Soul”

Via wdwnt.com

The latest film from Disney and Pixar, “Soul” was released on December 25th, 2020, and was met with a generally positive reaction from audiences. Many praised the film for its writing and storytelling, its emotional musical score, and the art of the characters and environments.

To give us a look into what went into bringing “Soul” to life, several artists from Pixar took to their personal Twitter accounts to share a few examples of the art processes and break down what went into creating some of these massive environments, such as The Great Before.

The Twitter account @JunHanCho1, who was the Set Supervisor for the film, began with sharing some inspiration behind some of the New York sets, such as a house seen in the background being inspired by a shading artist from Pixar!

He also goes onto share one of the modeling guides the artists used, making sure to note that a “sense of Jazz” should be incorporated into the prop and set pieces.

Another artist, Julian Fong or @levork, created a massive thread that went into great detail about lightning the characters and environments.

While the thread gets a bit technical, if you happen to be interested in 3D art, it’s fascinating to read about how the team went about lightning a volumetric set.

And if you do happen to interested in the nitty gritty and want more detail, @RyanMichero, a Lighting Lead for Pixar, followed up with his own thread discussing the tech behind the movie.

@JunHanCho1 was even kind enough to share an early working version of the walkway to The Great Beyond.

It takes a small army to create a 3D film, and Pixar employs some of the best artists in the industry. It’s exciting to see how many of them took time to share a “behind the scenes” look into what went into creating the movie, and we’ll be sure to pay extra attention to those details next time we watch “Soul.”

Disney Television Studios Halts Production Through January 17

According to a Deadline report, Disney Television Studios has extended its winter hiatus. The Studios, which was set to resume production January 11, will now return January 18. The extended shutdown affects 16 television series, including Disney-owned ABC’s Grey’s AnatomyStation 19American HousewifeBlack-ishMixed-ish, and Rebel. The Disney+ series Big Shot is also affected.

The extended hiatus results from a surge in COVID-19 infections and deaths in Los Angeles County. The Southern California region recently had its stay-at-home order extended.

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Disney Television Studios also produces shows for other networks. Additional shows on extended production hiatus are:

NBC

  • This Is Us

Fox

  • 911
  • 911: Lone Star
  • Last Man Standing

FX

  • American Crime Story: Impeachment
  • American Horror Story
  • Mayans

Hulu

  • The Orville
  • Love, Victor