Top Ten Quotes: The Imagineering Story
I’ve had Leslie Iwerks’ The Imagineering Story: The Official Biography of Walt Disney Imagineering on my “to read” shelf for way too long.
I say that, because the documentary that inspired the book is one of the best things Disney Plus has ever put out. I say that, because if anyone can tell the story, it’s Leslie Iwerks, granddaughter of Ub Iwerks, one of Walt’s original right-hand men.
The 752 page behemoth did not disappoint. It is crammed full of stories I’ve never heard and concepts I’ve never strung together.
So with this “top ten quotes” post, I’m going to do something a little different than in the past. I’ll give you some of my favorites below, but I’m also kicking off a very brief series to dive deeper into some of the quotes (and other stories). The goal is to draw some applications between The Imagineering Story and what leaders – especially those who lead in the church – can learn from it.
Here are my top ten favorite quotes:
- “When I see things I don’t like, I start thinking, ‘Why do they have to be like this and how can I improve them?’” (Walt Disney)
- The creation of a new kind of amusement park would require the invention of a new kind of artist.
- “There’s really no secret about our approach. We keep moving forward…because we’re curious. And curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” (Walt Disney)
- “[Walt] was never really satisfied, because he kept reaching for that intangible quality called perfection. And how do you know when you reach it? So, you keep reaching.” (Dick Nunis)
- “If it sounds plausible to me, if it sounds possible, I try to go with them on the experiment because you’ll never know what’ll happen.” (Walt Disney)
- “You can’t fool people…. They can tell when things are being shortchanged or you’re not paying attention to the details and putting the quality into something.” (Kim Irvine)
- “‘How many Imagineers does it take to change a light bulb?’ ‘Does it have to be a light bulb?'” (Kevin Rafferty)
- “All of our castles face south-southeast. The reason for that is because we never want any of our guests to be in the shadows with their photo taking. So they’re always in sun and they’ll always look beautiful in all of the shots.” (Doris Woodward)
- “Disneyland will never be finished. It’s something we can keep developing and adding to…. I’ve always wanted to work on something alive, something that keeps growing. We’ve got that in Disneyland.” (Walt Disney)
- “It’s kinda fun to do the impossible.” (Walt Disney)
See all the posts in this series:
- Top Ten Quotes: The Imagineering Story
- The Imagineering Story: See What’s Not There
- The Imagineering Story: See it from Their Side
- The Imagineering Story: See Their Wants (But Know Their Needs)
- The Imagineering Story: Help Them to See Strategically
- The Imagineering Story: See What They May Not See
Order The Imagineering Story.
See all posts in the Top Ten Quotes series.
See all the Top Ten Quotes books on Amazon:
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