Designing Disney: Imagineering and the Art of the Show (A Walt Disney Imagineering Book)

This book was enjoyable on several fronts. The pictures (especially Hench's drawings from the late 50s and 60s) are gorgeous. The chapter on using color was a revelation. And the reminiscences of Walt Disney and Imagineers Hench worked with over a long career are nuggets of gold. I read the first half of the book on the plane coming back from DisneyWorld, so it is not a ponderous tome. But I chose to slowly savor the remainder of the book. That's the only reason it sat in my "currently reading" shelf as long as it did.

John Hench joined the Walt Disney Studios animation department in 1939, became an Imagineer in 1954, and continued working up until a few days before his death in 2004. So there's no one better to write about how Disney Parks are designed with an emphasis on detail and drawing the viewer in as an active participant. I particularly like how he talked about a three-dimensional cross-disolve, using a film term to describe the ways in Disney Imagineers design transitions between different lands and attractions. Hench also goes into great detail about how different colors are used, and how he gave a lot of thought to the color of the sky in Anaheim, Orlando, Tokyo, Paris, and Hong Kong. This is a nice, richly-illustrated dive into the world show more of imagineering, although I admit I'm still looking for the book that will really get into the nitty-gritty. show less