As an educator at The Walt Disney Family Museum, it is my job to tell students the story of Walt Disney, his life, and his work. Last week after a particularly interesting tour with a high school class, the teacher asked me, “How would you inspire high school students who are interested in Imagineering?” Being a person who is usually good at thinking on her feet, I was momentarily stumped. I wanted to say something inspirational, meaningful, and worthwhile but I was drawing a blank. I was able to say something along the lines of “stay in school, look for internships… ” but after they left, I was disappointed in what I had said and started thinking about what I really wanted to say to the students.
I remembered back to when I was in high school and the first time I saw animators working at Walt Disney World and how my parents had to drag me out after about an hour of watching them work. I felt as if working collaboratively to make a film that brings people happiness would be the best job in the whole world. I became very interested in Disney animation and the man who started it all. Through what I learned about Walt Disney, I was inspired to trust my creative ideas and dreams for the future no matter how far-fetched they seemed to others. Although I ultimately chose a different path in terms of my education, I ended up at The Walt Disney Family Museum and get to discuss with students the life and work of the man who inspired me to never give up on my dreams.
Although I wish I could go back in time and say to the students what I wrote in the paragraph above, I ultimately decided the second best thing to time travel would be to give a voice to teachers and students on our museum blog and be a resource for both inspiration and career conversations in the fields of Imagineering, animation, and the arts.
Therefore, this is the first of what I hope to be many posts about this topic and I would like to start the conversation with this blog post, which profiles Imagineer Alfredo Ayala Jr. who got into the field because of his interest in chemistry and computers. There is a lot more to Imagineering than drawing and it takes the collaboration of over 140 different disciplines to create the magic of Disneyland. If any students reading this are interested in working for Disney but are not artistically inclined, this is an example of one of the many interests that can be pursued in the field of Imagineering!
Hillary Lyden
Interpretative Coordinator
at The Walt Disney Family Museum