D23 announces Marty Sklar's retirement today!

[Circarama]

D23 announced Marty Sklar's retirement today in an email update. Here's a link to the article.

Another of Walt's Faithful (probably the last) leaves the Company. Thanks for everything Marty.

A couple of years ago I had the pleasure of meeting Marty in person at an NFFC event in Oakhurst CA. The out-of-the-way venue assured an intimate event, which did not disappoint.




Here's a great video that Marty brought along for our viewing pleasure.




Happy Trails Marty!!

[yoyoflamingo]

Congrats to Marty! He will be missed at WDI.

[ryanvalle]

Wowsers. Another great Disney legend is retiring.

I wonder what retirement will really be like for him. What I mean is how involved will he still be with the company even after his retirement.

[Dustysage]

Marty has had a long and proud history with the company that he obviously loves. Some will remember his work as Walt's prize PR guy. Some his work in Imagineering. And others will think of him as the guy who put DCA on the map and presided over Imagineering as round after round of talented Imagineers were let go.

Marty is quoted:

"The thing I'm proudest of is that I hired so many people that are now the top people at Imagineering, and I think of them all as my kids. And my kids have all grown up and they are really talented and they know what they're doing and I'm pretty proud of playing a role in their growth and development. You know, there have been a couple times when it would have been easy for the company to say to Imagineering, 'You guys are too expensive and we're going to hire this out.' And that if that happened, the company would be a lot different now. You can't do what Imagineering does. You have to have your creative staff and key engineers and designers and they have to be inside."

The quote above is both sad and ironic. I'm glad that Marty is getting a happy send-off from the company. I just wish he was leaving without so many heavy chains around his neck. He was certainly placed in some difficult positions in the last decade of his WDI career.

If you all get the chance, read the D23 story about Marty's history with Disney. It is quite remarkable.

-Dusty

[goofystitch]

He certainly was great. I saw him speak at Epcot's 25th Anniversary and I bumped into him in April at the Soda Fountain and Studio Store. He had just attended the premier of Earth and I happened to be there having lunch.

[Figaro]

Circarama - Thank you for sharing this! I really enjoyed reading and watching.

Congratulations to Marty on his retirement.