John Lasseter the New Walt Disney?

[disneylanddad]

I was watching the short video at the Blue Sky Cellar yesterday and it shows footage of Lasseter over seeing the models and concepts of some of the new DCA expansion projects, and it reminded me of another person that could be seen doing the same thing from time to time. Lasseter did start out in the park as a Skipper and was very instrumental in the pixar "digital" age of Disney, just as Walt was in the hand drawn animation. Also if you notice, what Lasseter does in the parks turns out incredible! Submarine voyage and Midway Mania are his most recent. I am really excited that he is heavily involved in the DCA makeover having seen his work.

So what do you think, is John Lasseter the New Walt Disney of the 21st century?

[techskip]

What Would John Think?

[Steve DeGaetano]

Well, Walt Disney and John Lasseter do share a very personal trait: Their passion for trains.

[JiminyCricketFan]

When Walt was alive, he was known as the best story man in Hollywood. Lasseter has over and over again emphasized that the story is the most important thing in the movie.

There are other similarities, including their childlike demeanor, interest in theme parks and so on.

So many have aspired to be the "next Walt Disney" that it is hard to crown someone with that title. Eisner tried, but simply was too self centered to pull it off. Jeffery Katzenberg studied all the notes and comments Walt left on story development when he was at Disney. I am sure that with Dreamworks he as aspired to have the "next Walt Disney."

But I would have to agree that Lasseter is as close as anyone to being the creative genius that Walt was.

[manifest]

I really do enjoy John's enthusiasm. It actually seems genuine.
Everybody interviewed in the video played in the blue sky cellar uses
the word "exciting". Lasseter seemed like the only one who actually
sounded excited.

With that said, you consider Finding Nemo Slumberine Voyage "incredible"?

[disneylanddad]

Originally Posted by manifest

With that said, you consider Finding Nemo Slumberine Voyage "incredible"?

Yup, especially if you look at it from a tech stand point.

[Datameister]

I haven't been to the Blue Sky Cellar, and I haven't met John, and I haven't experienced some of the attractions based on his films, so my opinion is not completely well-informed. However...my short answer is no.

That's not to say I don't think he's a creative genius. I've greatly enjoyed every Pixar film so far. They really have a wonderful spark to them - a lovely combination of technological prowess and artistic creativity. However...in general, I don't think they transfer well to theme parks. They don't attempt to be photorealistic, and their stylization tends to just come off as plasticky in theme park environments. And the thing about John is that he seems to feel differently.

As far as theme parks go, one of the things I appreciate most about Walt and the earlier Imagineers was their willingness to be original and create attractions and lands that had no direct tie-ins to exterior franchises. In a lot of cases, they certainly took advantage of popular interests and of settings or genres in recent Disney films...but many of the attractions existed as standalone pieces of art. There were just enough movie-related attractions to satisfy that particular hunger in the guests, and many of them were very tastefully done to avoid hitting the guests over the head with story or thematic inappropriateness.

In the film world, yes, I'd say John Lasseter is about as close to the "next Walt Disney" as one could get. But not in theme parks. Not one of "his" attractions so far has combined thematic relevance, entertainment value, and high-quality execution.

[Uncle Bob]

Nemo's not that great and was mostly designed without much influence from John. I think it's very likely that the work done under his supervision will be significantly better than Nemo, at least in terms of its conception. My one worry would be that he doesn't seem to be standing up for any original attraction ideas. I don't know, he's a very talented story teller, that's for sure, I just don't think we've seen enough to really judge his impact on the parks yet.

[Steve DeGaetano]

See Data, there are times when we CAN completely agree with each other!

[techskip]

Originally Posted by Steve DeGaetano

See Data, there are times when we CAN completely agree with each other!

What Would John Steve Think?

[Uncle Bob]

What would Walt think about Tech thinking about Steve thinking about Data thinking about John not being like him? That's the real question.

[Steve DeGaetano]

^^lol!!

[Sorcerer's Apprentice]

No.

Not in my opinion. Walt is Walt. The best anyone can ever hope to be is a "Protégé".

Walt is the MASTER park craftsman. He had a way to realize his visions into reality that I've seen in no one.

John is a gifted man, don't get me wrong. But nowhere near the grand stature of Walt Disney.

[Mr Wiggins]

Walt was Walt because of many things, including his talent, his personality and the position he held in his company.

Walt ran Disney. John works for Disney.

[Legacy]

I've given this topic some thought (heck, I think we all have). But like everyone else has said, Walt was one of a kind. He had a spirit, genius, and optimism that was almost unreal. As far as I'm concerned, I don't think we'll ever see anyone that resembles Walt again.

The good news is, even though John Lasseter isn't Walt, he still bears quite a few of his personal traits. Lasseter is willing to put story first and, even better, knows how to tell a good story. He cares about putting a quality product out. I think he may be a little out of his league with theme parks, and I'm not fond of all the movie-based rides he's behind, but he's one of the best things we've had in a long time.

We'll never have Walt again, but Lasseter is one of the closest things we'll have, even though the closest thing we can have is still a long way off.