LP Lotion: Joe Rohde on Animal Kingdom's Birthday
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Imagineer Joe Rohde gives a 45 minute presentation to Disney guests on Animal Kingdom's 10th birthday

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Videos

Four video clips are available that together make up the entire presentation. Click below to view.

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Animal Kingdom Vice President Val Bunting introduces Joe Rohde
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Imagineering has been around a long time. It's a diverse group in both work backgrounds and points of view.
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Joe recounts the very first meeting he had about Disney's Animal Kingdom. It was a very brief discussion with Michael Eisner possibly back in August 1989 where it was stated that people like animals and people like Disney. There were many ideas floating around the company and it was in many ways a dark horse. They had to overcome the Strategic Planning report that came to conclusion that Disney didn't want to enter the zoo business. The team saw the report as almost a guideline of what not to do in bringing a Disney animal park to life.

Disney's Animal Kingdom was developed in a similar way to a play, a movie or a novel. It was designed to tell a story. Joe explained that the best way to get the value out of Animal Kingdom is to slow down and digest the experience as you would read a complex novel.
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