An Interview with Paul Pressler, Part Two
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Pressler talks to Art Linkletter at opening of Disney's California Adventure.
Linkletter was one of the hosts of Disneyland's opening day broadcast.

LP: Disney fans have a very strong opinion of Walt would do and Walt wouldn’t do? How hard is it to make decisions about the parks with that in mind?

Pressler: It’s very hard. I’d like to think that I have become more of a student of Walt and his philosophies. And we are never going to be able to answer the question "What would Walt do?" I can only rely on things that he did and things that he said and then most importantly rely on traditions of Imagineers, particularly Marty Sklar who I talk with everyday just to have a sanity check on "what would Walt do?" Marty always says Walt would want to create excellence - he always wanted to push the envelope. Walt always wanted better stories and he wanted a new piece of technology and he wanted to change something else.

And it’s hard for Disneyland. I’ll get letters from guests that say "in 1966 I proposed to my wife on the bench in front of the Castle and you guys changed the color of the bench or you moved the bench - how dare you do that!" I get those letters. And I realize that at the end of the day I can’t make everyone happy and, more importantly, those traditions are what make us successful. It’s very hard when you’re changing something - not so much because of tradition, but because you are impacting the memories of the place. But, I think Walt demonstrated the importance of constantly changing. He wanted to change Tomorrowland every day after he built it. So you can’t be afraid to look back,  because Walt did say he didn’t want a museum. It was a place for families to come in a safe, quality environment to enjoy themselves.

So it is a huge challenge of the job. I won’t deny that at all. I think between John Hench and Marty Sklar there are enough folks that literally walked with Walt in the park and continue to be the guiding light for what’s appropriate and what’s not appropriate. And they’ll tell you, sometimes they do things today - like they did things back then - that Walt didn’t agree with. So it’s a challenge.

But it’s not change for the sake of change, it really is change if you believe you’re telling a new, exciting, compelling story. So whether it’s in Walt Disney World taking Mr. Toad out and putting in Winnie the Pooh - "my goodness, how could you dare do that?" Well, you know, it’s a tough one. And Walt’s tradition was to bring in new television shows and new characters into the park. He’d say "of course" but of course when in doing it you’re removing such a tradition like that, it’s a hard decision. We have to keep moving forward. That is the most important lesson we can get from Walt.

LP: What do you think of the Internet and fan sites and unofficial sites?

Pressler: Ahh .. I knew you were going to ask this question. You know, I would answer it very honestly, which is at the end of the day, what clearly is disturbing is when you see things - whether it be in the Internet or whether it be in the printed press - that are just not factually correct or that are rumors based on innuendo that don’t have any truth behind it. That’s hurtful and I don’t think that it serves a purpose.

Having said that, I wouldn’t give the Internet up for a minute. The reason being is that if if we truly believe our success is based upon our ability to meet the needs of our guests, then I want to hear it - the good, bad and indifferent - and that’s important. I take it with a grain of salt. I clearly look at things say "Ahhh! How could they possibly write that? That’s not true, I was in that meeting and that never happened!" That part is frustrating. But at the same time we want to do that, we want to hear it because there are nuggets of good ideas or nuggets of truth. We’re not perfect, we make mistakes and I want people to hold us to a standard that is perfection. I hope that when we do make mistakes, we are quick to react and make changes. And I am confident that we have been willing to try to do over the years.

Pressler at a ceremony honoring the World Cup winning US Women's Soccer Team

LP: On a more personal note, as you know, you have been vilified on the Internet for years - probably more than any other Disney figure. How do you handle that?

Pressler: You know what? I can only look at it and say I must be doing my job (laughs). Because it was interesting, I looked back at an article that was written in August of 1955 in which the critics just took Walt apart. "This Disneyland park is a debacle, it’s a mess, it’s this, that and the other thing." And you know what he said? "What do the critics know?" At the end of the day, he too had has critics for his movies and his theme parks, so the only way I can look at it is flattery (laughs). You know what? I see it as a positive thing that there are enough changes and exciting things going on that people want to talk about it. Otherwise, the critics wouldn't care and that would be a horrible legacy.