Pursuing the vision, Obsessing with detail
Yesterday was the opening day of Cars Land at Disney California Adventure Park.
Cars Land is a cool result of four visionaries pursuing their visions and obsessing with details relentlessly, undeterred by obstacles, setbacks and fear: Walt Disney, Steve Jobs, George Lucas and John Lasseter. Without those four titans of entertainment, Cars Land would not exist.
There’s not enough space here to tell the entire story of how the four men and their companies Disney, Apple, Lucasfilm and Pixar are linked, but some of the background can be found here.
I find myself referring back to especially Walt Disney almost constantly in my presentations, consulting and writing, because I see him as one of the original design thinkers, and one of those exceptional people who courageously think big yet always also obsess about details. Both are fundamental in creating a lasting, emotional connection with the consumer.
In 1954, only about a year before Walt Disney opened Disneyland, he needed a crucial injection of capital. As always, brother Roy was sent to the bankers, but he needed something tangible to show them. In one weekend, Walt and his trusted artist Herb Ryman created a concept drawing of the park. It helped Roy sell the vision to the bankers.
Even more remarkable, the vision of the world’s first theme park was so clear in Walt’s mind that still today, you can find your way in Disneyland by using that same concept drawing.
Perhaps even more important, when Walt talked about his ideas and vision for Disneyland at an amusement park leaders’ conference, they unanimously condemned his plans. It will not work. You cannot have only one entrance. You cannot make any money without selling alcohol or without having the “midway games.”
Walt wanted only one entrance so that every guest would experience the entrance to Disneyland exactly the same way. No alcohol and no midway games were both reason s why Walt originally started to think about a different kind of amusement park, a place where parents and children could have fun together. Alcohol or the seedy atmosphere of the midway hawkers did not fit the picture.
The story goes that when Walt returned from the amusement park conference where his plans were so completely rejected, he said happily something like: That’s when I knew I had it right!
By that time, of course, Walt Disney had already done several other impossible things, including creating one of the first-ever animated cartoons with synchronized sound (Steamboat Willie in 1928) and the first-ever full-length animated feature (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937.)
Just recently, Walt Disney Company was ranked as North America’s most reputable, and the world’s third-most reputable, company. Clearly, Walt Disney the visionary was onto something.
Guest blogger: Tuija Seipell, is a speaker, consultant and writer who helps companies create and clarify their brand, vision and strategy. She specializes in communications, customer experience, branding and design. For the past seven years, she’s also been the senior writer at The Cool Hunter one of the world’s most respected design and pop-culture blogs with more than 2 million monthly readers.