A top official of the Walt Disney design team says the company wants local talent in Asia where markets for theme parks are growing. Walt Disney Imagineering creative senior vice president Joe Lanzisero said the Magic Kingdom is looking for local talent to help in designing the context of Hong Kong Disneyland resort.
"It is really important to have a deep understanding of the market by having local people be part of your team," he said. Lanzisero said about 70 teams comprising students from eight institutions, the Hong Kong Arts Centre and the Vocational Training Council have submitted applications and about 12 to 16 teams will be shortlisted to present their projects in late November.
The winning team, to be announced in December, will get an expenses-paid trip to the Walt Disney Imagineering headquarters in California as well as a six weeks' work experience at Hong Kong Disneyland. "I am looking forward to working with local students who understand the culture here," he said.
Lanzisero said that when designing Asia's first Toy Story Land - to open in Hong Kong next month - the work involved a lot of creativity in that they had to make the guests feel "small."When guests enter the land, they will become "toys" against the gigantic footprints of Andy, who is the owner of the toys in the movie. "Creativity is being able to come up with something new and which no one has thought of before," he said.
Disneyland had to consider many aspects when designing Toy Story Land, such as safety, how to present the characters and what aspects would interest guests. He believes the land will be the most beautiful setting on Lantau. Lanzisero, 55, said Woody is his favorite character because he can see things in more dimensions.
Lanzisero began his Disney career in 1979 in feature animation. In 2007, he was promoted to vice president of Walt Disney Imagineering, which is the master planning, design, engineering, and research and development arm. All designs for Hong Kong Disneyland are supervised by him.