INTERVIEW
Using a detailed model, Walt Disney shows Ford Motor Company CEO Henry Ford II the features dreamed up for the Ford pavilion
The Magic Skyway was made by the Imagineers for Ford Motor Company’s pavilion at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York
The pavilions were viewed as a huge success and laid the foundations for
Disney’s later commercial partnerships. Firms
could see what Disney could do for them
new attractions. It was brilliant marketing on Walt’s part,” says Sklar. As well as being involved in the writing for the World’s Fair – Sklar scripted Walt Disney’s narrative for the Ford World exhibition – he was Disney’s main liaison to the major corporate sponsors. As part of the process for creating the Ford Pavilion, he spent three weeks touring parts of the Ford Motor company trying to understand what they wanted to communicate. “Show us as an international and innovative company” was the message, and Sklar was tasked with communicating this in a 3D format. The results – and the World’s Fair
overall – were viewed as a huge success and laid the foundations for Disney’s later commercial partnerships. The legacy of these early partnerships can be seen today in the prominent brand experiences being created by fi rms like BRC Imagination Arts – which, incidentally, has just completed an immersive factory tour experience for Ford. “With Epcot we had to get sponsors to help defray the cost. When we opened in 1982, we had many big companies as sponsors: GM, Exxon, Kraft Foods and AT&T.”
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“The 1964 World’s Fair was where we got that foundation for understanding what we had to do to sell Epcot,” says Sklar. “We got the understanding of how to work with big companies – and fi rms could see from the World’s Fair what we could do for them.”
Love what you do
Despite the valuable collaborations with big business, there was never confusion as to which company was calling the shots. “We made sure people understood that, in Disney parks, Disney creates everything and the sponsors present the show. So the system we developed, at the beginning of Walt Disney World, was we’d put the name of the attraction, followed by ‘Presented by...’. We never put the name of the company fi rst – we always wanted people to know that it’s something Disney created.”
The 81-year-old Sklar is still involved in a number of projects. He recently published his autobiography, Dream It! Do It! and will release its sequel, One Little Spark!, later this year. He also wrote the introduction for fellow Disney legend Bob Gurr’s book. Sklar remains president of Ryman Arts, which he co-founded 25 years ago. The organisation has provided 6,000 scholarships to high-school students in Southern California through the Ryman Program for Young Artists. Sixty years since he met Walt Disney, what advice does Sklar pass on to those creating the next generation of attractions? “You have to be truly passionate about what you do as you’ll be happier and what you design will be better,” he says. “Most important is to do what you love and love what you do. That still holds true.” ●
AM 2 2015 ©CYBERTREK 2015
PHOTO: FROM THE COLLECTIONS OF THE HENRY FORD
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