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Disney News > Article
Imagineer Joe Rohde To Receive NFFC Disney Legend Award
5/19/2008 1:58 PM EST
Imagineer Joe Rohde will receive the NFFC Disney Legend Award during the club's annual California Convention in July. The award will be presented during the Luncheon with a Disney Legend on Saturday, July 19.
Joe is an executive designer and vice president with Walt Disney Imagineering. He is currently in charge of design and development for Disney's Animal Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort. Joe has led conceptualization, design, and production for Disney's Animal Kingdom since its inception in 1990. An avid adventurer, Joe has traveled in Indonesia, Nepal, India, Bhutan, Kenya, Tanzania and elsewhere, both on his own and in the process of designing Disney's Animal Kingdom.
Most recently, Joe has led the development and production of Expedition Everest, the new thrill attraction featuring a dramatic encounter with the fierce yeti, at Disney's Animal Kingdom. This project took him and other Imagineers to the far corners of the Himalayas, researching the background details to incorporate into the very authentic environment designed for Expedition Everest. As with many other projects at Disney's Animal Kingdom, this involved a conservation mission as well, to regions where the legend of the yeti persists. Joe accompanied the scientists who documented the biodiversity of these areas, while he investigated oral traditions of the yeti to incorporate into the storytelling of the attraction.
Joe began his career at Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) as a model designer and scenic painter in 1980, working on the Mexico pavilion for Epcot. He also worked as a designer on numerous attractions for the new Fantasyland at Disneyland, Captain EO, the Norway pavilion for Epcot, and the Adventurers Club at Pleasure Island. Joe received his bachelor's degree from Occidental college in Los Angeles. Before becoming an Imagineer, he taught art, art history and theater design at Chaminade Preparatory High School in the San Fernando Valley.
The NFFC Disney Legends program honors those who have made a significant contribution to the Disney legacy. To date, more than 80 people from all facets of the Disney company have been honored. Additional honorees for 2008 will be announced shortly.
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