Friday, April 24, 2009

The Ending Chapter...


Marty Sklar, long time Imagineer and one of the last people to actually work with the Maestro himself has announced his retirement from WDI and the Walt Disney Company...

There through good times and bad, Marty was a true symbol of Imagineering. Blue Sky Disney wants to wish Marty the best in whatever endeavor he takes on. He was part of Walt's dream and now he's going on to pursue his own dreams.

Dream on, Marty. Dream on...

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Honor do you know if he wanted to retire or is it possible the mouse is forcing him out as more staffing cuts? I hope it was 100% his decision.
~Disney Vault

Spokker said...

Well, you have to wonder if his earlier "demotion" was his idea or if he was nudged toward it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marty_Sklar

http://www.laughingplace.com/Latest.asp?I1=ID&I2=983

"On February 16, 2006, the chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, the unit of the Walt Disney Company which serves as the umbrella for Walt Disney Imagineering, Jay Rasulo, announced that Sklar would resign from his current position and take up the new position of international ambassador for Walt Disney Imagineering. The occupation entails travelling around to art and design and architecture colleges, universities and other institutions around the world, offering seminars and attracting new talent to the company, as well as being a presence at future attraction and park openings, representing the company. Sklar said in a joint statement, "I knew that as my 72nd birthday and my 50th Disney anniversary approached, I would look for new challenges, so when Jay Rasulo asked me to talk about the future, I was 'all ears' to a challenging proposal Jay made. It not only seems to be one of those ideas that is overdue, but it was clear to me that I am the perfect casting (perhaps the only candidate) capable of originating and organizing this assignment.""

He's pretty old so who knows if he still has all his marbles. He was a company man until the end.