Tony Baxter: First of the Second Generation of Walt Disney Imagineers

by Tim O'Brien

Tony Baxter joined Walt Disney Imagineering when he was 22 years old and is among the first of a second generation of Disney creatives who fashioned the magic found today in Disney parks worldwide. He would stay with the company for nearly fifty year and today serves as a mentor and consultant to the new, younger generation of Imagineers. . Tony is credited for helping create such Disney attraction icons as Star Tours, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain, and the Indiana Jones Adventure. He has been lauded for his creative leadership at Disneyland Paris Resort, is a Disney Legend and has a personalized window on Main Street, U.S.A. in Disneyland Park, considered by many to be one of the highest honors a Disney employee can achieve. From ice cream scooper in 1965 to Senior Vice President of Creative Development in 2013, this is his story.

102 pages, Paperback

Published October 30, 2015

Reviews

[Seth Brady · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’re a fan of the Disney Parks and want to learn more about some behind-the-scenes magic from one of Imagineering’s most famous alums, read on.

Tony Baxter was the first of the second generation of Imaginaneers. Mentored by Claude Coats (former Disney set designer who became an Imagineer responsible for Disneyland classics like Pirates of the Caribbean and The Haunted Mansion), worked alongside Disney greats like Walt’s go-to Parks designer John Hench, worked for famed Imagineering boss Marty Sklar, and was responsible for so many Parks attractions domestically (both at Disneyland and several at EPCOT at Walt Disney World) and internationally (he was the creative leader responsible for bringing Disneyland Paris - then Eurodisney) to life.

Compiled from hours of recorded interviews with Tony himself, you’ll hear stories of how this former ice cream scooper from Main Street USA and ended up working on so many attractions that millions of us have enjoyed over the last several decades, some of what it takes to get ideas worked through the Disney political machine (sometimes going directly to Disney execs like Michael Eisner and Frank Wells to cut through red tape and get things done), behind-the-scenes tidbits (the word “mountain” was added to attraction names like Space Mountain and Splash Mountain to designate them an E ticket ride) and you’ll also learn Tony’s five core pillars for success that he honed over his career and outlined in his retirement letter to current and future generations of Imagineers.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well worth a read for any Disney fan. Well balanced too - not overly zealous or sycophantic to the man who is surely the second generation Walt Disney in terms of vision and bold creativity. Only 4 stars because it’s not long enough, but it’s a testament to the man himself that there isn’t too much analysis of him out there as he would not like that.

[Jeff Schmitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fifty years of Disney Imagineering history and Tony's place and impact within those walls, all wrapped up in 100 pages. A good, quick, read, but I'd sure like to read it in Tony's hand!