Tony Baxter

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Tony Wayne Baxter (born February 1, 1947) is a former senior vice president of creative development at Walt Disney Imagineering and responsible for designing and executing tourism development around the world. He announces his departure from his full-time position to become a part-time advisor on February 1, 2013, which is also his 66th birthday. During his 47-year tenure at the company, he oversaw the construction of several contemporary Disney theme park attractions, including Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Star Tours, Splash Mountain, The Indiana Jones Adventure, and Journey Into Imagination.

Baxter was first employed at Disneyland Park in 1965 as an ice cream scooper on Main Street, USA at the age of 17 years. During his work in the park, he held many different positions. He then attracted the attention of WED Enterprises (now known as Walt Disney Imagineering). For the first 24 years he built his rank in the company until he was given a position as senior vice president of creative development at Walt Disney Imagineering. His projects include the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Disneyland, Walt Disney World and Disneyland Paris, and Fantasyland and Tomorrowland remodeling at Disneyland.

Video Tony Baxter

Inspiration

Tony Baxter was attracted to Disneyland since his opening day, when he was 8 years old. He first toured Imagineering before being hired in the park. It's around the same time with big moms. Lincoln came to Disneyland Park. Baxter watched the show and was instantly mesmerized by Disney's engineering. She applied for a position in the park that sells popcorn and ice cream scooping, and moves to attractions to get the Disney experience. At that time, Baxter went to school at Cal Poly Pomona. For his senior project, he created the design for the Mary Poppins journey which was then shown to WED Enterprises through a connected friend. Impressed by Baxter's work, WED Enterprises invited him to a tour of both companies where they showed aspects of positions and concepts they were working on. Baxter left the day's tour with a new career and as a result, switched his career path and moved to school.

Maps Tony Baxter

School

After graduating from Santa Ana High School in 1965, he attended Cal Poly Pomona as a landscape architecture majors, but soon after being transferred to California State University in Long Beach to study the Theater Design. During this time, Baxter created a portfolio that incorporated the attractions concepts for Disneyland as part of his senior project, which he had spent the last year building campus. Baxter graduated from Cal State Long Beach in 1969.

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WED Enterprises/Walt Disney Imagineering

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

The Big Thunder Mountain Railroad opened at the Disneyland park 2 September 1979 and was recreated a year later at Walt Disney World. It was designed by Tony Baxter and his mentor Claude Coats and was the first rides built at Disneyland without Walt Disney's input. The land built by the previous Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is the original Walt racer, Nature's Wonderland, which has lost popularity among the guests. Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris got their version in 1987 and 1992.

Fantasyland

The revamped Fantasyland opened in 1983 with Baxter surveillance. This includes redesigning all buildings to change from Renaissance to Bavarian village. It also features the addition of walk-throughs located within Sleeping Beauty's Castle which includes a scene scene from an animated movie. Under Baxter's supervision, the new Fantasyland featured the richest detail and was the most technically advanced ground in the park for that era.

Splash Mountain

Splash Mountain debuted in 1989. The idea for Splash Mountain came to Baxter when he was stuck in traffic on his way to work. Around the same time, American Sings, another attraction at Disneyland, is scheduled to be issued due to a bad presence. Baxter includes American Audio-Animatronics figures. Sing with his idea for Splash Mountain (which will initially be titled Zip-a-Dee River Run). Baxter recalls from the previous Walt Disney movie: Song of the South , containing a song titled "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah," synced with animatronics transferred from America Sings. He then united the sound tracks, mechanics, and log flume that created what is now called Splash Mountain.

Indiana Jones Adventure

Indiana Jones Adventure was revealed on March 4, 1995, and was done by over 400 Imagineers. Baxter is one of the project's main supervisors and leads his own team of 100. They are responsible for designing a half-mile track built on Eeyore's previous parking lot as well as different concepts for every room on the rider.

Finding Nemo Nemo Submarines

Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage opened on June 11, 2007. The track for Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage was previously there because the new trip replaced its predecessor, the Submarine Voyage. Baxter and his team are in charge of collaborating with Pixar to create storylines and animations for the trip. Difficulty comes however when Baxter is faced with the challenge of syncing sound with the journey. Due to the fact that there are 20 windows on each side of the submarine, all show different aspects of the trip at the same time, the sound must match what is being described, no matter where a guest will sit inside the underwater boat.

Disneyland Paris Walking History Tour By Tony Baxter, Disney ...

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List of Working Projects In

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (Opened in 1979)
The Journey Into Imagination Pavilion (Opened in 1982)
Redesign Disneyland's Fantasyland (Opened in 1983)
The Disney Gallery (Opened in 1987)
Star Tours (Opened in 1987)
Splash Mountain (Opened in 1989)
Disneyland Paris (Opened in 1992)
Indiana Jones Adventure (Opened in 1995)
Redesign Disneyland's Tomorrowland (Opened in 1998)
Sunstone Winery {Designer/Lead Architect} (Completed 2004)
Finding Nemo Submarines at Disneyland (Opened in 2007)
Redesign Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough (Opened in 2008)
Captain EO reopening (Opened in 2010)
Star Tours - The Adventures Continue (Opened in 2011)
Ticket "E"

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Awards 2013

Every year, D23, the official Disney fan club, hosts a convention called D23 Expo. The 2013 convention takes place from 9-11 August at the Anaheim Convention Center. A few months earlier, it was announced that Tony Baxter would receive the Disney Legend award at the Expo on August 10th. The Disney Legend award is the highest award in the company, for those who have left a trail at the Walt Disney Company.. At every D23 Expo in Anaheim, Disney Legends Ceremony includes many famous TV and movie personalities, as well as some from the amusement park business.

The day before August 10, (August 10 is a Legend Ceremony), Baxter and Josh Shipley held a presentation at Stage 23 called "Undiscovered Disneyland". This included an hour's trail from the Disneyland Park in the early years. Before Baxter and Josh were about to leave, Josh invited Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Chairman Tom Staggs to the stage. Staggs talks about Baxter and his beginnings at Disneyland. Then, a sixty second video is shown, honoring Baxter's career with Disney. After that, Staggs announced that in the fall of 2013, Baxter will receive a window on Main Street US at the Disneyland park. A series of lights are then randomly visible in different seats. Those who are in the chair will then attend the window ceremony.

A few months later on November 1st, a window ceremony was held and a window was installed on Main Street, leaving the US forever forever.

Interview with Disney Legend Tony Baxter at D23 Destination D ...