The House of Mouse

THE HoUSE oF MoUSE HELPING PAINT IT GREEN B Y k o L T Photo courtesy of the Walt Disney Company 16 SUMMER 2008 L E A H once uPon A time, a mouse and a cricket were worried about what would happen to all the creatures if the forest disappeared. so they turned to an old friend for help. The kind and gentle man built a beautiful castle in a magic Kingdom for mickey and Jiminy to live in. Then he made sure that many of America’s forests and streams were preserved as wildlife habitat, because he loved real animals, too. This part of the story is not a fairy tale. Although most people think of Walt disney as a pioneer in the entertainment industry, he was also an early environ mentalist. in 1950 he launched a life-long campaign to help Americans understand how “the natural resources of our vast continent are not inexhaustible” – six years ahead of Rachel carson’s seminal book silent spring. conservation isn't just the business of a few people, Walt explained then, expressing a sentiment that was years ahead of its time. “if we will protect our wildlife and preserve our lakes and streams, these things will last us for generations to come," he said 58 years ago. Walt did more than just wish upon a star, as attested by the many honors he received for his lifetime commitment to the environment from such groups as the national Audubon society, national Wildlife Federation, sierra club, and the American humane Association. Walt’s love of nature still infuses the company today. one example, The Jiminy cricket environmentality™ challenge, encourages students to tackle real-world environmental chal lenges. to date, more than 680,000 fifth graders have respond ed, with projects that range from writing letters to u. s. sena tors about illegal bush-meat trade to helping victims of the december 2004 tsunami in southeast Asia. last year, disney formed an environmental council of se nior executives to identify ways to minimize disney's impact on the environment. The council, which includes scientists and engineers, frequently seeks expert external advice as part of the policy-making process. This is where cal Poly enters the picture. disney cio Richard taggart, whose daughter chris is a cal Poly freshman majoring in art and design, is working with university Advancement and the college of liberal Arts to start a dialog between the campus and the company. “There are so many possibilities for collaboration between cal Poly and disney,” he said. “take sustainability. We are very interested in what your architecture and other professors are doing in this area. We’re building a new gym at disney head quarters and we hope to attain a leeds certification.” Business is another area for potential collaboration. taggart met recently with college of Business Professor Kathryn lan caster to discuss her work in sustainable business practices. “We are searching hard for ways to reduce both energy and paper use in our information technology and other areas,” he said. “We’re interested in new ideas on how we can become (L) Lisa Haines greener. For example, we are setting the default on all our copiers to two-sided copying.” Another exciting area of prospective partnering is media arts, an interdisciplinary field where art, science and engineer ing intersect. At disney a group called imagineering incorpo rates these disciplines and more. And one of the imagineers is college of Architecture and environmental design alum Jeff Webb (CM ’80), vice president for estimating. “i very much take that learn-by-doing philosophy at cal Poly and carry it through to the things i do every day. you don't get better by doing the same things over and over again. you get better by stretching yourself," said Webb, whose stretches often start from sketches, including one roughed onto a tablecloth which eventually was incorporated into a major project. in April, several cal Poly representatives lunched with Webb and a group of some 30 other cal Poly alumni at disney offices in Burbank. Representing degrees in majors from almost every col lege at cal Poly, the alumni are creating a new version of mustang magic, across an array of disney companies and groups. At the meeting, college of liberal Arts Professor david Gil lette – who holds degrees in creative writing and film/broad cast – talked shop with the cal Poly alumni. he explained his involvement in a project called “intimate transactions,” a futur istic interactive electronic art work that will be the only exhibit of its kind featured at the Beijing olympics this summer. in return, Gillette was invited to attend a sneak preview of disney’s new Blu-Ray version of sleeping Beauty in los Angeles to mark the 50th Anniversary of the classic disney film. he is getting a first-hand look at this revolutionary technology before it comes onto the market in october. The new Bd live technol ogy will enable viewers to chat, video stream, shop online, play YoUR DREAMS CoME TRUE dozens oF cAl Poly Alumni are enjoying a career with disney. cal Poly magazine recently asked how their learn-by doing education prepared them for career challenges and suc cess, what they enjoy about their jobs, and – in a lighter vein –what their favorite disney attractions are or what characters they would like to be. here are reflections on cal Poly and disney from some of them: Jeff Webb (Photo Courtesy of Walt Disney imagineering) games and more from the comfort of their living rooms. The bond between disney and cal Poly was further strength ened with the appointment of alum Lisa Haines (PoLS ’89) as vice president for communications in the Worldwide Public Affairs department for Walt disney Parks and Resorts. in this role, she works with disney parks around the world – from Anaheim and orlando to tokyo and Paris –as well as with the cruise line and vacation club businesses. A political science major at cal Poly, haines worked for a congressman after graduation, which led to an opportunity with a PR agency several years later. “i essentially learned by doing and moved up in my career. i worked hard, made a good name for myself in the communications field, and eventually landed at disney,” she explained. With so many alumni and interns working at disney, as well as numerous areas of mutual interest, the potential for teaming up is limited only by imagination. Who knows, maybe there’s even an honorary degree in mickey mouse’s future. Like a bolt out of the blue Fate steps in and sees you through When you wish upon a star Your dreams come true. — “When You Wish Upon A Star,” Pinocchio, 1940 with that kind of spirit is Cal Poly ...The Haunted Mansion, as a kid, I never understood how all that stuff fit into that little house ... now I know how it all works and it’s even more impressive. Janet T. Trumbo (REC ’93) Project Coordinator, Walt Disney Imagi neering Resort Development: ...all the hands-on courses and all the speaking/presentations gave me the wherewithal to jump right into any role ...being (...truncated)