Interview Didier Ghez, Author of Disneyland Paris: From Sketch to Reality
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Didier Ghez has been a Disney enthusiast for as long as he can remember. From the age of seven, he was collecting Journal de Mickey, the French publication that introduced Mickey Mouse to the Francophone world. As he progressed through adolescence, Didier had the chance to travel to Walt Disney World and to Disneyland with his parents, which, to say the least, strengthened his passion for Disney. Later, Didier was to find the NFFC and Mouse Club in the United States, whose membership was, composed of fellow Disney enthusiasts, as he quickly discovered that there were other people like him out there!

In 1991, as Marne-la-Vallee was preparing for the inauguration of the fourth Disneyland, Didier was invited to write about the new resort for the Storyboard magazine, which he duly accepted. Personal highlights of the final year of preparations included a tour of the construction site, attending the unveiling of the castle and a talk with legendary Walt Disney Company archivist, Dave Smith on the eve of the Grand Opening.

In 1997, whilst working for the newly re-christened Disneyland Paris as a web producer for disneylandparis.com, Alain Littaye, a French journalist and publisher, approached Didier to ask him to write a book about the resort. That book, Disneyland Paris: From Sketch to Reality, is the subject of the interview below. On April 12th, 2002 while Disneyland Paris was celebrating its 10th birthday, the book was released

Today, Didier manages the activities of the Disney Internet Group (DIG) in Latin America. As Didier outlined, "There are two Disney websites based in the continent, Disneylatino.com, the Spanish language site and its Brazilian counterpart, Disney.com.br. The sites advertise all Disney products, and are similar in concept to Disney.com, although they are different to the U.S. site in personality, reflecting the attitude and energy of Latin America. The sites also have a different focus, which is more appropriate to the region. For example, Disney.com has a heavy emphasis on the theme parks, which is toned down for the South American sites. Our emphasis is on the Disney movies and television." Although currently based at DIG’s headquarters in the Argentinean capital of Buenos Aires, Didier is due to move to the industrial heartland of Brazil, Sao Paulo in the near future to continue his work for DIG.