Orlando Ferrante Window Ceremony
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Marty Sklar, Vice Chairman and Principle Creative Executive of Walt Disney Imagineering
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Marty Sklar: Wish I had a hat! Well this is a very special day and I would first of all like to thank you Daina and welcome everyone here, and to say a few words about the windows here on Main Street because they were very important to Walt Disney. It was his way of honoring people who had made it possible for Disneyland to exist in the first place. You only got your name on these windows if Walt decided that your name should be there and subsequently only on retirement are any Disney employees able to have their name on the windows and there hasn't been in a year since our friend Jim Cora had his window around the corner here.

When we started on Walt Disney World I sent a note to Roy Disney suggesting that rather than - sometimes it's a contentious issue who gets their names on the windows - suggesting that we have some fun with the windows instead of using real names and names of businesses. And he sent me a note back saying "no, that I want to do it exactly as Walt did it in Disneyland and honor the people that made it possible for Disneyland to exist." And the same thing happened when we started Disneyland Paris and I sent a note to Michael Eisner and Frank wells and told them the history and they said they wanted to do the same thing at Disneyland Paris and we're going to do the same thing in Hong Kong. So this is quite a tradition in the Walt Disney Company and Orlando should feel very honored at the significance of this. You Know, Orlando and I have worked together for almost 40 years. Actually we kind of knew each other before then because I was the editor, the sports editor of the Daily Bruin at UCLA and Orlando was a football star at USC. So we have fought continually over these 40 years. And he's lost a lot of money to me.

Orlando - one of the first projects he had was right there at the Enchanted Tiki Room. He was an expeditor in those days - I think we call them coordinators today. And then he had an important role doing the same thing on the New York World's Fair that Walt Disney did. And then went on to play an important role as he became executive Vice President in the company at Walt Dsiney World and Tokyo Disneyland and originally DIsneyland Paris and then Lucille and Orlando actually went to live in Venice while Olrando was responsible for building the second of the Disney cruise ships. And then finally - and Jim Thomas will talk about this in a few minutes - Orlando played a major role in Tokyo DisneySea which opened last year and has been so successful in Tokyo. So Orlando has really played a significant role. He established something called "PICO", project installation and coordination which really became the way that we have installed all of our shows and coordinated so much of our project work from a show stand point.

And with that overview I'd like to ask Jim Thomas, our Vice President of Project Management and talk specifically about Orlando's role on Tokyo DisneySea.

Jim Thomas, Vice President of Project Management of Walt Disney Imagineering
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Jim Thomas: Thanks, Marty. Well as Marty has outlined Orlando has been very instrumental and influential on so many of Imagineering's great projects around the world and I think on Tokyo DisneySea, Orlando, you saved the best for last. Orlando was the Executive Project Manager on Mysterious Island for Tokyo DisneySea a new theme park which opened, as Marty said, in 2001 adjacent to Tokyo Disneyland. He also lead our show and ride engineering, production, installation activities for all of Tokyo DisneySea. There were 23 attractions in the opening day complement, 22 of which had never been done before at any other Disney theme park. And with Orlando's leadership they all turned out to be quite successful. I think most people know that Imagineers pride themselves on being dreamers and doers and if ever there was anyone who epitomized the doer in Walt Disney Imagineering it's Orlando Ferrante. He got things done because of his incredible and undying belief in the people around him. He taught them, he trusted them, he respected them, he empowered them, he enabled them and when none of that worked, he made them an offer they couldn't refuse, he took them to lunch. That's another story for another time I'm afraid though. Orlando, on behalf of all of the Imagineers who you have so deeply touched at so many locations around the world, thank you for your leadership and your friendship.

(leaves the stage for a moment then returns)

I forgot my cue. I'd like to now introduce the President of Walt Disney Imagineering, Mr. Don Goodman. Don...