Circles of Life: Twenty-Five Years of Epcot Center
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SOMETIMES in the pursuit of understanding the work of Imagineering you have a conversation that reminds you that the endeavours of the Imagineers rarely fall into the category of the everyday. In an effort to balance Marty having an overall view of the project this tale is turning to one of those near 3,000 people who worked on little pieces of it.

Yet this is one of those circles of life which would see Imagineering Senior Vice President Eric Jacobson not only involved in Epcot Center�s opening attraction line-up, but to being the Creative Executive in charge of Epcot for the past decade.

Coming from Disneyland Entertainment, Eric was hired to work in Imagineering�s Model Shop in the mid 1970�s with the original �Seas� pavilion team. �When they decided on the opening day menu and the Seas wasn�t included I became a free agent in the model shop, so I worked on most of the other attractions that were having models built,� Eric recalls. �It was great to work with Imagineering veterans, because of their knowledge from the shows that they had done and the mentoring that they either did on purpose or just by association.� Eric worked with Claude Coats, Marc Davis and Jack Mark Smith on the interiors of World of Motion, Universe of Energy, Listen to the Land and Kitchen Kabaret to name but a few.

�I built the first structural model of the Spaceship Earth geodesic sphere. It was a nightmare because I had no architectural training at all and I was working on my own from these drawings and building this model out of plastic. I really was out of my depth but they needed something quickly! I did this spiral ramp [it was something that you could look into, it didn�t have the outer shell] and it was presented... then they changed the design! I hated that model so much. I liked the show parts, not the architectural parts... but it got them to where they wanted to be so I asked Marty if I could throw it away and he said �Yes, we don�t need it anymore� � so I took it out back and was so happy to throw it straight into the dumpster!�

Eric then moved to the newly opened WDI facility in Tujunga (California) and worked on the art of figure-finishing. Working mostly on the figures for Tokyo Disneyland (due to open 7 months after Epcot Center) Eric would deal with the faces, the fir, feathers and make-up for TDL Audio-Animatronic shows such as Tiki Room, Country Bears, Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion.

It wouldn�t be too long before Eric�s talent would be put to use on a more prestigious figure that didn�t require a costume of fir or be suitable for a ghost. �At the time President Reagan was elected, we were putting him in The Hall of Presidents [at the Magic Kingdom] and his figure came through and Blaine Gibson [master sculptor] and �Mr Audio-Animatronics� Wathel Rogers were really into it. I really enjoyed doing the research as this was the first time I had dealt with a recreation of a real person and not a pirate or World of Motion character,� Eric recalls. �Blaine and Wathel really liked what I had done and asked if I could have a stronger hand in the art direction. So I became the supervisor of figure-finishing when the Epcot Center characters came in. I followed all those shows into the field with extended business trips to Orlando to do touch-ups and changes on the characters.�

Despite the influence of imagineers who were integral to the design stylings of the two Magic Kingdoms (and the third due to open) Epcot Center would see a shift in the art direction of character authenticity and was the first park where the character costumes would appear aged. �Mark and Alice Davis� Pirates of the Caribbean figures were immaculately dressed. We hired a veteran Hollywood costume designer, a specialist in aging, to come in and age the World of Motion and The American Adventure outfits to make them more believable,� Eric reveals. �It�s a fine line we learned when working on Epcot Center, �Is it supposed to be aged or are they worn out?� So it has to be obvious that it is on purpose.�