The Imagineering Field Guide to Disney's Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World

Imagineering Field Guides

by Alex Wright, The Imagineers

The fifth in a series of pocket-size paperbacks answers the question "What would it be like to walk through Disney's Hollywood Studios with an Imagineer by your side?" The Imagineering Field Guide to Disney's Hollywood Studios provides that experience: pointing out details and telling stories, backstories, and Imagineering insights never before heard, condensed into a portable, easily referenced park guide. You'll never spend time at the Studios the same way again.
Each spread contains fascinating textual information and related images (drawings, photos, graphics) such as:
• Layouts, backgrounds, and origins of each park/land/miniland
• Concept art to compare to the finished show
• Timeline information (opening dates, previous shows in the same venue, alterations, and updates)
• Photography of the details and pictures being discussed
• Special props, design sources, artistic inspirations, nomenclature gags

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, Reference

128 pages, Paperback

First published April 28, 2009

About the author

Alex Wright is a show designer for Walt Disney Imagineering in Orlando, Florida. His credits include concept and set-design work for Disney's Animal Kingdom and Journey Into Imagination with Figment, as well as various enhancement projects all over the Walt Disney World Resort. Alex received a BA in design theory from the University of Florida in Gainesville in 1992 and an MFA in scenic design from the California Institute of the Arts, in Los Angeles in 1994.


Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Sesana]

I don't love Hollywood Studios nearly as much as I love the Magic Kingdom and Epcot. But stupid hat aside, there are a lot of cool things going on there. This isn't really a guidebook, though the title might give that impression. The target audience is Disneyphiles, though if you've been studying Imagineering in depth you probably know much of this anyways. I always find at least a few things that I didn't know about the park when I read one of these books. It would also be fun to take one along with you when you actually visit a park, and make your own behind-the-scenes tour. There's lots of great art in here from the development of the park, which is always cool to see.

[Dawn]

Considering this is my least favorite of the four Florida parks, I went into this one with a little less enthusiasm than I did the others. I wasn't expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. There was a lot of history about Walt included in this one, which I found interesting. I also learned about some park details that I've never noticed. I'm going to have to grab my camera one day soon and head over for some exploring. I'm so glad I got around to reading this one!

[Dana]

Though it says the Imagineers Guide, it's definitely aimed more at tourists than aspiring Imagineers, however, it's still fun to see some of the tiny concepts arts and learn some fun facts.

[Andrew]

Hollywood Studios has always been my least favorite of the four parks at WDW, and this book helped me understand why. "In the years since Disney's Hollywood Studios was opened in 1989, many changes have occurred in the film industry and in the ways in which our Guests learn about the world that is the subject matter of this Park." This is a park that was built around the idea of transporting a working animation/live action studio from California to Orlando, and turning it into a theme park. But what happens when that studio becomes obsolete? What you're left with is a museum and half a theme park. Even this book seemed to be struggling to fill all its pages. The other three Imagineering Field Guides were practically bursting at the seams with park related content. But this one included quite a number of filler pages basically on Imagineering job descriptions interspersed with the park content.

I suppose Studios has evolved into a monument for how Hollywood used to work. Either that or a monument for Tower of Terror/Rockin' Roller Coaster. Many people (myself included) complain about Epcot being a park that has lost its vision. But after reading this book, I've come to wonder whether Studios might not in fact be worse off.

[Sarah Toth]

This is the first of the Imagineering field guides that I have read, and I throughly enjoyed it! I love the set up of these books, with the way everything is organized by park area and then by attraction. This book really gave the reader a detailed tour of Hollywood Studios and all of the creativity that went into building the park. For example, I really loved all the details about the differences between attractions like Star Tours and Twilight Zone Tower of Terror; in comparison to their counterparts in other Disney parks around the world. Hollywood Studios is my second favorite Disney park, so finding out all this extra information about the park itself and its history was exciting and just a reminder of why I love this park so much!

[Sarah]

There isn't a lot out there on this recently added Disney Park..ok 1989, but that's recent for me! So, this was an indepth look at what they were thinking as they planned designed and completed this park. Fascinating to me that they go to such lengths with detail and often there are multiple layers of reference that as you learn more about Disney's past and the history of the entertainment industry in general the more you can appreciate the brilliance of these "Imagineers". PS Love that Disney made up a lot of own words because what he was creating was truly unique.

[Sara]

On the one hand, I'm not a big fan of Hollywood Studios. I'd rank it 3rd out of 4 as far as WDW parks go. So the subject matter was automatically a little less interesting to me than the other IFG's I have. But, that made it a more informative read for me, because it actually had lots of facts I didn't already know, which is unusual for a Disney book. I think it accomplished its mission in that, next time I'm at DHS, I think I will appreciate it a bit more. Just a bit.

[Redfox5]

The first time I went to DisneyWorld I fell in love with this place but the last two times I've been less than happy with it. I feel like there could be more. Which was why I enjoyed this guide slightly more than the others because I wanted to find something that would help me love this park again. I think it may have worked. I'm going to keep an eye on the details next time I go (28 days!) and try and experience some other things which I may have turned my nose up at.

[Paul]

A great addition to the series, with fascinating information about how the Studios were designed,as well as some intetersting facts about moviemaking and Hollywood history. The only negative of the book is that the preproduction art is so small it's hard to appreciate the details! But don't let that stop you from buying this book if you're a fan of the Disney theme parks.

[Stephanie Haefner]

Read a lot of neat facts about Disney's Hollywood Studios!! Loved finding out where the inspiration for the architecture came from! Great book, though it didn't quite live up to the other three Imagineer's guides.

[Brian]

This handy dandy guide will give you an insider's look at DHS. It contains information on each attraction, as long as some backstory. I thought it was perfect to read at Hollywood Studios itself! And best of all, this book completes my collection of Imagineering Field guides!

[Patty]

Full of history, design tidbits, and all those little, often-ignored details that create the amazing World created by Mr. Disney.

[Marie]

Long slog through background info on DHS. Took forever to read. It was like looking at the DHS that used to be, not the one that is.

[Erica Barthel]

This book gave lots of technical information. I have read the Magic Kingdom version and found it much more interesting.

[Amanda Kay]

Not quite as good as the others, but lets face it, HS is not quite as great of a park.

[Sara]

These are GREAT FUN! Can't wait to read the other two!!!

[Ashley]

The book gives a satisfying insight into the planning of the park and its current execution.