Throughout my video game career, Walt Disney has always been someone who inspires my creativity. My brother Garry and I visited Disneyland many times together to find inspiration for our next video game idea or to simply soak in the amazing detail of the "Happiest Place on Earth.
I still remember the evening back in the autumn of 1977 when my older brother and fellow video game designer, Steve Kitchen, visited my parents house in New Jersey and shared with me his first visit to Disneyland. I sat staring at the 35mm slides he had given me as he described seeing a pirate galleon engage in a cannon battle with a Spanish Fortress in Pirates of the Caribbean, how he was transfixed at the variety of translucent spirits dancing about the ghostly ballroom in The Haunted Mansion and how he felt being shot through a universe of brilliant stars in the newly opened Space Mountain attraction.
Growing up I'd always been a fan of The Wonderful World of Disney, and experienced the attractions of Disneyland through the eyes of the television camera. But since that night in 1977, I have a deeper appreciation for Walt's creativity and ingenuity.
And so we thank you Walt, for the endless joy you have given the world, and for showing all of us that it truly IS "kinda fun to do the impossible."
Thanks email4steve! In fact we liked the term "Imagineers" so much that Garry and I called our post-Activision development company "Imagineering". Eventually we we started publishing games and changed the company name to "Absolute Entertainment".
And you guys at Activision were "Imagineers" for the 2600. Creating visually impressive and fun games for such a rudimentary system.