Interview with some Disney Dreamers and Innovators

If I am feeling a little down I know if I take a local trip to Disneyland with my daughter it will immediately cheer me up.  There is something so magical about walking through the gates of Disneyland and it always takes me back to being a kid.  You can’t help but feel like a big kid again where the world was open wide in front of you.  What a magical thing that Walt Disney created and the spirit is continued with today’s Disney Dreamers and Innovators!

As part of the Tomorrowland Media Event we met with some Disney Dreamers including the Director of Tomorrowland, and the two young stars Raffney Cassidy and Thomas Robinson. We also had a chance to meet some spectacular folk who are helping create the wonder and magic of Disney in movies, parks and music.

Charita Carter, Senior Creative Producer/Manager at Walt Disney Imagineering:

The first Disney Dreamer we met was Charita Carter who is the Senior Creative Producer/Manager at Walt Disney Imagineering.  Imagine how cool her job must be!  She has worked at Disney for over 17 years and started first as an accountant and moved up to become a financial analyst and then became a strategic partner.  She says she thrives on change and the unknown.  Her job is to bring the latest technology into the world of Disney.  Her team figure out how these technologies can be used in future Disney projects.

They invite children to play with the new tech devices and she stressed how important it is to expose boys and girls equally to these technologies.  Parents can play a big role in encouraging this love of science in their kids.

She also loves photography and has found it to be a creative outlet for her.  She strives to become the best photographer she can and works hard at it.  You can find her work on Instagram at wedgryl1.

She shared that she became a hand model quite on accident.  She was traveling by train and a woman commented to her that she could be a hand model.  Charita shared with us that she didn’t even know that type of job existed.  The woman gave Charita her agents card and said to give him a call.  Fast forward a year later and Charita decides to do just that.  One SuperBowl commercial later as well as commercials for Bounty Paper Towels (love them) and VISA I’d say she has found a nice side job!

When asked what her version of Tomorrowland would look like she responded that music would play a big part in that it would be offered in unique ways for people to listen to. Charita is a true dreamer and innovator.  I look forward to seeing more of her work come to light.

“Disney is a company that actually dreams.”

~ Mike Goslin

Mike Goslin, VP of Production & Content
Disney Consumer Products

Mike Goslin just might have created the hottest toy to be seen in years!  His team have recently announced the soon-to-be release of Playmation.  Playmation takes play to the next level and allows a player to interact with digital content via physical movements. It is geared towards children 6-12 years of age but really anyone can play.  He explained how a child will be able to catch and throw objects while interacting and basically be inside the game.  The game allows kids to have superhero powers in the real world using infrared light technology and Blue Tooth flow energy with their radio.  Here is what he had to say about the game:

“We’re giving kids superhero powers for real in the real world. For example, if you can imagine you have Iron Man’s glove. I can put that on and battle a robot across the room. A real robot and I shoot it and I feel a kick in my hand and there’s great audio effects and light streaming down my arm and the robot over there shakes and falls over and then we’re building stories on top of that kind of an experience.”

He said he has been building virtual worlds before there was even such a thing. His message to kids who want to become animators and illustrators is to learn many subjects such as Art and Psycology (Mike’s background), Computer Science, and that Math is key.

I am really excited to see the new Playmation in action as well as the upcoming Disney movie releases and games.  This really is a company filled with dreamers and innovators that take us along for a wondrous ride!

Note:  We were provided with a trip to Disneyland but our opinions are our own.