A celebration of the talent and legacy of important animated projects with the creators who made them happen.
For more than half a century, Claude Coats was one of the most prolific creative talents at The Walt Disney Company, and one of the founding members of WED Enterprises — now known as Walt Disney Engineering.
In this presentation, Dave Bossert, a 32-year veteran of Disney, is joined by Disney legend Tony Baxter and Claude’s son, Alan Coats, both Imagineers who worked alongside Claude, to discuss Claude’s career and legacy, and how his work helped revolutionize Disney.
SPEAKERS
Alan Coats
Writer, Disney historian, Imagineer (retired) // Independent
Alan is a "Disney kid", son of background artist and Imagineer Claude Coats and Ink & Paint artist Evelyn Coats. His dad worked on all of the classic films from Snow White to Lady and the Tramp before being hand-picked by Walt to be one of the original designers of Disneyland.
His career began during the early days of the park as a toy soldier marching in parades with Mouseketeer Annette before graduating to his dream job as Alligator Al, a skipper on the Jungle Cruise.
As an Imagineer at WED Enterprises, now Walt Disney Imagineering, Alan was a designer of show lighting and effects for the Magic Kingdom in Florida, and created initial concepts for EPCOT and Tokyo Disneyland.
Tony Baxter
Creative Advisor, Retired Senior VP // Walt Disney Imagineering
One of the most influential and prolific of the “second generation” Disney Imagineers, Tony Baxter has played a key role in the design and creation of many noteworthy Disney attractions and theme parks of the last 25 years, including Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain, the Indiana Jones Adventure, and the overall creative role for Disneyland and Disneyland Paris.
Now a creative advisor to Walt Disney Imagineering, Baxter completed his full-time career as senior vice president of Creative Development in 2013. In his new role, Baxter continues to provide creative ideas and input for Disney attractions and theme parks around the world.
Baxter began his Disney career in 1965 at Disneyland while completing his education at California State University, Long Beach, graduating in 1969 with a bachelor’s degree in theatre design. As part of his portfolio, he presented a precisely engineered model of a “Marble Maze” to executives at Walt Disney Imagineering, and impressed by his talent, Imagineering hired Baxter in l970 as a dimensional designer. He was sent to Florida to work on the Walt Disney World Resort, which opened in 1971.
In 1989, he was appointed senior vice president responsible for the concept development, design and creation of an entirely new theme park, Disneyland Paris (1992). He continued to provide creative direction for new shows and enhancements at Disneyland in California, including the Indiana Jones Adventure, which opened in l995, and the major redevelopment of Tomorrowland that opened in May 1998.
In 2007, he led the Finding Nemo creative team in the reinvention of the Submarines at Disneyland, blending hi-tech CG animation into an actual underwater environment, while maintaining sound sync to vehicles in motion. Since then Tony has continued to keep Disneyland up to date with technical breakthroughs in the audio animatronics applied to Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, reconceptualized the Sleeping Beauty Castle walk-through and recently completed the Princess Fantasy Fair.
In his new role as Advisor to Imagineering, he has a patent pending on a new racing ride system that will pit 48 riders against one another in a racing simulation. In 2015 Tony partnered with author Tim O’Brien to create a biographical book on his career, “Tony Baxter – First of the Second Generation of Walt Disney Imagineers”. Most recently, Baxter returned to Paris to represent Imagineering at the 25th Anniversary of Disneyland Paris, April 12th 2017.
Born in Los Angeles, Baxter resides in Anaheim, California; in an imaginative home he designed. In 1988 he received the “Distinguished Alumni Award” in fine arts from California State University, Long Beach, the “Over the Years Award” by the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA), and most recently the “Lifetime Achievement Award” from the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA).
In 2013 Tony was honored to receive the Disney Legend Award, followed shortly afterward by what Tony feels is his favorite recognition…a “Window on Main Street” at the original Disneyland Park in Anaheim California.
MODERATOR
David A. Bossert
Producer, Creative Director, Writer // Independent
(Fantasia 2000, The Lion King, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Beauty & the Beast)
David A. Bossert is an award-winning artist, filmmaker, and author. He is a 32-year veteran of The Walt Disney Company, where he contributed his talents to Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty & the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), The Lion King (1994), Fantasia 2000 (1999) and the Academy Award©-nominated shorts Runaway Brain (1995), Dali/Disney Destino (2003), and Lorenzo (2004), among many others. Bossert is now an independent producer, creative director, and writer.
Bossert is a member of the CalArts Board of Trustees, Visual Effects Society (VES), Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (AMPAS), and is a visiting scholar at Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) in Pittsburgh. He has presented at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Dali Museum, School of Visual Arts, NYU Film School, Bowers Museum, Newport Beach Film Festival, Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí (Figueres, Spain), Oscar Pomillio-Blumm Forum (Pescara, Italy), and other venues and festivals. He is considered an authority on Disney animation art and history.
As an inventor, Bossert was awarded a U.S. Patent in 2018 for his invention, Parallax-Based Monoscopic Rendering. In 2020, he received an additional U.S. Patent for Varying Display Content Based on Viewpoint. He continues to explore transformative, immersive experiences in book publishing.
Bossert is the author of numerous books, liner and program notes, and dozens of animation articles.
Website // IMDb // Facebook // Instagram // Twitter
A celebration of the talent and legacy of important animated projects with the creators who made them happen.
For more than half a century, Claude Coats was one of the most prolific creative talents at The Walt Disney Company, and one of the founding members of WED Enterprises — now known as Walt Disney Engineering.
In this presentation, Dave Bossert, a 32-year veteran of Disney, is joined by Disney legend Tony Baxter and Claude’s son, Alan Coats, both Imagineers who worked alongside Claude, to discuss Claude’s career and legacy, and how his work helped revolutionize Disney.
SPEAKERS
Alan Coats
Writer, Disney historian, Imagineer (retired) // Independent
Alan is a "Disney kid", son of background artist and Imagineer Claude Coats and Ink & Paint artist Evelyn Coats. His dad worked on all of the classic films from Snow White to Lady and the Tramp before being hand-picked by Walt to be one of the original designers of Disneyland.
His career began during the early days of the park as a toy soldier marching in parades with Mouseketeer Annette before graduating to his dream job as Alligator Al, a skipper on the Jungle Cruise.
As an Imagineer at WED Enterprises, now Walt Disney Imagineering, Alan was a designer of show lighting and effects for the Magic Kingdom in Florida, and created initial concepts for EPCOT and Tokyo Disneyland.
Tony Baxter
Creative Advisor, Retired Senior VP // Walt Disney Imagineering
One of the most influential and prolific of the “second generation” Disney Imagineers, Tony Baxter has played a key role in the design and creation of many noteworthy Disney attractions and theme parks of the last 25 years, including Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain, the Indiana Jones Adventure, and the overall creative role for Disneyland and Disneyland Paris.
Now a creative advisor to Walt Disney Imagineering, Baxter completed his full-time career as senior vice president of Creative Development in 2013. In his new role, Baxter continues to provide creative ideas and input for Disney attractions and theme parks around the world.
Baxter began his Disney career in 1965 at Disneyland while completing his education at California State University, Long Beach, graduating in 1969 with a bachelor’s degree in theatre design. As part of his portfolio, he presented a precisely engineered model of a “Marble Maze” to executives at Walt Disney Imagineering, and impressed by his talent, Imagineering hired Baxter in l970 as a dimensional designer. He was sent to Florida to work on the Walt Disney World Resort, which opened in 1971.
In 1989, he was appointed senior vice president responsible for the concept development, design and creation of an entirely new theme park, Disneyland Paris (1992). He continued to provide creative direction for new shows and enhancements at Disneyland in California, including the Indiana Jones Adventure, which opened in l995, and the major redevelopment of Tomorrowland that opened in May 1998.
In 2007, he led the Finding Nemo creative team in the reinvention of the Submarines at Disneyland, blending hi-tech CG animation into an actual underwater environment, while maintaining sound sync to vehicles in motion. Since then Tony has continued to keep Disneyland up to date with technical breakthroughs in the audio animatronics applied to Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, reconceptualized the Sleeping Beauty Castle walk-through and recently completed the Princess Fantasy Fair.
In his new role as Advisor to Imagineering, he has a patent pending on a new racing ride system that will pit 48 riders against one another in a racing simulation. In 2015 Tony partnered with author Tim O’Brien to create a biographical book on his career, “Tony Baxter – First of the Second Generation of Walt Disney Imagineers”. Most recently, Baxter returned to Paris to represent Imagineering at the 25th Anniversary of Disneyland Paris, April 12th 2017.
Born in Los Angeles, Baxter resides in Anaheim, California; in an imaginative home he designed. In 1988 he received the “Distinguished Alumni Award” in fine arts from California State University, Long Beach, the “Over the Years Award” by the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA), and most recently the “Lifetime Achievement Award” from the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA).
In 2013 Tony was honored to receive the Disney Legend Award, followed shortly afterward by what Tony feels is his favorite recognition…a “Window on Main Street” at the original Disneyland Park in Anaheim California.
MODERATOR
David A. Bossert
Producer, Creative Director, Writer // Independent
(Fantasia 2000, The Lion King, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Beauty & the Beast)
David A. Bossert is an award-winning artist, filmmaker, and author. He is a 32-year veteran of The Walt Disney Company, where he contributed his talents to Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty & the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), The Lion King (1994), Fantasia 2000 (1999) and the Academy Award©-nominated shorts Runaway Brain (1995), Dali/Disney Destino (2003), and Lorenzo (2004), among many others. Bossert is now an independent producer, creative director, and writer.
Bossert is a member of the CalArts Board of Trustees, Visual Effects Society (VES), Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (AMPAS), and is a visiting scholar at Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) in Pittsburgh. He has presented at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Dali Museum, School of Visual Arts, NYU Film School, Bowers Museum, Newport Beach Film Festival, Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí (Figueres, Spain), Oscar Pomillio-Blumm Forum (Pescara, Italy), and other venues and festivals. He is considered an authority on Disney animation art and history.
As an inventor, Bossert was awarded a U.S. Patent in 2018 for his invention, Parallax-Based Monoscopic Rendering. In 2020, he received an additional U.S. Patent for Varying Display Content Based on Viewpoint. He continues to explore transformative, immersive experiences in book publishing.
Bossert is the author of numerous books, liner and program notes, and dozens of animation articles.
Website // IMDb // Facebook // Instagram // Twitter
