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Welcome to Imagineering In a Box

Imagineering in a Box is a free, online educational curriculum available through Khan Academy. Lessons compile expertise of Disney Imagineers from hundreds of career disciplines around the world to share with learners of all ages. As part of the 35 educational videos, the curriculum features project-based exercises that apply science, technology, engineering, art and math that allow learners to create themed experiences. Copyright The Walt Disney Company.

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Video transcript

[Music] To all who come to this happy place, Welcome. Disneyland is your land. Walt Disney said Disneyland would never be complete as long as there's imagination left in the world. And when you think about Disney Parks and all the attractions and characters there, someone has to design and build it all. And that takes a ton of artists and engineers working closely together. We call these people Imagineers. I'm Dawson Dill and I'm an Imagineer in our Research and Development Studio. And I'm Margaret Kerrison, I'm an Imagineer at the Story Development Studio. In Disney's Imagineering in a Box, we're gonna go behind the scenes with the artists and engineers and see how they design and build the worlds, attractions, and characters for Disney Parks. [Music] Disneyland is an example of the first theme park. The theme park is all about stepping inside a story. You are living a story rather than just watching. Where people can realize the stories, and the games, and the movies that they've only seen on the screen. Everything that you see, hear, smell, touch, and taste comes together to completely immerse you in an all-new place. Imagineering is all about taking the imaginary and making it real. Imagineers take imagination and engineering to design and create our parks. Imagineering is a collection of diverse disciplines coming together. Civil engineering. Mechanical engineering. Costume designers. Digital sculptors. Ride mechanics. Improvisational comedians. Dimensional designers. Sculptors. Special-effects. Painters. We have color specialists. I'm gonna keep going. Architects. Creative directors. Mathematicians. Robotics. Carpenters. Songwriters. There's a team here that designs the scents that go into our parks. We have people that do nothing but sculpt the rocks. I think about taking it my daughter to the park and saying, "Look, mommy got to do that rock, right there." so I think that's pretty cool. In junior high, I tended towards the areas of mathematics and physics, but I had this this creative love and passion for Disney. So I actually typed in to Google "math plus Disney" and Imagineering is what showed up so I said, "That's what I'm gonna do." I am a mechanical engineer however since I've been a little girl. I've always been an artist at heart. And so I really enjoyed having like sort of a creative outlet but still get to be technical. I think the most surprising thing about Imagineering is that this is a real job and it can feel like a real job. The magic comes with the work. There's a lot of planning, a lot of development, and a lot of trial and error before we actually get it to a final product. I'm still surprised at the level of detail. Everything is given so much thought to make the best possible experience that we can for our guests. Having the ability to go and experience those tiny, tiny, little details is unique to Disneyland. It makes me feel really proud to be on a team of people who put their blood, sweat, and tears into something like that. And people who have really thought about everything thought about how a guest will feel in this space, thought about how a guest will remember this space. I got chills, I get chills thinking about that. It's cool. With Disney's Imagineering in a Box you'll learn all about the Imagineering process from the spark of an idea to the building of a magical place. And you'll get to Imagineer a theme park experience of your very own. [Music]