Bob Weis Announces Retirement from Walt Disney Imagineering After 42 Years
The former President of Walt Disney Imagineering will officially retire on January 2, 2023.
Today, Global Imagineering Ambassador and former President of Walt Disney Imagineering Bob Weis announced that he will retire at the end of the year.
“I will always be proud to have led Imagineering from 2016–2021, and to be your Global Ambassador in 2022,” Weis wrote in an email sent today to fellow Imagineers. “I am proud to have been an Imagineer, a collaborator, and someone who loves to do impossible things with impossibly talented people.”
Weis grew up going to Disneyland on his birthday annually. While studying architecture at California Polytechnic University, he worked at Disneyland Park as a cast member selling popcorn and ice cream. In 1980, soon after graduating college, he would join WED Enterprises (Walt Disney Imagineering). He then would relocate to Japan to be a part of the WED team tackling Tokyo Disneyland.
Weis’ next assignments would include creative leadership in Disney’s Hollywood Studios (at the time, Disney-MGM Studios), Tokyo DisneySea, and the reimagining of Disney California Adventure. Weis was also the creative leader for the development, design, and construction of Shanghai Disney Resort. In 2016 after the completion of the Shanghai Disney Resort project, Weis was named President of Walt Disney Imagineering. During his time as WDI President, more than 200 distinct projects were delivered.
Weis also led Walt Disney Imagineering during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We marched boldly forward. I have huge admiration for [The Walt Disney Company CEO] Bob Chapek for marching ahead [with us],” said Weis in an interview with Disney D23. “And believing in the projects that Imagineering does and that the audience would be there [when the pandemic eased]. It certainly wasn’t guaranteed at that time. But he was right.”
In 2022, Weis stepped down as President of Walt Disney Imagineering and took on the role of Global Imagineering Ambassador, a role that was once held by one of Weis’ mentors Disney Legend Marty Sklar.
Weis already has revealed some of the ways he will stay connected with Disney post his retirement:
“When I retire, I am relishing the opportunity to write a book for the Marty Sklar Archives and I’m in the process of developing a screenplay for Walt Disney Studios. I may even find some time to just go down and walk around Disneyland once in a while.”
According to Disney D23, Marty Sklar left behind a massive collection of Disney artifacts and memorabilia that Weis has been reviewing with a team of specialists. Weis is doing the book for Walt Disney Publishing. Also, as someone who has read all three of the late Marty Sklar’s books. I’m looking forward to seeing what Weis brings together with the Marty Sklar Archives. The book follows the history [of Walt Disney Imagineering] from Disneyland all the way up to Shanghai Disney.
As a screenwriter myself, I’m extremely interested in Weis’ screenplay, which he is developing for Walt Disney Studios. Could Weis possibly be writing about the early days of Imagineering? That could make one heck of a film or Disney+ series in itself. Currently, no details have been revealed about Weis’ screenplay for Walt Disney Studios, but once we find out we will be sure to report them.
It’s pretty remarkable Bob Weis went from serving ice cream at Disneyland to President of Walt Disney Imagineering, leading multiple projects for the Disney Parks around the globe.
Weis will officially go off on new adventures and depart Disney on January 2, 2023.
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Zach Perilstein is the Editor-in-Chief of the Boardwalk Times
