158. Imagineer Tim Landry on Creating Effects for Movies and Theme Parks

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Movies and theme parks have always had a clear connection; Disney’s animators worked closely on Disneyland. While the industry has expanded, visual effects advances in movies have carried over to the parks. Along with creating remarkable effects in Hollywood, talented artists have delivered attractions for Disney, Universal, and more. Tim Landry’s career offers a perfect example of this trend. He went to film school at USC, and those skills have served him well in a wide range of mediums.

Landry is my guest on this episode of the Tomorrow Society Podcast to talk about his career in films and theme parks. Following school, he worked as a visual effects supervisor at Dream Quest Images, which was ultimately purchased by Disney. During that time, he was involved in the excellent CinéMagique show at the Walt Disney Studios in Paris. On this episode, Tim talks about the experience making that cool love letter to movies. In addition, Tim created effects for original Disney California Adventure attractions like the Bakery Tour and Golden Dreams film.

In 2005, Tim returned to Walt Disney Imagineering and played a key role in the visual effects for the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage at Disneyland. He talks about that challenging process and his work on attractions like Mystic Manor, Soaring: Fantastic Flight, and several at EPCOT. Beyond the specific projects, Tim tells his story about the ups and downs of being an artist. He documented this experience in his film Shoveling Pixie Dust: a Memoir, available to watch on YouTube. I really enjoyed the chance to learn more about Tim’s story on this podcast.

Show Notes: Tim Landry

Watch Tim Landry’s film Shoveling Pixie Dust: A Memoir for free on YouTube.

Learn more about the career of Tim Landry and his work on his official website.

Note: Photos in this post used with the permission of Tim Landry.