Longtime Disney Imagineer Joe Rohde and former Disneyland manager Martha Blanding represent Disney Parks in this year's class of Disney Legends, announced today by the company.
This class of Disney Legends will be enshrined during a ceremony at this year's D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event in Anaheim in August. The other honorees this year will include Colleen Atwood, Angela Bassett, James L. Brooks, James Cameron, Jamie Lee Curtis, Miley Cyrus, Steve Ditko, Harrison Ford, Mark Henn, Frank Oz, Kelly Ripa, and John Williams. Ryan Seacrest will host the presentation on Sunday, August 11 at the Honda Center.
Joe Rohde led the creation of some of the most acclaimed and popular attractions at Disney theme parks today, including Disney's Animal Kingdom, as well as its Pandora - The World of Avatar expansion, Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout! at Disney California Adventure, and the Aulani resort in Hawai'i. Acclaimed as the professor of themed entertainment by colleagues and admirers throughout the industry, Rohde consistently has advocated for high standards in both the creation and study of themed entertainment design.
Martha Blanding joined Disneyland in 1971 as the park's first Black fulltime tour guide. Over 50 years of service to Disney, she worked as senior manager of Disneyland Resort Merchandise Special Events and co-founded PULSE, a business employee resource group for Black Disneyland Cast Members. She also was one of the pioneers of the Official Disneyana Convention, a forerunner of Disney's D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event. Blanding becomes the first Black Disney Parks cast member to be honored as a Disney Legend.
"To be named a Disney Legend is the highest honor our company can bestow on anyone, reserved for those whose talent and achievement have earned them an enduring place in our history," Disney CEO Bob Iger said. "The fourteen individuals to be honored as Disney Legends this year have each made extraordinary creative contributions across the worlds of Disney and we look forward to celebrating them at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event."
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Common reaction at comic book blogs is how much Steve Ditko would have hated this.
I read they're giving a special achievement award to Rohde's earlobe, the grossest earlobe in the history of humanity.
On his Instagram, Rohde teased that he might do a cement earprint, with his earrings, rather than the traditional handprint.
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