Joe Rohde, the former Imagineer who helped mastermind the development of Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park, was celebrated as an official Disney Legend alongside 13 others honorees this week. His presentation, held in conjunction with the D23 gathering in Anaheim, California, included a taped introduction from anthropologist Jane Goodall and a performance by the Tam Tam Drummers of Harambe, flown in from Florida for the occasion. “When I say we don’t work for awards, we do what we do the way we do it because we love doing it.
,” Rohde said from the stage at the Honda Center . “We would make art, we would sing, we would act, compose music. .
.. We would organize, make movies, write, draw, design in our garage.
We would do it anyway, because it is who we are. It is how we live. It’s how we know that we are alive.
” The entire ceremony, recorded Sunday, is available on the Disney+ streaming service. Rohde started at Walt Disney Imagineering in 1980. He is known for his work on Animal Kingdom; the Aulani project, a Disney Vacation Club property in Hawaii; Epcot’s Norway pavilion; the “Captain EO” film; and the Adventurers Club, a themed lounge at Pleasure Island, which closed in 2008 .
He’s also noted for an elaborate earring that serves as a souvenir of his various travels. Even Goodall mentioned it. “Of course, when I was first introduced to you, Joe, I was mesmerized with a collection of earrings dangling from your left ear,” she said.
“I suspect ever.