Joe Rohde is arguably the greatest Imagineer of his generation. Sure he's the proud owner of the most famous earring of all-time, but he's also responsible for so much that we know and love around the Disney parks, he's worked on everything from the immersive and detailed lands of Animal Kingdom, to the relaxing getaway resort Aulani in Hawaii, to the futuristic and adventurous Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: Breakout! attraction at Disney California Adventure, to his current project Lighthouse Point - Disney Cruise Line’s second tropical destination in The Bahamas. The thing about Joe is that everything he does seems to turn out above and beyond expectations. His work is thought-provoking and it leaves guests wondering "how did they do that". Everything he does has meaning and, if you follow him on Instagram, he's usually more than willing to share those meanings in their entirety.
Joe's Instagram account offers a sneak peek into his mind. He shares wildly in-depth looks at various projects around Disney World, but mostly his beloved project Animal Kingdom. As of the time of posting this article, Joe has 4,266 Instagram Posts, most being about the Disney Parks and their creations in some way, however, some being non-Disney related stories that he's come across in his travels or conservation efforts, as well as art history and appreciation for other cultures around the world. There are countless hours of material to read straight from Joe's mind and we highly recommend going through them all. But, for our Earth Day article, we decided to pull some of his best Animal Kingdom posts from 2020 and compile them into one central place. Let's get started and take a dive into Joe's mind.
Joe on the Restaurant-osaurus designs inspired by Thomas Molesworth.
Joe on getting all the people in India and beyond who had contributed to the conservation of the endangered Indian Rhino to sign a release permitting Disney to use their likeness on an art project inspired by Vik Muniz.
Joe on designing Pandora, the World of Avatar and trying to present ecologies, however artificial they may be.
Joe on how Disney’s Animal Kingdom is about living things, and living things live inside time. So, in many little places around the park you can see time passing. (Exemplified by a stone carving of a 1/2 face of a tiger in Animal Kingdom)
Joe on the architectural brackets in the Flame Tree Grill dining garden and how each dining pavilion is dedicated to a different predator/prey relationship.
Joe on the characterization of Dr.Stevens and using the infamous "And, uh, fly" line.
Joe on the Ruined Shrine and the tree's roots being partially real and partially carved.
Joe on the Tree of Life and how it's supposed to reward the same kind of patient exploration as one would use to explore the world of nature. The more you look, the more you see.
Joe on the Tree of Life.
Joe on convincing people Animal Kingdom was unlike any other theme park.
Joe explains the dining gardens at Flame Tree Barbecue.
Joe on Harambe, Port of East Africa.
Joe on Kilimanjaro Safaris.
Joe on the drinkwallah beverage merchant in Africa.
Joe talks about the Expedition Everest ride.
Joe on the infamous backstory of Dinoland USA.
Joe on the world of Pandora.
Ok, there's a lot to unpack there. That was a LOT of information and the crazy part is that's only about half of Joe's Animal Kingdom Instagram posts in 2020 alone. Joe recently shared a whole walkthrough tour of Disney's Animal Kingdom via Instagram which we can't recommend reading in it's entirety enough. There's so much insight and knowledge to be found throughout Rohde's teachings and posts, especially for anyone studying or interested in themed entertainment or art history.
If one thing is clear, it's that Animal Kingdom truly is unlike any other theme park in the world. The attention to detail and the revolutionary design and research that went into creating the park is unrivaled and proves that Joe Rohde truly is a master of his craft.