Former Disney Imagineer Marty Sklar brings spirit of innovation to UCLA

Following in the footsteps of past speakers, such as director of “The Lion King” Rob Minkoff, head of the Walt Disney Archives Dave Smith and Tony Award-winning Disney singer Lea Salonga, UCLA alumnus and former editor-in-chief of the Daily Bruin Marty Sklar helped innovate and shape the “Happiest Place on Earth,” more commonly known as Disneyland.

On Tuesday, the Disney Club of UCLA, in association with the Office of Residential Life, hosted the 79-year-old retired Disney Imagineer at the De Neve auditorium at 7 p.m.

From 1955 until his retirement in 2009, Sklar played an instrumental role at the Walt Disney Company, helping in the design of many famous theme park attractions such as “It’s a Small World” and Space Mountain. He also oversaw the design and construction of Disney themes parks and attractions around the world, including Epcot and Tokyo Disneyland.

As a third-year at UCLA, Sklar was hired part-time by Disney to create a newspaper, The Disneyland News, and eventually grew to become Disney’s international ambassador for Walt Disney Imagineering. In addition to his work with the parks, Sklar also wrote speeches for Walt Disney and created promotional videos for use by the company.

Sklar came to UCLA last year for True Bruin Live, where he spoke to students at Bruin Café. On Tuesday, students had the opportunity to listen to Sklar share stories about his 54 years with the Walt Disney Company and his time at UCLA. Disney Club team members Matthew Friedman, a third-year mechanical engineering student, and Allison Grenda, a first-year anthropology student, said the club loves showmanship and wanted to add some pizazz to this year’s presentation and make it more interactive.

Friedman said that Sklar is a great storyteller. To supplement his stories, Sklar showed videos that he made during his career that can only be seen exclusively at his events. The Disney Club also interviewed Sklar and allowed the audience to ask questions.

“(We wanted) to ask him questions about his time at UCLA, what his favorite places to eat were and items that we really think that students will connect with,” said Friedman.

Grenda said that she admires Sklar’s ability to work his way from a UCLA student to a successful Disney Imagineer.

“I think it’s really cool how much work he put into it and how much passion he has for his job,” Grenda said.

Sklar is also very well-known for creating “Mickey’s 10 Commandments,” which provide a guideline for successfully managing a creative enterprise or theme park in terms of leadership and followership.

“If you’re the leader of a group, (‘Mickey’s 10 Commandments’ are helpful) in making sure you’re staying on track,” Friedman said. “The fact that he was able to put these ideas into words is really inspiring to me.”

Following the event, Sklar’s autobiography, “Dream it! Do it!: My Half-Century Creating Disney’s Magic Kingdoms” was available for purchase and autographing, and the Disney Club gave away two free passes to Disneyland, UCLA Disney merchandise and tickets to the Disney-inspired musical, “When You Wish: The Story of Walt Disney,” which is playing at the UCLA Freud Playhouse until Nov. 3.

Tuesday’s event was different from previous Disney Club-hosted events because of the heavier focus on the artistry of Disney parks rather than that of the Disney films. In addition to highlighting Sklar’s five decades of work for the company, the Disney parks are a part of the Walt Disney Company that attempt to turn the magic of the movies into an interactive experience for people around the globe.