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You know, one of the most magical things
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about Disney is that you can actually
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step inside the stories that you love.
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You can walk down Main Street, sail with
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pirates, explore haunted mansions, fly
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through galaxies far, far away. Places
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that began as someone's imagination
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become places where families make
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memories they'll treasure forever.
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That's the magic of Disney Imagineering.
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They don't just build attractions, they
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And for decades, our next Disney legend
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has been one of the extraordinary people
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making that wonder possible. Carrying
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forward Walt Disney's belief in
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imagination should be something you can
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see, hear, touch, and experience
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together. Millions of guests may not
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know her name, but they have felt her
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work, and generations of families have
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made memories because of it. Her name is
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It's a small world taking
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>> Sleeping Beauty's castle.
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>> For over 50 years, Kim Robin has created
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>> protected [music] the legacy, and
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carried us forward into the future of
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Kim was born and bred Disney. Her
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father, Harvey Tomb, and her mother,
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Leotaa, both work at the Disney studio.
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She started out working in the model
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shop and very quickly absorbed the
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culture of imaginary. And in 1979, Kim
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was asked to start a permanent
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Imagineering team here at Disneyland.
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Kim really followed Walt Disney and
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really looking at the details. [music]
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As the executive creative director of
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Walt Disney Imagineering, Kim has worked
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on thousands of projects. Kim was
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fabulous at looking forward while
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honoring the past, but there's no better
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one than the Haunted Mansion.
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Kim's mom is the face of the original
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Madame Leotaa. So when we had to change
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the incantations for the nightmare
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holiday show, it was only natural to
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have Kim step into that world. [music]
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>> I think in the future guests will still
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experience her legacy and they see how
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much has been preserved from Walt's
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original dream and also what has
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>> Chin is Disneyland. [music]
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She has been the caretaker. She's been
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the visionary. Even [music] if you
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didn't know her name, when you come
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through this place and you make those
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memories, you will always feel Kim
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Irvine. When you're Disneyland, you
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Please welcome Disneyland. [music]
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>> As someone who has been fortunate to be
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part of so many wonderful Disney stories
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and worlds, it brings me great joy to
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celebrate someone else whose work spans
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the entire Disney universe.
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>> Kim Irvine pushed the Disney legacy of
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excellence in storytelling into a new
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era, inspiring generations of
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storytellers to follow in her footsteps.
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Recently, I had the pleasure to meet
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Kim, and I was curious what it was like
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for someone to grow up with parents who
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worked for Walt Disney himself and to
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grow up saturated with everything
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Disney. Look, I I'm a mom, so I know
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that most kids don't always think mommy
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or daddy do for a living is, you know,
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So I had to ask him, "Was there ever a
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point where you just got sick
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Her eyes lit up and with a big smile,
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she answered, "Never."
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>> I think we all feel that way, right?
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>> Kim, thanks to your vision, your
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leadership, and most of all, your love
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you have given park lovers new
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attractions to look forward to with each
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We are eternally grateful to you for
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pouring so much passion into the
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happiest place on earth
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where we all get to play.
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Now, [applause] as the emperor once
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said, you don't meet a girl like that
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>> I'm honored to present this award to you
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and to welcome you as a Disney legend.
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>> Thank Thank you so much, S. I was so
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excited. I came up too early. [laughter]
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Oh, can you believe this? Can you
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believe these people that we're here
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with today? Just incredible. I'm so
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overwhelmed. Um, in 1970 when I started
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my career, it was then web enterprises.
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Uh, I was only going to work for the
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summer. See how that worked out. And all
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of the original Imagineers were still
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working there at Disney. Mark Davis and
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Mary Blair, John Hench, uh you know, all
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of our Hall of Fame Plug Coats. And they
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worked right along with us in the model
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shop. Uh Wet was pretty small at that
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time, and they had their own offices, of
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course, but they loved to come down in
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the big model shop where we actually
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brought all their drawings and dreams to
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So we sit around big tables and work on
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the models or paintings and they tell us
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all the stories about working with Walt
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and the building at Disneyland, all the
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tribal knowledge about what it took to
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create those wonderful attractions that
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we are still still loving today.
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So when they asked me in uh the 1990 to
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lead a team of imagineers down at
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Disneyland to take care of their first
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foreign park, which they didn't want to
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to fall behind. I was so so honored with
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that and so happy to have done that for
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I really want to thank the Disneyland my
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brothers and sisters there because they
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are really the ones that make that magic
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happen every day. [applause]
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The operations people who work round the
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clock to make thousands of people
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through that park. the merchandise
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people that have to plan years ahead of
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time what you're going to want to buy
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and and drink and eat. And that amazing
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amazing maintenance department that we
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have who has all the skills
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to take care of the animation, the
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keeping those buildings looking
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pristine, planting all those planters
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every night. If you were ever there in
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the evening and saw the army of
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gardeners that are out there replanting
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those gardens every night so it's
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pristine for you in the morning. I'm
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just I'm just so grateful for those
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people. I also want to thank um
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um I also want to thank my uh
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Imagineering team both past and present.
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They're amazing group of people. We
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started with two of us and we're a team
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of about 50 people now and
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and they are absolutely the best. And of
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course my family who has lived all of
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this with me for all of these years. My
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husband Rob, my daughter Emily, and my
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daughter Ally. [applause]
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my grandson Violet and my granddaughter
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So, thank you so much for being such
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amazing fans. Um I John Hans used to
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tell me often when he would come down
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we'd walk the park and he'd point out
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all of these things and we'd walk for
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hours and he came down until he was in
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his late 80s early 90s and after we'd
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walk the park for a few hours he'd say
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go on Space Mountain.
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Okay. So we go and we ride around once
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and I'd be worried because you know
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that's a rough ride for someone in life
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and we get to the end and he go I want
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So I'd look at the ride operator and go
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Yeah he's good. He's good. So anyways
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thank you so much. Oh, and what he used
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to say always was, "Remember
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the guests own this park. We just take
