Raymond Kinman
Raymond Kinman Woodcarver
- Joined
- Oct 5, 2024
- Messages
- 20
I sometimes get messages from a parent who’s kid’s dream is to one day become a Disney Imagineer. They ask if I have any education advice or other tips to make that happen.
The answer is that I really don’t know.
So how did I connect with Disney? Imagineering contacted me, not the other way around.
I’m self-taught woodcarver with no formal education. I did manage to make it through high school (barely) but that’s the extent of my schooling. I certainly would recommend getting as much education as you possibly can, but I learned to do what I do by trial and error and imitating others.
As you read this story... just keep in mind the backdrop. It was the early 90s. At the time, I was a self-employed artist/musician and sole provider for a young family. We went thru many, many years of mind-numbing struggle before anything ever happened.
It wasn’t easy...I honestly don’t know how we made it through those years.
I grew up in Southern California not too terribly far from Disneyland. I never thought much about it actually. To me, Disneyland was just that place where you go stand in line all day long.
That changed...
When our kids were very young we did what many parents often do: we took our children to Disneyland for an adventure.
I had been carving professionally for a number of years already, so I was looking around and thinking, “Wow…these designers are REALLY GOOD. You know, I betcha I can probably do stuff like this."
I decided that I would look into it...
After a little detective work I discovered the address for Walt Disney Imagineering, but I didn’t know anyone there. I didn’t even have any names, so I just sent it to the graphic design department. I submitted my work to Disney many, many times.
Over and over again.
No reply ever. Crickets and tumbleweeds.
After doing that for some period of time, I dunno...a couple of years maybe? I just figured I must be doing it wrong, it wasn’t going to happen and I stopped trying.
I quit.
Incidentally, that’s a big mistake. Your greatest asset isn’t your education or your connections or how smart or good looking you are or even the quality of your work....
Your greatest asset in any endeavor is your persistence - which is the one thing you have full control over.
I was young at the time and it took me a while to learn that.
So I had put the idea of working with Disney out of my thoughts. Then one day, out of the blue, I got a phone call... from the Senior Graphic Designer at Disney Imagineering. He just happened to wander into a local restaurant where I had done some work and got my number from the manager.
Yep. That’s what it came down to: a lucky break.
Dumb luck.
Key piece of coaching: Always do your best work. You never know who is going to come across that work someday.
The department head asked me to submit some more examples of my work so that he could take a look at them. I did that. A week or so later he called me back and told me that they had a project they’d like me to take a look at and asked if I could come in and present my portfolio to the Imagineers.
Gulp. Of course I said yes...
When I arrived there I was escorted back into a labrynth of meeting rooms to a room where there were a dozen or so Imagineers gathered around a large board-room meeting table.
I was REALLY nervous. There I was, sitting at the table with some of the best artists and creative minds in the world. I was really intimidated.
I’m self-taught. It’s funny to think about now, but at the time I had this nagging thought in the back of my mind which sounded something like, “Oh jeez... I hope nobody finds out that I don’t know what I’m doing.”
I brought a couple of carvings with me and circlulated photos around the table. They interviewed me and peppered me with some very direct questions... I guess I did okay because the art director (whom I still work with to this day) reached over and plopped some rolled up blueprints onto the table, saying that they had something they wanted me to take a look at.
I figured that they would give me some obscure little project... something to test me on, right?
I unrolled the blueprints and swallowed hard when I realized what it was. This wasn't some obscure little test piece....It was the Indiana Jones Adventure project.
Gulp. Okay.
We talked about some technical details and worked on design snags for quite a while. At one point I just stopped and said:
“Look you guys.... I REALLY want this job!"
Silence.
My next thought was something to the effect of "Raymond, you moron, that was a STUPID thing to say. Why'd you have to go open your big mouth like that?"
More silence.
The art director glanced up from the blueprints and looked me right in the eye. A little smile settled on his face, then he said, “Yeah... we can tell.”
I got the gig.
Long story short, the carve went well and everyone was pleased with the result. That one lucky break opened up what turned out to be a decades-long relationship and has certainly been one of the coolest things I’ve ever done professionally.
Here’s the deal: at the time, I didn’t realize what working with Disney would mean for my career. I thought it was interesting work and the money was good... that’s about all the thought I had put into it.
It's interesting work and the money is good.
I had no idea.
It was a combination of practice, discipline, mind-numbing struggle and a really lucky break which would eventually allow me to do what I’ve been doing for all these years:
I get to work with wonderful team of artists and craftspersons...people who are at the top of their game.
We all do our best to bring a little bit of good into the world.
The answer is that I really don’t know.
So how did I connect with Disney? Imagineering contacted me, not the other way around.
I’m self-taught woodcarver with no formal education. I did manage to make it through high school (barely) but that’s the extent of my schooling. I certainly would recommend getting as much education as you possibly can, but I learned to do what I do by trial and error and imitating others.
As you read this story... just keep in mind the backdrop. It was the early 90s. At the time, I was a self-employed artist/musician and sole provider for a young family. We went thru many, many years of mind-numbing struggle before anything ever happened.
It wasn’t easy...I honestly don’t know how we made it through those years.
I grew up in Southern California not too terribly far from Disneyland. I never thought much about it actually. To me, Disneyland was just that place where you go stand in line all day long.
That changed...
When our kids were very young we did what many parents often do: we took our children to Disneyland for an adventure.
I had been carving professionally for a number of years already, so I was looking around and thinking, “Wow…these designers are REALLY GOOD. You know, I betcha I can probably do stuff like this."
I decided that I would look into it...
After a little detective work I discovered the address for Walt Disney Imagineering, but I didn’t know anyone there. I didn’t even have any names, so I just sent it to the graphic design department. I submitted my work to Disney many, many times.
Over and over again.
No reply ever. Crickets and tumbleweeds.
After doing that for some period of time, I dunno...a couple of years maybe? I just figured I must be doing it wrong, it wasn’t going to happen and I stopped trying.
I quit.
Incidentally, that’s a big mistake. Your greatest asset isn’t your education or your connections or how smart or good looking you are or even the quality of your work....
Your greatest asset in any endeavor is your persistence - which is the one thing you have full control over.
I was young at the time and it took me a while to learn that.
So I had put the idea of working with Disney out of my thoughts. Then one day, out of the blue, I got a phone call... from the Senior Graphic Designer at Disney Imagineering. He just happened to wander into a local restaurant where I had done some work and got my number from the manager.
Yep. That’s what it came down to: a lucky break.
Dumb luck.
Key piece of coaching: Always do your best work. You never know who is going to come across that work someday.
The department head asked me to submit some more examples of my work so that he could take a look at them. I did that. A week or so later he called me back and told me that they had a project they’d like me to take a look at and asked if I could come in and present my portfolio to the Imagineers.
Gulp. Of course I said yes...
When I arrived there I was escorted back into a labrynth of meeting rooms to a room where there were a dozen or so Imagineers gathered around a large board-room meeting table.
I was REALLY nervous. There I was, sitting at the table with some of the best artists and creative minds in the world. I was really intimidated.
I’m self-taught. It’s funny to think about now, but at the time I had this nagging thought in the back of my mind which sounded something like, “Oh jeez... I hope nobody finds out that I don’t know what I’m doing.”
I brought a couple of carvings with me and circlulated photos around the table. They interviewed me and peppered me with some very direct questions... I guess I did okay because the art director (whom I still work with to this day) reached over and plopped some rolled up blueprints onto the table, saying that they had something they wanted me to take a look at.
I figured that they would give me some obscure little project... something to test me on, right?
I unrolled the blueprints and swallowed hard when I realized what it was. This wasn't some obscure little test piece....It was the Indiana Jones Adventure project.
Gulp. Okay.
We talked about some technical details and worked on design snags for quite a while. At one point I just stopped and said:
“Look you guys.... I REALLY want this job!"
Silence.
My next thought was something to the effect of "Raymond, you moron, that was a STUPID thing to say. Why'd you have to go open your big mouth like that?"
More silence.
The art director glanced up from the blueprints and looked me right in the eye. A little smile settled on his face, then he said, “Yeah... we can tell.”
I got the gig.
Long story short, the carve went well and everyone was pleased with the result. That one lucky break opened up what turned out to be a decades-long relationship and has certainly been one of the coolest things I’ve ever done professionally.
Here’s the deal: at the time, I didn’t realize what working with Disney would mean for my career. I thought it was interesting work and the money was good... that’s about all the thought I had put into it.
It's interesting work and the money is good.
I had no idea.
It was a combination of practice, discipline, mind-numbing struggle and a really lucky break which would eventually allow me to do what I’ve been doing for all these years:
I get to work with wonderful team of artists and craftspersons...people who are at the top of their game.
We all do our best to bring a little bit of good into the world.
