I love lists. Heck, I love lists of lists. My parents used to have an old paperback copy of something called the Book of Lists and, as far as I was concerned, that was pure reading bliss. Perhaps it’s not surprising, then, that I’m constantly making little lists in my head of things to write about.

Any little news tidbit can inspire a mental list, whether it’s movies that Disney should be remaking (inspired by the recently-announced remake of The Black Hole) or overlooked properties from Disney’s past that are foolishly unexploited (inspired by their purchase of Marvel). Instead of reading an article discussing things like this, I’d much rather read it as a list. And heaven help you if I read a bad or lazy list, that refuses to stick to its own criteria or tries to cheat by putting in too general or vague selections. That makes me mad.

So occasionally I’m going to put up a mini-list of suggestions for Disney on a specific topic. I will do this on Fridays. Because Friday starts with an F, and so does the number five, which is how many items there will be on each list. I find alliteration almost always alluring. That’s a little peek behind the scenes for you kids as to how we make the magic here at Progress City. F is also for fake, but Orson Welles beat me to that one.

For my premiere Five for Friday, I’m going to pick a selection of people that I’d like to see Disney hire. With all the brand madness driving Disney today, I think the actual creative types too often get left out of the equation. I’d much rather see Disney hiring exceptional talent than purchasing the rights to different properties; after all, the right kind of talent will create the great ideas from which franchises spring forth.

I do have to say that Disney has done a much better job in recent years of reaching out to creative talent; after all, Iger’s first real duty as CEO was to mend the rift with Pixar. We’ve also seen the folks at the Muppet Studios come on board. There have been some wonderful surprises – hiring super-genius game designer Warren Spector to create Epic Mickey is foremost among these. Disney’s new production venture with Guillermo del Toro was also a pleasant surprise, as was the seemingly random signing of Brian Wilson by Walt Disney Records. And, lest we forget, Walt Disney Animation Studios has been slowly re-gathering many of the famous animators that had departed during the Eisner siege years.

There are still a lot of great talents at large, and far too many continue to be let go – especially at Feature Animation and Imagineering. I could (and probably will) do a monster of a list of talent that Disney has been foolish and short-sighted to let go. But Disney is doing better than they were previously, so that’s something.

In any case, there’s always room for more genius at Disney. So who to hire first… and let me warn you, fanboyism awaits.

Continue reading Five For Friday: Hire These People!!!