A Friday Visit with Jim Korkis: Hidden Joe Rohdes
By Dave Shute
Welcome back to Fridays with Jim Korkis! Jim, the dean of Disney historians and author of Jim’s Gems in The easy Guide, writes about Walt Disney World history every Friday on yourfirstvisit.net.
JOE ROHDE AT WALT DISNEY WORLD
By Jim Korkis
Disney guests are quite fond of locating Hidden Mickeys, usually three circles that seem to resemble the face front silhouette of Mickey Mouse. There are other more clever variations including Mickey’s foot peeking out at the bottom of a poster in the Great Movie Ride.
Some Disney guests are so observant that they spot the names of people who worked on the parks, often hidden on props like crates, signs and barrels. Near the Jungle Cruise at the Magic Kingdom, there are references to Disney Legends Bill Evans, Wathel Rogers, Winston Hibler, and Harper Goff among others.
When Disney’s Animal Kingdom opened, there were hidden references to various Imagineers throughout the park. The Shields hot air balloon trips refer to landscape planner John Shields. The architectural restoration company Mjafari is a shout-out to architect Ahmad Jafari.
(c) Disney
However, as might be suspected, the most prominent name found throughout the park is that of Joe Rohde, who was the Imagineering executive designer and creative director for the project.
Rohde joined Imagineering in 1980 during the development of Epcot, contributing specifically to the Mexico pavilion. He was later significantly involved in other projects inlcudng among others the Adventurers Club on Pleasure Island, Disney Vacation Club Aulani Resort and the Norway Pavilion.
Rohde commented in 2008 at the park’s tenth anniversary celebration:
“My favorite memory of designing Disney’s Animal Kingdom was walking and riding my bike in the African savanna in the days before we put the African animals in. The whole environment was completed and fully grown in. It went on forever and really looked, even smelled like Africa.
“There were thousands of frogs in the evening, and by day there were huge flocks of little grey doves that would burst out of the grass when I walked by. Sometimes after work, I would just walk out and sit in the grass and it would be perfectly quiet.
“My favorite parts of the park are the big savanna views of Kilimanjaro Safaris, the quieter parts of Maharajah Jungle Trek and the Expedition Everest queue line.
“My favorite memory of opening day was when Jane Goodall thanked all of us Imagineers for all of our dedication and hard work. The most unique contribution of DAK is the ongoing conservation program. This puts the idea of love of animals into real action in the real world.”
Many advertisements in Harambe village are for Jorodi Masks & Beads. The name “Jorodi” is pronounced “Joe Rohde”. Rohde supplied many exotic masks for the now defunct Adventurers Club.
Rohde would laugh that he traveled the world looking for artifacts for the club but couldn’t find any that he felt would work so that all the Adventurers Club artifacts like masks were obtained at swap meets in the Pasadena, California area.
In the Adventurer’s Club main show room, the crooked picture on the side of the stage had a caricature of Rohde as an adventurer in the right hand side of the picture. It was just one of several Rohde references in the club.
The actual storefront for Jorodi Masks & Beads business is hidden away on the second floor of the main room of the Animal Kingdom’s Tusker House, over the hallway leading to the restaurant’s restrooms. A sign there emphasizes the business specialized in earrings, a reference to the distinctively huge ones Rohde wears on his left ear that he gathered on his many travels.
The final sign in the queue for Expedition Everest states “The Yeti Museum gratefully acknowledges the following individuals and organizations for their contributions of photographic material”. Halfway down the second column on the left is the name Joe Rohde.
The signs for Cap’n Bob’s Super Safaris in hot air balloon feature a cartoon caricature of Bob that looks very much like Rohde.
So Rohde’s presence is everywhere in the park he designed, and maybe in some areas yet to be discovered by curious explorers.
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Thanks, Jim! I walked behind Joe Rohde’s ear in April at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge!
And come back next Friday for even more from Jim Korkis!
In the meantime, check out his books, including Secret Stories of Walt Disney World: Things You Never You Never Knew
, which reprints much material first written for this site, and The Vault of Walt: Volume 4, and his contributions to The easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit, all published by Theme Park Press.
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