''Imagineering'' (from "imagination" and "engineering") is the implementation of creative ideas in practical form. The word was registered as a
trademark of
Disney Enterprises, Inc.
This is a list of assets currently or formerly owned by the Walt Disney Company, unless otherwise indicated.
Corporate
Walt Disney Studios
Live-action production
Animated production
Disney Studio Services
Disney Theatrica ...
in 1990,
and forms part of the title of Disney's research and development arm,
Walt Disney Imagineering. The word was actually coined by
Alcoa
Alcoa Corporation (an acronym for Aluminum Company of America) is a Pittsburgh-based industrial corporation. It is the world's eighth-largest producer of aluminum. Alcoa conducts operations in 10 countries. Alcoa is a major producer of primary ...
around 1940, and appeared widely in numerous publications of several disciplines such as urban design, geography and politics, evolutionary economics, corporate culture and futures studies.
Earliest usages
During
World War II,
Alcoa
Alcoa Corporation (an acronym for Aluminum Company of America) is a Pittsburgh-based industrial corporation. It is the world's eighth-largest producer of aluminum. Alcoa conducts operations in 10 countries. Alcoa is a major producer of primary ...
created an internal "Imagineering" program to encourage innovative usage of aluminum in order to keep up with demand. A
''Time'' magazine ad from February 16, 1942, titled "The Place They Do Imagineering" relates the origin:
Other notable pre-Disney usages include an October 24, 1942, mention in the ''New York Times'' in an article titled "Christian Imagineering," a 1944
Oxford English Dictionary entry which cites an advertisement from the ''Wall Street Journal'', and the use by artist
Arthur Radebaugh
Arthur Radebaugh (1906–1974) was an American futurist, illustrator, airbrush artist, and industrial designer. He produced a significant body of work for the automotive industry. He was noted for his artistic experimentation with fluorescent pai ...
to describe his work, which was mentioned in the article "Black Light Magic," in the ''Portsmouth Times'',
Portsmouth, Ohio, 1947.
Other early usage includes Richard F. Sailer's 1957 article "BRAINSTORMING IS IMAGINation enginEERING" written for the ''
National Carbon Company The National Carbon Company was founded in 1886 by the former Brush Electric Company executive W. H. Lawrence, in association with Myron T. Herrick, James Parmelee, and Webb Hayes, son of U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes, in Cleveland, Ohio. ...
Management Magazine'', and reprinted by the
Union Carbide Company
Union Carbide Corporation is an American chemical corporation wholly owned subsidiary (since February 6, 2001) by Dow Chemical Company. Union Carbide produces chemicals and polymers that undergo one or more further conversions by customers befor ...
.
WED Enterprises applied for a trademark for the term in 1967, claiming first use in 1962.
In 1981, a book with the title ''Imagineering for Health: Self-Healing Through the Use of the Mind'', authored by Serge King, was published by Quest Books (
Wheaton, Illinois).
See also
*
Imagineer (disambiguation)
Imagineer may refer to:
*Imagineering, a term for creative engineering, coined by Alcoa Corporation and made famous by the Walt Disney Company
**Walt Disney Imagineering, design and development arm of The Walt Disney Company, responsible for the c ...
Other uses
"Imagineering" has also been used by:
*
Master in Imagineering, NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences Master's program.
*
Imagineering Foundation
The Imagineering Foundation is a British charity organisation that encourages schoolchildren aged 8–16 to engage with engineering.
History
It was formed in 1999 by a group of The Midlands, England, Midlands engineers who were concerned abou ...
, a charity organisation that encourages school children aged from 8–16 to engage with engineering.
*
Imagineering
''Imagineering'' (from "imagination" and "engineering") is the implementation of creative ideas in practical form. The word was registered as a trademark of Disney Enterprises, Inc. in 1990, and forms part of the title of Disney's research and dev ...
, a defunct New Jersey
video game developer
A video game developer is a broad term for a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large ...
.
*
Imagineering Australia
Imagineering was a software distribution company founded by Jodee Rich in the early 1980s. It grew rapidly before running into financial trouble in the late 1980s. Imagineering was sold to First Pacific in 1990 at which time Jodee Rich left the b ...
, a
microcomputer
A microcomputer is a small, relatively inexpensive computer having a central processing unit (CPU) made out of a microprocessor. The computer also includes memory and input/output (I/O) circuitry together mounted on a printed circuit board (PC ...
software and hardware distributor founded by Australian businessman
Jodee Rich.
*
Larsen & Toubro (L&T), an Indian engineering and construction giant, in its advertising. It has been used in its ad campaign, released in mainline publications and on outdoor media nationwide describing the new tagline of the company - "It's all about Imagineering".
* Applied imagineering, used by Dr. Snyder in the United States Salvation Naval Academy. "The quantum concepts generated with our imaginations are applied with words and deeds. Applied Imagineering quantifies the constructs upon which students may attain enlightenment of self goals, self assess, and implementation of dreams into reality."{{Citation needed, reason=Who is this 'Dr. Snyder'? There are no references., date=July 2022
References
English words
Disney jargon
Engineering concepts