Eddie Sotto obit

Eddie Sotto Dies: Former SVP Of Concept Design At Disney Imagineering Was 67

 He was not on the list.

Eddie Sotto, the former Senior Vice President of Concept Design at Walt Disney Imagineering who worked on key parts of Disneyland Paris and Tokyo Disneyland, died Wednesday afternoon, according to his son, Brian. He was 67.

According to the Walt Disney Family Museum, his portfolio at Disney consisted of about $500M in built projects. Those ranged from from classicly termed E-ticket attractions to retail, restaurants, web, and mobile technology and digital architecture like ABC Times Square Studios. At Disneyland Paris, Sotto led the design of Main Street U.S.A. He led Tokyo Disneyland master planning, which he called a “wonderful playground” for a designer. His work there included the breakthrough Pooh’s Honey Hunt trackless ride — which Sotto placed among the “funnest” and “hardest” projects on which he ever worked. He launched Mission: Space at Epcot. At Disneyland his responsibilities included the Indiana Jones attraction, the Adventureland renovation, and the renovation of Main Street, U.S.A.

Sotto once said that, as a kid growing up in Hollywood, he knew he wanted to design rides for Disneyland. “Pirates of the Caribbean blew my mind and I knew I wanted to design stuff like that,” he said of his inspirations.

At 21, he was hired as an assistant project director at Knott’s Berry Farm, where he designed Wacky Soap Box Racers and contributed to the design of Camp Snoopy.

In 1983, Sotto moved to experiential design firm Landmark Entertainment Group, where he designed and developed attractions for Universal Studios Hollywood, Six Flags and Mattel.

In 1999, Sotto became executive vice president of creative affairs at early streamer Digital Entertainment Network. He soon left to become chief creative officer of Progress City, which sought to provide cutting-edge product solutions for corporate clients.

He founded his own experiential design firm, Sotto Studios, in 2004. Clients included Ferrari, Virgin Galactic, Porsche, Aston-Martin, Paramount Pictures, Microsoft, Google, Disney, Universal, Wynn Resorts and Irvine Company.

Sotto spent 13 years with Walt Disney Imagineering, rising to senior vice president of concept design. He was the founder and president of the Los Angeles design firm SottoStudios. Sotto also established the think tank Futureproof Experiences in 2020 to address the challenges posed to the experiential industries by COVID-19.

In 2002, Sotto was named one of the 1,000 most creative people in America in the book 1,000: Richard Saul Wurman's Who's Really Who by TED founder Richard Saul Wurman. In 2018 he addressed the TEDxBermuda event with his presentation "The How of Wow". He was also named one of the Blooloop 50 list of theme park influencers in 2020.

At 21, while working as an appliance salesman at Sears, Sotto acted upon a suggestion to pursue his interests in modelmaking and storyboarding and was hired as an assistant project director at Knott's Berry Farm.

Sotto's work on the Laboratory of Scientific Wonders for a Six Flags project in Baltimore, Maryland, caught the attention of Tony Baxter, vice president of design at Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI), who hired Sotto as show producer/designer for Main Street, U.S.A. at Disneyland Paris. Sotto's early Disney mentors included veteran Imagineers Herbert Ryman and John Hench. At Knott's, he designed Wacky Soap Box Racers, a redesign of the park's Steeplechase-style roller coaster, Motorcycle Chase, and contributed to the design of Camp Snoopy.

In 1983, Sotto became a show designer for Hollywood-based Landmark Entertainment Group. During his tenure, he designed and developed themed attractions for Universal Studios Hollywood, Six Flags, and Mattel.