With over 16 years of experience at Walt Disney Imagineering, Dustin J. Schofield has built a reputation for his imaginative designs and inspiring leadership style.
One person who nominated Schofield said: “Dustin has demonstrated exceptional commitment to storytelling, engaging guest experience, brand authenticity, and team leadership.”
Commenting on Schofield’s work on Zootopia at Shanghai Disneyland, they add: “He has maintained strong creative leadership and focused intention with the whole team through the development process, through covid, and now to the finish line. His unwavering commitment to storytelling through all the ups and downs of such a long-term, large complex project has been inspiring.”
Zootopia will be the eighth land at Shanghai Disneyland, and is a vibrant and immersive world inspired by the Walt Disney Animation Studios film Zootopia (2016). This land will offer innovative entertainment, themed merchandise, new F&B offerings, and a major attraction named Zootopia: Hot Pursuit.
In this attraction, guests go on an exhilarating chase across Zootopia’s various districts on all-terrain cruisers which are propelled by a trackless ride system.
“As the Senior Creative Director, Dustin has been leading a talented international team, including storytellers, designers, artisans and technical experts across multiple disciplines to create an immersive mini-land that celebrates the themes of inclusion, acceptance, and humor,” said one person who nominated Schofield.
They continued, “Included in the mix is a wildly fun and engrossing ride that leverages state-of-the art technology and good old fashioned theatrical design systems – both in which Dustin is exceptionally fluent and thereby able to meld the best of his abilities and insights with the power of his imagination.
“An accomplished designer, storyteller, and leader, Dustin is as pragmatic as he is bold and adventurous – his influence as an Imagineer in the theme park industry is something that will leave everlasting memories for generations to come, while also influencing a new generation of designers domestically and abroad.”
Schofield’s portfolio includes the interactive water play attraction Geyser Gulch in Grizzly Peak at Hong Kong Disneyland and the Challenge Trails at Camp Discovery for Shanghai Disneyland.