(Interview) Joe Rohde talks Disney, creativity, family and “Floating Mountains”

Disney Legend Joe Rohde’s new National Geographic book, “Floating Mountains,” gathers lessons from a career spent turning complex ideas into immersive worlds. In an interview with Attractions Magazine, Rohde discussed the education, creative relationships and family boundaries that shaped his life — and what those experiences can teach anyone working to bring ambitious ideas to life.

The day an email arrived offering me the opportunity to interview Joe Rohde about his new National Geographic book, “Floating Mountains,” I jumped at the chance. Rohde’s work has helped define how generations of visitors experience Disney attractions.

During the weeks before the interview, I read pieces of the book through a PDF sent by Rohde’s publicist. Then an advance reader’s copy arrived at my doorstep and I could finally read it in a more enriching way. Long stretches of uninterrupted reading are rare in my life as a working mother who homeschools a neurodivergent child; still, I value my reading time.

While I read portions of “Floating Mountains,” I felt fulfilled. The book combines personal reflection with practical guidance on team dynamics, community building and connecting individual creative pursuits with the wider world.

From the classroom to Imagineering

Rohde’s experiences as a student and teacher shaped how he thinks about recognizing creativity. As Rohde described some of the struggles he encountered in a traditional school environment, I thought of my own son. Oftentimes the perceived struggles of the student aren’t indicative of the student, but rather the current structure or environment.

During our conversation, he used “Beowulf” as an example: A student who feels disconnected from the original work might become interested through an illustrated children’s edition, then follow that interest into the source material or related subjects.

Rohde carried that philosophy into theme park design. History, nature, mythology or conservation may feel distant when presented clinically, while an imaginative and entertaining environment can give guests several ways to connect with the same subject.

Each person notices different details and leaves with a different experience. A themed environment can awaken enough curiosity for someone to continue exploring an idea after the visit ends.

In “Floating Mountains,” he challenges the familiar image of the lone creative genius and describes creativity as something developed within a larger milieu. He compared an effective creative team to a jazz ensemble: Each contributor brings individual knowledge and perspective, listens and responds to the others, and works within a shared theme.

A family life built together

At the start of “Floating Mountains” is a dedication to Rohde’s wife, Melody, and their sons, Kellan and Brandt. This struck a personal chord with me. When I asked how their support had shaped his creative life, Rohde challenged the premise of the question itself. Describing a family as supporting one person’s career suggested an outdated division of roles to him. He viewed their family as a collaborative way of living, with each person participating in the life they were building and work occupying one part of that shared experience.

Building that life also required boundaries. Rohde recalled being among the people who regularly left the office around 5:30 p.m. so he could return home and spend time with his family. He also remembered a Walt Disney World vacation celebrating one of his sons’ birthdays, when the boys were about 8 and 5 years old. Rohde took a work call that lasted approximately an hour, and that interruption remained a story his sons continued to bring up years after the family trip.

This all felt especially familiar. My own career depends on continually balancing editorial responsibilities with being present for my husband and our son. My own father often struggled to balance his work with family time.

Speaking with a Disney Legend whose work has influenced an entire industry, I found myself relating to him through the ordinary difficulty of protecting family time while pursuing work. How meaningful to have a moment to discuss with Rohde the care involved in building a full life together.

Trusting Animal Kingdom’s next creative chapter

When I asked how it feels watching Tropical Americas take shape at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Rohde answered with a mixture of pride and caution. He is following the project from outside, in a sort of peer review style, and recognizes that it belongs to the Imagineers now directing the park’s evolution. He expressed trust in their work.

Rohde pointed to the new Indiana Jones attraction and the importance of authentically representing Maya culture. He discussed the network of Maya cultural experts involved in the project, continuing the research-driven approach that has shaped Animal Kingdom since its development.

He also connected “Encanto” with the idea of family and humanity’s relationship with the Earth. Building Casita inside the park, for ‘Antonio’s Fiesta de Encanto,’ transforms a fictional setting into a physical place guests can enter. And in doing so, the film’s focus on family can allow the theme park attraction to convey the broader relationship between people and the Earth, connecting it with ideas that have shaped Animal Kingdom.

Fitting a lifetime inside “Floating Mountains”—the writing process

As our time together came to a close, I asked Rohde, “What were some of the greatest challenges of writing “Floating Mountains,” and what proved most rewarding about the process?”

He described that writing this book was a type of project he had never completed before. He shared about the ensemble involved: the people who helped shape his ideas, artwork and stories into the finished 320-page book.

The challenge was deciding when each idea had reached the right depth. Rohde could have continued developing the material far beyond its final length, but an increasingly expansive book risked overwhelming the people he hoped would read it. He worked to preserve the richness of his experiences while creating something readers could enter and absorb.

The view from the floating mountain

My son was finally asleep, my husband nearly so as well. I continued to review my notes from my time with Joe. On one hand, our conversation centered on family and education; on the other, we touched on leading teams and managing projects. How could I properly convey these tent poles without losing the essence of not only our conversation but of the book as well?

Soon my eyes were ready for a break from the screen, my brain a bit murky from the writing process. I picked up “Floating Mountains” and stepped outside. My husband had lovingly created an outdoor space for reading, and this felt like the perfect time to make use of it.

As I had been doing over the past few days, I browsed the table of contents. This time, “Chapter 23: Dissent as Participation” called out to me.

As I read, the sounds of suburban nighttime filled my ears. Airplanes, crickets, and cars mingled with the distant sound of fireworks wrapping up another evening at the theme parks some 20 miles away.

In this chapter, Joe describes the crucial need for healthy debate and dissent within a team. He describes moments of critique as ‘Pandora – The World of Avatar’ was developed for Disney’s Animal Kingdom. What a joy it is to learn some of the stories behind the creation of the floating mountains in the themed land, as well as the development of my favorite moment during ‘Flight of Passage‘—the moment halfway through that allows you to pause, catch your breath, and marvel at the experience.

It felt like the perfect chapter to end this particular day with, connecting stories behind familiar attractions with lessons readers, like myself, can carry into their own creative work.