Document details

Brandon Kleyla
Jim Korkis

Brandon Kleyla was the Walt Disney Imagineer responsible for set dressing, writing, and giving life to Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar at the Disneyland Hotel (that opened in May 2011) and Trader Sam's Grog Grotto (that opened in April 2015) at Walt Disney World's Polynesian Village Resort.

Kleyla has five THEA awards for his work on Star Tours: The Adventures Continue, The Walt Disney Family Museum, Shanghai Disneyland, and two for Pandora: The World of Avatar.

He is currently working on the Universal Beijing project as a Props Manager/Art Director, as well as serving as Creative Director, Art Director, and Media Director for one of the lands of the new park. Kleyla authored the hundred-page 2018 book The Field Guide to Tiki Decorating that is only the first volume of a proposed series of books. He joined Walt Disney Imagineering in 2009 and left in 2016 to become part of Universal Creative. He was very gracious over the last year to answer some of my questions about himself and Trader Sam's. He reviewed the final interview in November 2019.

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Source

Title
Source type Book Series
Volume 28 Chapter: 17
Published
Subject date 1983,
Language en
Document type Interview
Media type text
Page count 14
Pages pp. 219-232

Metadata

Id 7250
Availability Purchasable
Inserted 2024-01-29