Steve Davison

Career at Disney

Davison began his career with Disney in 1981 as a model maker for the Disneyland Entertainment Art Department under the supervision of former art department head, Clare Graham. After several years serving as a model maker, art director, and senior art director for the department, he was promoted to show director in 1997, where he began to work on entertainment creative development. In the same year he spawned his first big creation, "It's a Small World Holiday," which brought Davison into the spotlight.

In 1999, Davison was approached to create a new fireworks show for the 45th Anniversary of Disneyland. Though having no prior experience with pyrotechnics, Davison created Believe... There's Magic in the Stars, the second fireworks show made for the park since Fantasy in the Sky debuted in 1958. The show launched his pyrotechnics career. Davison's next attraction conversion was Haunted Mansion Holiday. His idea of "when holidays collide" generated controversy from both Disney management and Haunted Mansion fans, delaying the project's approval by several years. But like It's a Small World Holiday, it quickly became popular among guests after debuting in 2001.

In 2003, Anne Hamburger, former executive vice president of Walt Disney Creative Entertainment, asked Davison to join Imagineering as creative director for parades and shows worldwide, leading to his promotion to vice president, parades and spectaculars, in 2006.

In 2015, Davison was announced at the unveiling of the Disneyland Resort Diamond Celebration under a new job title, lead creative executive of parades and spectaculars.

Works

Productions that Davison was responsible in the creation of include:

Disneyland Resort

Walt Disney World Resort

Tokyo Disney Resort

Disneyland Paris

Hong Kong Disneyland

Shanghai Disneyland