• Los Angeles Times , Friday, September 26, 2008 10:45 AM

Walt Disney Imagineering's program brought in five interns this summer who brainstormed attractions for the company's for the theme parks and resorts. The notoriously secretive Imagineering, which is responsible for developing new ideas and rides, took the unprecedented step of granting access to its creative trove -- a database with more than 1,000 technologies and ride systems known as the "blue sky project" -- in hopes of sparking ideas for future attractions.

This approach of bringing together "people who know too much and people who know too little" is a time-honored way to foster creativity, says Stanford University engineering professor Robert I. Sutton, who has studied innovation and has no affiliation with Walt Disney Co.

As a group, the Blue Sky interns developed concepts for two attractions based on a forthcoming film from producer Jerry Bruckheimer, "Prince of Persia: Sands of Time," a fantasy adventure based on the video game franchise.

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