Renowned former Imagineer Joe Rohde and Disney CEO Bob Iger have both shared tributes to the late environmental icon Jane Goodall on their Instagram pages.
Joe Rhode Tribute to Jane Goodall
Following the news of Jane Goodall’s passing, former Imagineer Joe Rhode has shared a touching tribute describing his personal interactions with her.
His caption reads:
I just received a phone call from a mutual friend that Jane Goodall has passed away. I saw her just a bit more than a week ago in Texas and she seemed as spritely as ever. More eloquent people than myself will have much to say about her life, her accomplishments, her legacy, and the place she occupied in the popular imagination.
Her public persona was so overwhelmingly compelling that it’s difficult sometimes to remember that she was just a person. But when you met with her, that is exactly what she was, a person, and that is what she wanted people to understand. “Just a person” can do amazing and impactful things. Just a little girl, fascinated by animals could break a whole series of societal norms and become an inspiration to millions and a political force for change at an international level.
Jane had an inexhaustible capacity for Hope. But she was very clear about what Hope was… Hope is action. If we are to remember her, it is through this. Those things that we hope for….they happen not because we wish for them, but because we do them. And we are many. So do not lose Hope because a great tree has fallen. Roots and Shoots are everywhere.
A day earlier, Joe had shared a photo of his signed copy of Goodall’s In the Shadow of Man, reminisced on how she first impacted his life and their work together, and shared that he was currently working with her on a project in Tanzania.
The caption reads:
My old 1972 paperback copy of In the Shadow of Man, with my high school handwritten name inside. I may have mentioned that I am working with Jane Goodall on a project in Tanzania, a kind of autobiographical visitor center that combines the story of her life with the lessons that her life can teach us about compassion, hope, and the necessity to take action.
I first saw Jane Goodall when I was a freshman (I think) in at Occidental College. She was speaking in Thorne Hall. My college career was funded by loans, grants, and a work program, so I needed to ditch my job washing dishes in the kitchen to run across campus to see her speak. I arrived just in time to watch her exultantly hooting to an auditorium full of transfixed students. By then I had already bought my paperback copy of In The Shadow of Man. But he didn’t have the guts to ask her to sign it then. I had her sign it many many years later.
I didn’t meet her again till decades later sometime in the mid 1990s when she began to be involved with Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Since then we have always stayed more or less in touch.
I’m headed off to Tanzania soon and will get a chance to see the facility which is under construction and to see how quickly we can move forward with the furtherment of the interior design.
It’s a bit of a haul between now and getting it open, between fundraising, design, and construction, but it is an honor to be along this journey with one of the heroes of my life.
Bob Iger on Jane Goodall
Disney CEO Bob Iger also shared a tribute to Goodall on his Instagram account, saying,
Dr. Jane Goodall, Dame of the British Empire, UN Messenger of Peace, and founder of the Jane Goodall Institute, had a profound impact on our world and all those who inhabit it. She was a powerful advocate for protecting wildlife and wild places, and her extraordinary career has proven to be an inspiration for generations of people, including so many of us at Disney. We were proud to collaborate with her on a number of projects, including the instrumental role she played in the creation of Disney’s Animal Kingdom. I’ll never forget when she was asked by a reporter where in the world she would choose to live if she were an animal, her response was Disney’s Animal Kingdom, because that’s where animals get the best care. Her legacy will live on, both in the movement she helped shape and the many people she inspired.
Jane Goodall
Jane Goodall passed away October 1, 2025, at 91 years of age, leaving behind almost a century of groundbreaking work in primatology and environmentalism. She served as a guide and consultant on Disney’s Animal Kingdom during its construction, and was honored with a plaque on the Tree of Life alongside a carving of the chimpanzee David Greybeard.
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