News Zootopia and Moana Blue Sky concepts for Disney's Animal Kingdom

[Animaniac93-98]

Off-topic but just a thumbs up for mentioning Watcher in the Woods, which I hardly ever see referenced. I've always had a fondness for that film. Scared me to death as a kid. I realize it's production was a mess and the ending, therefore, was a jumble. But it's a good example, along with Tron, to me of Disney trying to be daring and do something different which, unfortunately, they don't seem willing to do any more.

If nothing else, the financial failure of The Watcher in the Woods and other experimental Disney releases from the early 80s is what convinced Ron Miller to go ahead with Touchstone which provided the bulk of Disney movie revenue for the decade.

Now that Criterion is putting out Disney titles again, perhaps they can do for Watcher what Anchor Bay wanted to do 20 years ago and release the director's cut with extensive supplemental content.

 

[Brer Panther]

You can't put Moana in, even though the whole theme is the importance of environment, which is AK's theme. But... Zootopia fits cause it has animated animals?

I don't think Zootopia fits either, but I can at least see how Disney thought of it (the mindset being "Hey, it's about animals!"). I'm pretty sure when people think of Moana, they think of the human characters, not any of the "environmental" messages.

Again, WALL-E has a "save the planet" moral and nobody's begging for THAT to be shoved into Animal Kingdom.

— The justifications for Zootopia and Moana are contradictory. Zootopia = “DAK is about animals, even if in an artificial setting/with human characteristics.” Moana = “DAK is really about nature, not just animals.”

Yes. This.

I just hope it's not a Moana miniland with some random animals thrown in.

That's what it's gonna be. There's very little chance of them having Moana teach the riders about sea turtles or whatever, it's just gonna be a Moana ride with the human characters as the stars.

Of course they can't do any wholly original ideas, which is the worst part, but Disney has a giant IP catalog. The thing is, though, most of that catalog is unusable. The IP mandate doesn't mean use anything Disney owns, it means use anything Disney owns that's relatively recent or has demonstrated long-term market feasibility.

They're not going to build a ride where the Rescuers, Robin Hood, or Bedknobs and Broomsticks is the featured IP even if the attraction design is incredible.

This too. It seems like the only chance a pre-2010 movie made by Disney has of getting an attraction nowadays is if it stars a princess.

Theres more

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This doesn't automatically make the movie about animals.

Look at Aladdin. It has a monkey, a tiger, a parrot, horses, camels (seventy-five golden ones!), purple peacocks, white Persian monkeys, elephants, llamas, bears, and lions in it. Does it belong in Animal Kingdom?

It'd be one thing if Animal Kingdom already had a Polynesian-themed land and they were just adding a Moana attraction to it. But dedicating an entire land to a movie that focuses on humans because it has an environmental message is ridiculous. It'd be like adding a Futurama land to Animal Kingdom because there are episodes of the show that focus on protecting the environment.

Would you spend $1B on a new ride, with an unknown character, and hope it was popular? No, you would select existing, popular characters, and see what kind of ride they could fit. That way you could instantly guarantee the ride was popular from the synergies between the existing IP and the new ride.

That's funny, seeing as most of the Disney Parks' biggest flops were based on IPs. Stitch's Great Escape? The Under New Management Tiki Room? PIXAR Pier?

 

[Tom P.]

I don't think Zootopia fits either, but I can at least see how Disney thought of it (the mindset being "Hey, it's about animals!"). I'm pretty sure when people think of Moana, they think of the human characters, not any of the "environmental" messages.

Again, WALL-E has a "save the planet" moral and nobody's begging for THAT to be shoved into Animal Kingdom.

I'm pretty sure that when most people hear about Disney's ANIMAL Kingdom, they think of it being about animals, not environmentalism.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I'm pretty sure that when most people hear about Disney's ANIMAL Kingdom, they think of it being about animals, not environmentalism.

What people think when they hear the words is irrelevant. What matters is what people FEEL when they walk through the gates. In that respect, Zootopia is incongruous.

 

[Brer Panther]

I'm pretty sure that when most people hear about Disney's ANIMAL Kingdom, they think of it being about animals, not environmentalism.

Exactly! And Moana is first and foremost about humans. I highly doubt that whatever Imagineer/higher-up who suggested this idea pitched it, they said "We can use Moana to teach people about protecting the environment."

Moana will be completely out of place in Animal Kingdom, no matter how much you bring up the film's "being about the environment". I don't think of Moana and Maui when I think of characters who belong in Animal Kingdom.

 

[No Name]

What if they just replaced PrimeEval Whirl with an interactive ride themed around Rex from Toy Story. It would finally complete the trilogy of Toy Story shooter attractions!


I’m actually kind of serious about this.

 

[doctornick]

Exactly! And Moana is first and foremost about humans. I highly doubt that whatever Imagineer/higher-up who suggested this idea pitched it, they said "We can use Moana to teach people about protecting the environment."

Moana will be completely out of place in Animal Kingdom, no matter how much you bring up the film's "being about the environment". I don't think of Moana and Maui when I think of characters who belong in Animal Kingdom.

See, I don’t think Moana explicitly furthers the main ideas of DAK but still is fine to use. I’m just not such a purist that thinks that every single in a park has to slavishly support the main thrust. As long as any Moana attraction shows humans living in harmony and respecting nature - even if it isn’t the “plot” of the ride - I’d be comfortable with it in DAK. Moana and the concept art they showed look to be harmonious with the environment of DAK and not disrupt the ambiance and feel of the park. Plus if there are some animal enclosures as well all the better.

I contrast that to Zootopia which has little to do with nature or DAK’s mission since it’s about anthropological characters doing human things in an urban environment. It just doesn’t work and would be a poor addition to DAK. Despite having “animals”, it heavily contrasts the ideals of DAK. Hard pass.

 

[aaronml]

Investing like this in DAK rather than Epcot is a strange choice IMO. Epcot needs the CapEx far more urgently (SSE Refurb, WoL Replacement / Play Pavilion, UK Mary Poppins ride, etc.)

 

[Jrb1979]

Investing like this in DAK rather than Epcot is a strange choice IMO. Epcot needs the CapEx far more urgently (SSE Refurb, WoL Replacement / Play Pavilion, UK Mary Poppins ride, etc.)

Why? Epcot now is basically a paid festival year round and guests love it. Why change it.

 

[DisneyDodo]

Investing like this in DAK rather than Epcot is a strange choice IMO. Epcot needs the CapEx far more urgently (SSE Refurb, WoL Replacement / Play Pavilion, UK Mary Poppins ride, etc.)

A part of me feels like they didn’t want to talk much about Epcot this year because they already spent so much time on it in 2019, and they didn’t want to draw so much attention to all the things they didn’t do and also make it seem like this project is just dragging on forever, so they indicated that it’s all wrapping up by late next year. The optimist in me thinks they may announce more as part of Epcot’s 40th so it’s comes address as a separate project instead of a continuation of this one.

 

[Moth]

Ice Age should take over Dinoland.

There. I said it. Nobody wants to hear it, but to keep dinosaurs and touch on conservation aspects (Manny is one of the last mammoths and his family was hunted!) and other aspects about our planet like climate change. Ice Age is not a BAD pick, it's not a great one, but Disney has no Dinosaur IPs they can use to prop up the land in their new vision for everything to be IP.

 

[JMcMahonEsq]

What people think when they hear the words is irrelevant. What matters is what people FEEL when they walk through the gates. In that respect, Zootopia is incongruous.

Matters to who?

Do you Think kids who are excited to see Moanna or Hopps are thinking/feeling “I love Moanna, but why is she in AK instead of Epcott?”

If they build a great dark ride or an amazing flume, do you think anyone is going to say, “That ride was amazing…but I don’t really think I want to go back and ride it again bc it really doesn’t fit in with the overall theme of the park?”

Do you seriously think that anyone looking forward to Tron is going to enjoy the ride less bc of where it is?

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Do you seriously think that anyone looking forward to Tron is going to enjoy the ride less bc of where it is?

If Tron were in the Morocco pavilion, yes.

 

[JMcMahonEsq]

If Tron were in the Morocco pavilion, yes.

Why?

Other than the fringe “theme park aficionado” who is really going to care about where a ride is, to the point it effects their decisions to come and spend at the park?

You honestly think people will say, well I just rode guardians right across the lake from here and loved it, but I don’t think I want to walk the extra few minutes to ride Tron bc it’s at the Moroccan pavillion?

You can suspend disbelieve that Mexico is right near Norway, and enjoy what both pavillion a have to offer, but the placement of a roller coaster is going to turn people off/away?

 

[dennis-in-ct]

I have a theory that the reason this is all still Blue Sky is that they're waiting to see how Strange World does in theaters as those characters could be used for a new Dinoland attraction.

Now I have to look up Strange World. Not familiar with it.

If every new land is a movie than what will this look like in 10, 15 years. Outdated? And leave people screaming for their current favs. Not sure it’s sustainable.

Or is it just “we have enough room and as long as there is imagination, Disney “land/world” will never be completed”

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Why?

Other than the fringe “theme park aficionado” who is really going to care about where a ride is, to the point it effects their decisions to come and spend at the park?

You honestly think people will say, well I just rode guardians right across the lake from here and loved it, but I don’t think I want to walk the extra few minutes to ride Tron bc it’s at the Moroccan pavillion?

You can suspend disbelieve that Mexico is right near Norway, and enjoy what both pavillion a have to offer, but the placement of a roller coaster is going to turn people off/away?

@lazyboy97o talk to this man.

 

[ToTBellHop]

I am confident that a Moana ride would add more to the vision of the park than Primeval Whirl ever did. It was trash. Let’s not act as though Chester and Hester’s Dino-Rama is integral to DAK. It was a well-themed (because Joe will do no less), budget-friendly area with a crappy theme. As much as people try to claim other areas could be at Six Flags, this area was the closest to Six Flags in a Disney Park. If Rohde got picked up by Six Flags, you’d see Dino-Rama at Great Adventure.

Good riddance.

 

[Jrb1979]

I am confident that a Moana ride would add more to the vision of the park than Primeval Whirl ever did. It was trash. Let’s not act as though Chester and Hester’s Dino-Rama is integral to DAK. It was a well-themed (because Joe will do no less), budget-friendly area with a crappy theme. As much as people try to claim other areas could be at Six Flags, this area was the closest to Six Flags in a Disney Park. If Rohde got picked up by Six Flags, you’d see Dino-Rama at Great Adventure.

Good riddance.

I thought Primeval Whirl was a great family coaster for the young ones to build up to Everest.

 

[ToTBellHop]

I thought Primeval Whirl was a great family coaster for the young ones to build up to Everest.

The young ones who couldn’t ride it? It had a 48” height requirement. Most kids rode Everest 2 years before PW. Not so much a build-up as a letdown.

 

[LSLS]

If Tron were in the Morocco pavilion, yes.

I do think that might be a bit extreme though. Cosmic Rewind is getting rave reviews, and that's pretty much equally out of place if the plan is to just plop down Judy Hops and a Zootopia city. I somewhat agree that people just aren't super into the overall park theme, they want the rides. The difference is Disney used to take pride in those details, even if most people didn't notice. How many people know there are no public bathrooms in Liberty Square, and why? Or even what the brown walkway is? Doesn't matter for Disney, it's a detail that makes it extra special.