No not moving the goalposts. I wasn't aware that the item or items in question were damaged or altered. That makes a very different take on the conversation.
I'm aware that as Disney fans we all have our favorite attractions and hold fond memories/ ties to them all differently. What one sees that should be treasured, someone else doesn't value the same. When something gets taken from us we grieve somewhat from losing what we value. Disney can't keep everything as they change. They have to determine what's valuable, what should be held in storage or discarded. They certainly can't keep everything.
That was the problem the famous archivist Dave Smith had and described in detail in his book that told how he was tasked with the job of what to keep and what was to be discarded from all the treasure troves the company had in boxes, closets and storage spaces. He grieved that some Disney history had to be thrown out and valued Disney history was unfortunately lost forever.
I could argue that every piece, every part of every Disney attraction, show or site has some value and should be kept, but that's not feasible. It's their property and their right to do with it as they see fit.
As I stated before, if someone, a museum or a school sees these items as being valuable to them they could contact Disney and come up with a deal. Disney has no obligation to search out outside people to sell or donate items. I'm sure some E-Bay sellers would love getting their hands on what Disney trashes.
Nope. As stated before, Disney has donated millions of dollars of art and historical items to worthy places. If Disney has evaluated certain pieces and doesn't feel they are of enough value, they aren't obligated to seek out those that might want them.
This is not just about deciding upon the fate of Disney history and what should be put in the Disney Archives. This is something bigger than Disney. These fossils and fossil casts, including Sue, are important scientific pieces that allow both scientists and the general public to gain further knowledge about animals that existed millions of years ago and the history of our planet.
Keep in mind that the casts of rare fossils or of almost complete skeletons are held in high regard within the scientific community. Most dinosaur skeleton displays that you see when you visit museums are casts. Fossil casts allow paleontologists to study the characteristics of a specimen and transport it between institutions without risking damage to the original fossils. It is an arduous and very expensive process to create a fossil cast of a large, almost complete skeleton like Sue. There are only a few casts of Sue in existence and they were created when Sue's fossils were initially being prepared and assembled by paleontologists in the late 1990s. It would likely be an extremely difficult undertaking for them to create another full fossil cast of Sue. This is one of the reasons why preserving the ones that exist, like the one at Disney's Animal Kingdom, is important.
I find it suspicious that suddenly these items are supposedly being labeled as in "poor condition" now. If you have been closely viewing these fossils and fossil casts all around DinoLand U.S.A over the years, you could see that they have been virtually unchanged in all the ways that matter for public display. Note that all of the ones displayed outside were carefully constructed and made with materials to withstand Florida weather. Even if these fossils and fossil casts are damaged or altered, they deserve to be restored and preserved. I'm sure there are plenty of professionals and hobbyists that would love to play a role in preserving some of these important specimens, especially those of significant value like Sue and The Boneyard's
Brachiosaurus. Small museums/education centers and non-profit organizations would gladly take free fossil casts, even if these items have been slightly damaged or modified. Better than those items going into dumpsters and landfills, were they would never again be able to impart joy and knowledge to the public.
Disney may not have the obligation to search for people to sell or donate these fossils and fossil casts to, but they have the
responsibility to be good stewards of these preserved pieces of life on Earth. The onus is on them to broadcast their need to find good homes for these items and seek out those in the community to take these pieces if they no longer want them. It would be charitable of them to donate the items if they don't want to earn money by selling them. They established great relationships with museums and paleontologists when they built DinoLand U.S.A., which allowed them to to acquire so many rare and high-quality fossils and fossil casts. Are they not doing anything to foster those professional relationships now? It has taken decades for Disney to develop a solid standing within the scientific community and become a respected educator on scientific matters. This kind of respect is difficult to gain and easy to lose.
