I've seen other lists before,but not this one. I really wish they built the Roger Rabbit attractions at the studios,as well as the Dick Tracy and Muppets attractions. Would have been very cool. Also I never heard of a possible Disney park for Niagra Falls before. Not being to far from there, I would have been all for that.
I've been to Toon Town at DL. Very well done. The land and the Roger Rabbit dark ride. Michael Eisner was CEO when they built this. He enlisted the help of Steven Spielberg, who also owned the rights to the characters. Later, the two would have a falling out. As a result, Spielberg defected and joined Universal Creative and pledged never to collaborate with Disney again while Eisner is still in charge there. It is because of this falling out that these attractions were never built at WDW, as originally planned. Now that Eisner is out of the picture, Spielberg would have to quit Universal before a new relation could begin - and that ain't happening!
The Dick Tracy Crime Stoppers ride was planned for the expansion of DHS as part of the Disney Decade. Because of the the trouble Disneyland Paris was in and because the Dick Tracy movie was a complete disaster at the Box Office, the ride was removed from the expansion plan.
In the late 80's, Jim Hensen knew he was dying but no one else did. That's why the last few months of his life, he started a frenzy of new projects and made a deal with Eisner to buy out his company. Hensen then worked with WDI on planning a Muppet-themed land for DHS. All the details were worked out for this land, including the rides, shows, and even the restaurant. See Jim Hill's website for a great article about what was planned, including the Great Muppet Movie Ride. Before he died, he had just completed directing the MuppetVision 4D. They had to edit it and do all the post production work after his passing. Any way, Eisner felt betrayed by his passing because he thought Jim Hensen came with his company and should have told Eisner from the start that he was sick. Eisner felt that - without Jim Hensen - the Hensen Company was worth a lot less than the agreed upon amount. Additionally, Eisner insisted that the deal include the Sesame Street characters, which was not part of the original deal. The Hensen children, who now were the executors of the estate and the company, held firm on the original terms of the deal. With Eisner being stubborn about changing the deal's terms and the Hensen children unwilling to budge, the deal was off. Another factor was that the Hensen children felt that they had inherited Jim's creativity as well and wanted to use the company to produce and create their own stuff independently from Disney. I don't disagree with their talent. See Dinosaur, a TV series written and directed by Jim's son, Brian Hensen. Not bad at all! Any way, it wouldn't be until Eisner stepped down and many years later that Disney finally acquired the Hensen Company. With the original momentum long gone and lack of anyone with equal enthusiasm for the original theme park projects, it is - sad to say - unlikely these ideas will ever get built. Maybe in the future someone at WDI will dust of the models and consider building it!
