Disney confirms 'Frozen' makeover coming to Epcot's Norway Pavilion

[Magenta Panther]

In all honesty, you're right. I wouldn't even say that it was loosely based on The Snow Queen. At best, Frozen is only sorta/kinda inspired by the original story.

Yeah, and one that left all of the best parts out.

 

[Magenta Panther]

Frozen should not be in WS period, no animated characters should appear in WS.

Nope Frozen was based on The Snow Queen film they had in development, but changed tone to make it more family friendly. I mean hell, I remember going on a trip at Primary school to see the Snow Queen - but they wimped out of offending anyone and just instead offend our taste.

Frozen is Wicked with snow. Period. That was a motif the film's producers felt comfortable with because, IMO, they're fairly lousy storytellers. Hey, anyone who would jettison so many compelling characters - most of whom were STRONG FEMALES, mind you - from the original Anderson fairy tale has appalling sensibilities.

And if you think I'm the only one who has noted the Frozen/Wicked connection, well, hey, here ya go:

http://thefilmexperience.net/blog/2...-closest-we-will-get-to-wicked-the-movie.html

And from the above article, this:

 

[Mr Anderson]

Well, it's a good thing that Epcot is in Florida, then, isn't it?

 

[Brian Swan]

Up front I'll say I'm with the "it doesn't belong in Epcot" group. But it IS going to be in Epcot, so I'm more interested in conjecturing about what it might become. I'm wondering if they are even going to keep it as a water ride. Water rides are markedly more expensive to maintain, and the "track" system takes up a lot more room than a "dry" dark ride. Given the same footprint (larger than the FL dark rides; approaching the size of the iasw show building), they could have a lot more ride without the boats. Also, assuming that some aspect of "storytelling" will be involved (something that was non-existant in Maelstrom), how could they work the backwards element into a narrative. (as a side note, I always thought the "about to go over a waterfall" effect was totally lost as your back was to the cave opening). And how do you work a boat ride into the Frozen story? There are some boats in the harbor at the beginning and end, but none to be seen throughout the rest of the film. A "dry" dark ride where the vehicles look like sleds would be much more thematically relavent. Love Maelstrom or not, I think everyone agrees that the ride is frustratingly short as it is; by removing the water aspect, they could solve the ride length, narrative elements, and theming in one action... Just some conjecture; would love to hear other opinions from folks that have ties to Imagineering...

 

[aladdin2007]

I have heard a nasty rumor they may drop all the "Norway" references and increase the overall Princess presence.

My Princesslandia Pavilion joke may have been more prophetic than I thought.

Norway and Norwegian references are not being dropped, not sure where your getting that rumor from. While it wouldnt surprise me if they change out Akershus in some way (personally I would rather have the frozen characters in there than all those other princesses that have no business being there to begin with), the rest is remaining Norway as is except for the ride of course. Norwegian cast will not be leaving/replaced either.
So that is a rumor I will debunk all the way, as there are still things in the works to have Norwegian involvement/participation.

 

[BrerJon]

I do have to say...IF and ONLY if the ride is respectfully done and it is an impressive attraction, then I can stomach the inclusion of Frozen into Norway. They honestly should just officially announce that Frozen takes place in Norway instead of "inspired by".

I don't know why they don't just do this. The movie never mentions a country, just a 'kingdom', so with a bit of hand-waving you could easily say Arrendelle is a fictional province of Norway ruled over by Anna and Elsa's parents.
In 5th century Britain, there were plenty of kingdoms within the country - it's only in the last thousand years or so that we've come to associate one king = one country, so it's not unheard of.

Frozen is set in the early 19th century, in the period during which Norway and Sweden became united, so you could posit that the people of the land decided they wanted no part in the changing politics, and decided to become an isolated city-state, declaring themselves a self-governing and self-described kingdom. Maybe the ill-fated sea voyage the parents took was to sign some treaties allowing them to be left alone.

 

[Haymarket2008]

I don't know why they don't just do this. The movie never mentions a country, just a 'kingdom', so with a bit of hand-waving you could easily say Arrendelle is a fictional province of Norway ruled over by Anna and Elsa's parents.
In 5th century Britain, there were plenty of kingdoms within the country - it's only in the last thousand years or so that we've come to associate one king = one country, so it's not unheard of.

Frozen is set in the early 19th century, in the period during which Norway and Sweden became united, so you could posit that the people of the land decided they wanted no part in the changing politics, and decided to become an isolated city-state, declaring themselves a self-governing and self-described kingdom. Maybe the ill-fated sea voyage the parents took was to sign some treaties allowing them to be left alone.

Exactly! It seems incredibly strange to me. After everything that has happened since the film came out (Marketing a Norwegian Disney cruise with Frozen characters/putting the ride in the pavilion) they might as well just do it and make a lot of people a little less angry.

 

[baloofigment14]

Three weeks after the official announcements, and I still can't get worked up about this. Ideally, I would love to see Epcot restored to it's former glory, but ideals rarely mesh with reality. A ride based on a movie that is loosely based on Norwegian culture can't be worse than what we have now which is a horribly dated ride coupled with an even more horribly dated movie.

It may be outdated, but it certainly is a classic. If they would have said they were updating the ride keeping an all Norway theme, I would have been very excited.

 

[DisDan]

So if Disney came out and said (to begin with) that Arrendelle was a kingdom in Norway. Then everyone would be ok with putting this in the Norway pavilion??

 

[baloofigment14]

So if Disney came out and said (to begin with) that Arrendelle was a kingdom in Norway. Then everyone would be ok with putting this in the Norway pavilion??

No, because Arrendelle is fiction and does not exist in Norway.

 

[Mr Anderson]

So if Disney came out and said (to begin with) that Arrendelle was a kingdom in Norway. Then everyone would be ok with putting this in the Norway pavilion??

It seems like a couple of people (I counted 2) said this, but I for one, would not be okay with it. At the end of the day, it's still not going to be a ride about Norway; from what Tom Skaggs said, it will be a ride about the music and the best parts from the movie. That has nothing to do with Norway.

 

[Beholder]

It may be outdated, but it certainly is a classic. If they would have said they were updating the ride keeping an all Norway theme, I would have been very excited.

I can only imagine how nice an $75 mil update of the existing ride would've been. We'll never know.

 

[baloofigment14]

I can only imagine how nice an $75 mil update of the existing ride would've been. We'll never know.

That would have been really cool!

 

[BigTxEars]

I think everyone here understands the relationship between Frozen and Norway, the design of Arendelle was influenced by Norway. I think the exhibit in the Stave Church makes good use of the connection, it shows real Norwegian artifacts, describes their history, and shows how they influenced the designs of Arendelle. Nothing Disney has said so far leads me to believe the Maelstrom will do the same thing.

It may or may not in the end. I think they could build a Frozen ride and still put in some real history. It will interesting to see what they come up with in the end.

 

[BigTxEars]

I can only imagine how nice an $75 mil update of the existing ride would've been. We'll never know.

That would have been cool as well

 

[Mike S]

I can only imagine how nice an $75 mil update of the existing ride would've been. We'll never know.

Projection mapping to enhance the spell cast by the Three Headed Troll, more advanced animatronics....... The possibilities just make me more sad that the ride is being ripped out for Frozen instead of a proper update

 

[Cesar R M]

Up front I'll say I'm with the "it doesn't belong in Epcot" group. But it IS going to be in Epcot, so I'm more interested in conjecturing about what it might become. I'm wondering if they are even going to keep it as a water ride. Water rides are markedly more expensive to maintain, and the "track" system takes up a lot more room than a "dry" dark ride. Given the same footprint (larger than the FL dark rides; approaching the size of the iasw show building), they could have a lot more ride without the boats. Also, assuming that some aspect of "storytelling" will be involved (something that was non-existant in Maelstrom), how could they work the backwards element into a narrative. (as a side note, I always thought the "about to go over a waterfall" effect was totally lost as your back was to the cave opening). And how do you work a boat ride into the Frozen story? There are some boats in the harbor at the beginning and end, but none to be seen throughout the rest of the film. A "dry" dark ride where the vehicles look like sleds would be much more thematically relavent. Love Maelstrom or not, I think everyone agrees that the ride is frustratingly short as it is; by removing the water aspect, they could solve the ride length, narrative elements, and theming in one action... Just some conjecture; would love to hear other opinions from folks that have ties to Imagineering...

what if the boats are changed to sleights?
and the "ice" is just acrylic.

 

[afb28]

Rode it this morning and a guy in line had a custom shirt made that on the front had the Maelstrom logo with #OneLastRide below it and on the back it said #LetItGo.

It was also odd seeing the movie theater full after the ride, which I don't know if I've ever seen.

 

[aladdin2007]

Rode it this morning and a guy in line had a custom shirt made that on the front had the Maelstrom logo with #OneLastRide below it and on the back it said #LetItGo.

It was also odd seeing the movie theater full after the ride, which I don't know if I've ever seen.

Despite it being so outdated I still love that movie, always youtube.... I can tell you however that Norway is thrilled the movie is going byebye.

 

[Jeff456]

Here right now and the standby is at 70 minutes at 8:30 pm I've lost count of the number of people I've overhead saying it's closing and they need to ride it!