DHS Disney Confirms Muppets Take Over Rock 'n' Roller Coaster at Hollywood Studios

[FigmentsBrightIdeas]

in that case do you think he was also making a passive-aggressive nudge to Disney?

Yes, lol! Btw, apparently, from my understanding, Iger was ‘fuming’ mad backstage after Tony asked “so when are we bringing Dreamfinder back” after Iger’s ludicrous/full of crap speech about how “he” was asked about the ride after it was changed and that he was so happy about the 02 “return”,, and of course the picture with Darth Vader to the side of him and Dreamfinder & Figment on Tony’s side of course didn’t help matters. But yeah. Lol! Bob’s narcissist self deserved it in all honesty. He’s the only one that made a complete & total buffoon of himself on that stage, not Tony, truth be told.

 

[FigmentsBrightIdeas]

Both also extremely underrated.

Add 1997’s ‘Pooh’s Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin’ to that list btw.

 

[jah4955]

Yes, lol! Btw, apparently, from my understanding, Iger was ‘fuming’ mad backstage after Tony asked “so when are we bringing Dreamfinder back” after Iger’s ludicrous/full of crap speech about how “he” was asked about the ride after it was changed and that he was so happy about the 02 “return”,, and of course the picture with Darth Vader to the side of him and Dreamfinder & Figment on Tony’s side of course didn’t help matters. But yeah. Lol! His narcissist self deserved it in all honesty. He’s the only one that made a complete & total buffoon of himself on that stage, truth be told.

"figures don't lie...but....

 

[jah4955]

Yes, lol! Btw, apparently, from my understanding, Iger was ‘fuming’ mad backstage after Tony asked “so when are we bringing Dreamfinder back” after Iger’s ludicrous/full of crap speech about how “he” was asked about the ride after it was changed and that he was so happy about the 02 “return”,, and of course the picture with Darth Vader to the side of him and Dreamfinder & Figment on Tony’s side of course didn’t help matters. But yeah. Lol! His narcissist self deserved it in all honesty. He’s the only one that made a complete & total buffoon of himself on that stage, truth be told.

Again...no one's been able to explain this one to me (maybe I should ask on the Figment thread?):

Hundreds of types of Fig merch currently sells like mad. Restoring Imagination would make Fig merch explode many times over.

Nevermind Dreamfinder merch.

So why don't they just do it (nm myriad of other reasons)

 

[FigmentsBrightIdeas]

Again...no one's been able to explain this one to me (maybe I should ask on the Figment thread?):

Fig merch sells like mad. Restoring Imagination would make Fig merch explode many times over.

Nevermind Dreamfinder merch.

Yeah, please move this towards the Figment thread please. But yeah, the ride being good again would only sell more merch. But Narcissist CEO Iger refuses to acknowledge that the ride wasn’t actually “fixed” in ‘02 and that the “return” is Infact a total farce/sham of a ride. A complete failure. All evidence practically points towards this, but alas.

 

[jah4955]

Yeah, please move this towards the Figment thread please.

See you there!

 

[jah4955]

Speaking of attraction sabotage, similar thing happened with the Country Bear Jamboree at Disneyland aswell. Maybe not intentionally but by some poor choices in title/signage changes and then in other ways, seemingly deliberate. If you were really paying attention, Bear Country/Country Bear Jamboree at Disneyland always had a bit of an issue when it came to marketing and folks knowing it was there. Due to it being in a back/secluded area. Granted, Splash Mountain opening in ‘89 with the Critter Country rebranding helped draw more attendance. But changing the name from Country Bear Jamboree to the “Country Bear Playhouse” in ‘86 (which I think in hindsight was stupid, as by ‘87 Knott’s had a Knott’s Bear•y Tales Playhouse at the time also that was a walk through attraction) was a bad idea. WDW’s never had this issue/weird name change. They should’ve called it ‘The Country Bear Theatre’ all around to make it more clear it was a sit-down show. Besides that, funny thing is, on the Disneyland signage itself, they seemingly couldn’t decide whether or not to call it a Playhouse or Theatre. They changed these signs multiple times through this period it seems, as evidenced below. On the smaller signs, while the larger text called it the Country Bear Playhouse, it said that they “regretted that this ‘theatre’ cannot accommodate strollers). Also the show sign inside the lobby called it… kid you not, ‘The Country Bear Theatre’, which again, funny when you consider everywhere else they called it a “Playhouse”. Besides that, when it was proven at Walt Disney World that the Vacation Jamboree/Vacation Hoedown show wasn’t as popular as the original, they reverted that one back to the original Country Bear Jamboree come ‘93 or so. This never happened at Disneyland however, so all these little changes drove down attendance levels I believe. The real death knell though came when they changed the old Crocodile Mercantile shop to a ‘Pooh Corner’ shop in ‘96 and started selling Winnie the Pooh merch there, alongside Country Bear merch (cause, you know, that’s the place you expect to purchase Country Bear merch, right?) and then they put a Pooh & Friends meet n greet there, the queue ropes expanding near where the “Country Bear Playhouse” was. Guess then what happened.
Same exact thing that happened with Journey Into Imagination & Honey, I Shrunk the Audience. That then gave them the intel that Pooh was “more popular” than the Country Bears and thus it had to be removed/changed.
Why they didn’t put any of the Pooh related offerings in Fantasyland instead is a mystery… but yeah. Admittedly, the Country Bear Jamboree/Theatre shouldn’t have been removed from Disneyland either. The Pooh ride really isn’t all that great of a replacement, and I say that as a huge fan of the character and on that note, it hardly gets much attendance. View attachment 898799View attachment 898800

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Yet they built 2 theaters there b/c of the roaring popularity of MK's. Sigh.

 

[jah4955]

And it’ll never fail to make me laugh, that in the credits of that movie… they thank Marc Davis for creating the original attraction

Marc's (masterful) designs/humor/etc., but if memory serves correctly Walt's original idea for "Bear Band" b/c of the (ultimately nixed) Mineral King Resort?

 

[FigmentsBrightIdeas]

Indeed.

Goelz seems to have consistently been, "go along to get along." I certainly got that.

Oz still looks like he's in outstanding shape based on recent media. Not too late for Disney to reconsider reaching out?

I always loved, since childhood, how "Muppetty" many of the performers' names are!

Right. This is also the reason Steve Whitmire was fired from his role as Kermit. For being too vocal about the issues within.


And say what you will about the Henson families’ (particularly Cheryl & Brian’s) comments about Steve (specifically .. but even that reeks of suspicion. How did he make Kermit a “depressed victim” if the writers at Disney are the ones in charge of that element and they have no real say or input in matters? The Jim Henson Company had very little to absolutely zero say in matters as they’re a separate entity from Disney’s Muppet Studios. They’ve had some weird thoughts regarding the original cast of Muppet performers for years too apparently. The idea I believe they have in their minds (this is just a theory) is that the performers took their father away from them (and also from their mother, Jane) a lot of the time, basically. That they became as big of a family as them (if not more in some regards perhaps). And it also doesn’t help matters, that despite the fact that Jane Henson deliberately chose to be a stay at home parent. Apparently she was peeved at the fact that Jim insisted that she didn’t travel often with him due to the fact she Infact did have to stay home and take care of the children at the time as they were incredibly young. And I believe Jim did his best to include both his children & Jane in matters once they were old enough. But admittedly, it eventually got to him, Jane being upset with him and his family most likely feeling “left out” despite his best efforts, this led to them having numerous fights & seperation periods, eventually leading to Jim cheating on Jane near the end of his life, and thus, only the conflicted love & resentment grew.. a shame, but it is what it is.

You’ll notice the revisionist narrative regarding he & his wife Jane btw in the Jim Henson: Idea Man documentary, that he wasn’t as “inclusive” towards his wife or women basically as he & others made himself out to be. Despite plenty of women performers & builders in a time where there weren’t many. Which is ludicrious, but yeah, that’s the modern Disney company for ya.

 

[Incomudro]

I also don't have much respect for the tastes of the "Common Guest" either.

Agreed.
Design and build for the "common guest," means you are dumbing down your work.
Aim high, and let the guests come to you.

 

[FigmentsBrightIdeas]

Right. This is also the reason Steve Whitmire was fired from his role as Kermit. For being too vocal about the issues within.


And say what you will about the Henson families’ comments about Steve.. but even that reeks of suspicion. How did he make Kermit a “depressed victim” if the writers at Disney are the ones in charge of that element and they have no real say or input in matters? The Jim Henson Company had very little to absolutely zero say in matters as they are seperate entity from Disney’s Muppet Studios. They’ve had some weird thoughts regarding the original cast of Muppet performers for years too apparently. The idea I believe they have in their minds (this is just a theory) is that the performers took their father away from them (and also from their mother, Jane) a lot of the time, basically. That they became as big of a family as them (if not more in some regards perhaps). And it also doesn’t help matters, that despite the fact that Jane Henson deliberately chose to be a stay at home parent. Apparently she was peeved at the fact that Jim insisted that she didn’t travel often with him due to the fact she Infact did have to stay home and take care of the children at the time as they were incredibly young. And I believe Jim did his best to include both his children & Jane in matters once they were old enough. But admittedly, it eventually got to him, Jane being upset with him and his family most likely feeling “left out” despite his best efforts, this led to them having numerous fights & seperation periods, eventually leading to Jim cheating on Jane near the end of his life, and thus, only the conflicted love & resentment grew.. a shame, but it is what it is.

You’ll notice the revisionist narrative regarding he & his wife Jane btw in the Jim Henson: Idea Man documentary, that he wasn’t as “inclusive” towards his wife or women basically as he made himself out to be. Despite plenty of women performers & builders in a time where there weren’t many. Which is ludicrious, but yeah, that’s the modern Disney company for ya.

My big theory as to why they did what they did, outside of what I just mentioned, is due to the fact they want to stay in good standing with Disney on their decisions, despite truly being frustrated with them. The removal of Muppet•Vision 3D being one of them. And for things like BTS events & celebrations of the initial partnership they had with Disney for Christmas Carol & Treasure Island, since Brian had direct involvement with those.

 

[EagleScout610]

In more positive Muppets news, Rizzo and Bean have made speaking roles in recent Instagram videos, their first since Whitmire left back in 2017. It's good to see them using the characters again after they were pretty much retired with MV3D and PizzaRizzo closing. Maybe we'll see them again for RNRC?

 

[FigmentsBrightIdeas]

In more positive Muppets news, Rizzo and Bean have made speaking roles in recent Instagram videos, their first since Whitmire left back in 2017. It's good to see them using the characters again after they were pretty much retired with MV3D and PizzaRizzo closing. Maybe we'll see them again for RNRC?

Awesome!! I wonder who’s performing both Bean & Rizzo here on that note? Would be curious to find out

 

[jah4955]

Right. This is also the reason Steve Whitmire was fired from his role as Kermit. For being too vocal about the issues within.


And say what you will about the Henson families’ comments about Steve.. but even that reeks of suspicion. How did he make Kermit a “depressed victim” if the writers at Disney are the ones in charge of that element and they have no real say or input in matters? The Jim Henson Company had very little to absolutely zero say in matters as they are seperate entity from Disney’s Muppet Studios. They’ve had some weird thoughts regarding the original cast of Muppet performers for years too apparently. The idea I believe they have in their minds (this is just a theory) is that the performers took their father away from them (and also from their mother, Jane) a lot of the time, basically. That they became as big of a family as them (if not more in some regards perhaps). And it also doesn’t help matters, that despite the fact that Jane Henson deliberately chose to be a stay at home parent. Apparently she was peeved at the fact that Jim insisted that she didn’t travel often with him due to the fact she Infact did have to stay home and take care of the children at the time as they were incredibly young. And I believe Jim did his best to include both his children & Jane in matters once they were old enough. But admittedly, it eventually got to him, Jane being upset with him and his family most likely feeling “left out” despite his best efforts, this led to them having numerous fights & seperation periods, eventually leading to Jim cheating on Jane near the end of his life, and thus, only the conflicted love & resentment grew.. a shame, but it is what it is.

You’ll notice the revisionist narrative regarding he & his wife Jane btw in the Jim Henson: Idea Man documentary, that he wasn’t as “inclusive” towards his wife or women basically as he & others made himself out to be. Despite plenty of women performers & builders in a time where there weren’t many. Which is ludicrious, but yeah, that’s the modern Disney company for ya.

Again, it's sad I have to brace myself in watching documentaries (most recently Ken Burns' American Revolution was called-out for, at least, one outright falsehood (intentional or not is not as provable), + (at best) dubious info injected into the narrative to "check of the boxes."

So that "taken with a grain of salt."

It wasn't as bad as the Mickey one.

The best Jim Henson doc I've seen to-date was released Thanksgiving weekend 1994 on PBS (yes, it was that good that I remember exactly where I was). The common denominator was Jim's drive. If the above is accurate, I don't think its fair to Oz, et. al. to be blamed for that.

 

[FigmentsBrightIdeas]

Again, it's sad I have to brace myself in watching documentaries (most recently Ken Burns' American Revolution was called-out for, at least, one outright lie, + (at best) dubious info injected into the narrative to "check of the boxes."

So that "taken with a grain of salt."

It wasn't as bad as the Mickey one.

The best Jim Henson doc I've seen to-date was released Thanksgiving weekend 1994 on PBS (yes, it was that good that I remember exactly where I was). The common denominator was Jim's drive. If the above is accurate, I don't think its fair to Oz, et. al. to be blamed for that.

I agree. Granted I haven’t seen Ken Burns’ American Revolution documentary, so I can’t speak about that. But yeah, Mickey documentary starts out good and then by Mickey’s Christmas Carol it goes off the rails. Jim Henson documentary was also very good outside of the element I just pointed out.

 

[jah4955]

For example, 1991 was Bean's "peak" popularity [and don't get me started on Waldo]. If you don't count a Bean-like character in one of the very last episodes, he wasn't even in The Muppet Show. Aside from cameos, has Bean done anything the last 30+ years?

Uncanny timing as I just brought this up Sunday

In more positive Muppets news, Rizzo and Bean have made speaking roles in recent Instagram videos, their first since Whitmire left back in 2017. It's good to see them using the characters again after they were pretty much retired with MV3D and PizzaRizzo closing. Maybe we'll see them again for RNRC?

 

[EagleScout610]

Awesome!! I wonder who’s performing both Bean & Rizzo here on that note? Would be curious to find out

Rizzo is Bradley Freeman Jr, not sure who's performing Bean, but it sounds like Linz to me

 

[FigmentsBrightIdeas]

Rizzo is Bradley Freeman Jr, not sure who's performing Bean, but it sounds like Linz to me

Interesting. Yeah, I think Bradley did a very nice job with Rizzo. I’m a bit mixed with Linz’s Bean. Not quite as accurate, but hey, overall it’s nice to see those characters back again.

 

[jah4955]

Interesting. Yeah, I think Bradley did a very nice job with Rizzo. I’m a bit mixed with Linz’s Bean. Not quite as accurate, but hey, overall it’s nice to see those characters back again.

I was reminded how Bean was intentionally made to be "the cute one"

 

[FigmentsBrightIdeas]

I was reminded how Bean was intentionally made to be "the cute one"

True, but they honestly did a good job making him cute, truth be told. A genuinely appealing cute