News ‘Rivers of Light: We Are One’ coming to Disney’s Animal Kingdom summer 2019

[Clopin Trouillefou]

I don't love the cartoon inclusion, I'm totally with folks on that. but do we know what the expected breakdown of disneynature vs. cartoons is? If it's something like 80%-20% in favor of nature footage sign me up.

 

[Kman101]

I don't love the cartoon inclusion, I'm totally with folks on that. but do we know what the expected breakdown of disneynature vs. cartoons is? If it's something like 80%-20% in favor of nature footage sign me up.

I'm willing to see how it's executed. I don't have high hopes so maybe they'll surprise me I just hate their mindset that "characters fix everything" ...

 

[ToTBellHop]

Unfortunate that this is how they interpreted RoL’s poor reviews but we knew this was inevitable.

The show will probably be “better” but only because the current version sucks.

 

[THEMEPARKPIONEER]

Great, a patch up job, movie imagery is well overused. If Epcot’s new show uses imagery it’s going to get a gold old luke warm welcome as well. We don’t need movie imagery in all 4 parks.

 

[networkpro]

I don't love the cartoon inclusion, I'm totally with folks on that. but do we know what the expected breakdown of disneynature vs. cartoons is? If it's something like 80%-20% in favor of nature footage sign me up.

Are we talking the catalog of the new business unit Disneynature (circa 2008), or all the Disney "nature films which would also include such gems as White Wilderness and the infamous lemmings' hoax?

 

[FigmentJedi]

Are we talking the catalog of the new business unit Disneynature (circa 2008), or all the Disney "nature films which would also include such gems as White Wilderness and the infamous lemmings' hoax?

Just the modern Disneynature films. That's what Rivers of Light has been pulling from this whole time.

 

[IMDREW]

I remember they did one firework effect at the end of the jungle book show. I thought it was the same firework as they shoot out of the globe in Illuminations at Epcot.

So they CAN do it in DAK. Imo just adding that spark at the end of the existing show would already give it more of a bang.

An effect like that and maybe some more like that would elevate the show more to the level Park guests are expecting I guess.

 

[Brer Oswald]

The fact that everything added to the park has to be IP isn’t the part that gets me. It’s the fact that it has to be IP from the last 15 years is what bothers me. They seem to exclusively use the most soulless films in an execution that is even more soulless than the source material.

 

[Disone]

The fix IS NOT adding characters. If the show still lacks a "wow factor" and has no closure/finale then guests will still leave with the same slight taste of dissatisfaction that they currently have.

The issue isn't that little Jimmy didn't see Mickey Mouse~ it's that little Jimmy just saw Illuminations the night before and a slow-paced fountain show that doesn't have a finale won't excite him.

The current show is beautiful with an amazing soundtrack but it just lacks the punch that the great shows have had such as Wishes, IROE, HAE, WOC. Adding characters isn't won't fix it, some redesigning of the speical fx in the finale could.

This ! The shows lack of a true sense of finale, not just for a little Jimmy but adults included, is truly its greatest shortcoming. Hopefully they will be able to address that when they re tool it.

 

[Tom Morrow]

The show needed changes, but I love that they're so completely devoid of creativity that their knee-jerk answer is to add in IP, as if that was the problem.

Can't wait for Iger to retire so someone who treats the parks as more than a commercial for IP can take the helm.

 

[mikejs78]

Isn't it the lackluster response to RoL that caused them to conclude that all night time shows have to be IP-heavy? If so, I'm kind of hoping that this and the 2020 Epcot show flop - so we can get rid of that ridiculous assumption.

I'm still bitter about RoE....

 

[ToTBellHop]

I remember they did one firework effect at the end of the jungle book show. I thought it was the same firework as they shoot out of the globe in Illuminations at Epcot.

So they CAN do it in DAK. Imo just adding that spark at the end of the existing show would already give it more of a bang.

An effect like that and maybe some more like that would elevate the show more to the level Park guests are expecting I guess.

Low level pyro (like the bulk of what Fantasmic! has) would be fine in DAK. Folks forget that 20 years ago, the park had NYE fireworks.

 

[Andrew C]

If so, I'm kind of hoping that this and the 2020 Epcot show flop

if it flops, I would expect future investments in nighttime shows to become less and less rather than "lets move away from IP."...but that is entirely my opinion.

 

[ObscurityPoint]

The thing that gets me is the laziness in imagineering to flood the shows with IP as a crutch to tell the story. MK got it with HEA, Epcot is getting it with the 2020 show, and now DAK is getting it.

More screens with IP everywhere, less imagination and story telling.

If they stick with just small scenes from animated movies that are JUNGLE RELATED then I would be okay with it, especially if they stuck with a lot of Disneynature clips. But it’s the Epcot one I can’t get over. They can try as much as they want to claim that it’ll be a show based on characters from around the world but we all know it’ll end up being an IP show loaded with Frozen, Nemo, Coco, and most likely Cars and Incredibles somewhere down the line for no reason whatsoever. To be honest, I’m sure this Epcot Forever temporary show is going to be the real crowd pleaser.

 

[cjkeating]

I assume the float choreography won’t change as it was so difficult to get right the first time around?

I also guess that the 100+ lanterns that never made the original show won’t be making their debut?

 

[Kman101]

I used to think this too. However....

This is probably true. People aren't leaving happy. And quite frankly, seeing Simba eating bugs with Pumba will probably make them happy.

I am growing more and more apathetic towards these things. The parks are no longer being designed for me, it's a different consumer they are now targeting, and by all accounts, hitting the bullseye. Disney is no longer an every year thing for me, maybe every 3/4 years now, and once my kids outgrow it, then probably not at all anymore.

I try and find a middle ground where IP is concerned, but they really make it hard to almost impossible.

Unfortunately you are right and they are being designed now for a different consumer.

They're not really building the audience the same either. It's about making it a "lifestyle" now.

Unfortunately, the problems with RoL run deeper than it not having a cutesy clip from Lion King ... and they don't seem to recognize that and neither do those who insist a montage of Disney movies somehow "fixes it" ... what some need to be honest about is that it's preference, they prefer a movie clip fest.

 

[Clopin Trouillefou]

Are we talking the catalog of the new business unit Disneynature (circa 2008), or all the Disney "nature films which would also include such gems as White Wilderness and the infamous lemmings' hoax?

I do not understand the reference to the latter, so I assume the former haha. like penguins and lions nature documentaries.

 

[monothingie]

if it flops, I would expect future investments in nighttime shows to become less and less rather than "lets move away from IP."...but that is entirely my opinion.

As has been said, Chapek is from a consumer products background as such IP is here to stay. The problem is the insatiable desire to always stick with the latest hot IP. Which means shows have little staying power. So that means more mediocre shows which are frequently tweaked to cater to the latest iteration of 5 year olds.

 

[jrhwdw]

Low level pyro (like the bulk of what Fantasmic! has) would be fine in DAK. Folks forget that 20 years ago, the park had NYE fireworks.

I remember seeing schedules online from NYE 1999-2000 with DAK opened till midnight with fireworks. But never saw a video of it on YouTube. How good were they?

 

[monothingie]

Low level pyro (like the bulk of what Fantasmic! has) would be fine in DAK. Folks forget that 20 years ago, the park had NYE fireworks.

DAK opened till midnight????