The Book Report is bad thing really took off in the last few years. The term definitely has a negative connotation and I think some of that stems from a Tony Baxter interview where he called Little Mermaid a book report ride. Book report rides aren’t inherently bad. It comes down to execution. Like you said Pan is good. TLM is bad. One we feel like we are part of the adventure. The other we are watching the highlights of the movie on a moving vehicle. Moving around every set and never through any which just reinforces the feeling that we are only watching a movie. We're not really there.
Would TBA be a guaranteed hit if they followed the source material more closely? No. Does the source material have all the right ingredients to make for a fun, rich and well rounded attraction? Yes. Much more so than what it seems we’re getting with TBA and much more than anything based on Frozen. Which I don’t think is great source material for a ride. Especially if you go the route they went in Tokyo.
People dislike book report rides? But they can be so charming. Honestly, I'd love if this ride was a book report. As I mention below, I love the soundtrack and EVERYONE has talked about how great it would be to see Facilier. Unfortunately, it's not possible. With the stupid bad-faith complaints about the whole frog thing, they could never do it without pulling the old Snow White's Adventures trick, and then those same people would complain about taking the black princess out of her own ride.
In the end, I would love nothing more than to have all those things, but I understand that the circumstances don't allow it, so I don't ask for the impossible. And I don't hold the impossible against what we're getting, which looks like it can be wonderful in its own right. That's not specifically a response to you, but an overall declaration of my stance on the whole project and the things we see. Why I'm not a negative mancy.
Mermaid doesn't fail to me because of the book report nature *or* the journey past the story rather than through as you suggest. It's the cheapness of it all. So many fish figures with no motion whatsover. The moving figures being moved with clearly-visible large pieces of plastic. The drummer being at eye-level rather than above or any angle that would make it look halfway like he's anywhere near touching the drums. The clear repeat of the figures from Under the Sea in the end above the surface. It was the first dark ride in what felt like forever with a huge facade in a legendary spot, and what we got was so underwhelming in so many ways, even with the couple impressive animatronics that keep breaking.
I will say, though, that the shoving of the entire climax into a TINY vignette really kills it. One additional scene depicting the sea battle between this and Kiss the Girl would really make the whole thing feel less rushed and paltry.
Wonderful and underrated little song!
Is it underrated? That makes me sad. The original Beauty and the Beast soundtrack may be the best in animated canon. It definitely has a 100% hit rate. I was surprised at the talk of the Princess and the Frog soundtrack earlier, as I consider it the best since 1993. Frozen and Moana had some great hits, but don't have quite the same consistency and variety.
