Animal Kingdom Tree of Life to Light Up

[Sage of Time]

No offense, but i can't say i'm impressed with that at all. I hope the final product is way better than that, doesn't even come close to the concept art.



Both @marni1971 and @whylightbulb stated last year that the budget for Rivers of Light had been substantially cut. Specifically stating that the show was originally intended to be something on the scale/quality of Fantasmic meets World of Color, but the slashes had instead reduced it to something more like a smaller scale Bellagio fountain show. So ask them about the details of how this cut came about.

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/...ys-animal-kingdom.875251/page-45#post-6467070
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/...stake-in-20-years.885865/page-46#post-6183458

WDW1974 also recently posted that Rivers of Light costs about $100 million (also confirming Pandora is around $500 million).

It's a fairly small example of the effect and it's done with lasers. I'm certain the actual effect will actually use lights on and in the Tree.

 

[WDW97]

It would be neat if the leaves changed colors with the season. Although Florida doesn't have drastic changes in weather, imagine the leaves turn orange for fall, blue for winter, pink for spring and green for summer. Although during the day, the leaves would always be green. Just a thought.

 

[HarrisburgMouse]

No offense, but i can't say i'm impressed with that at all. I hope the final product is way better than that, doesn't even come close to the concept art.

Just wondering, but did you go to a Harambe Nights? That is not doing it justice. The view, especially from a distance, was perfectly Animal Kingdom. Beautiful, and understated. With a bit more enhancements as part of the ROL program, it really may be, by far, the most breath taking of the WDW symbols after dark.

Just my 2 cents. (Yes, I am sure I am going to be blasted for not writing messages before; been on here for a good long while as you'll see---just haven't chimed in because of the general reaction...until now.)

 

[Sage of Time]

Just wondering, but did you go to a Harambe Nights? That is not doing it justice. The view, especially from a distance, was perfectly Animal Kingdom. Beautiful, and understated. With a bit more enhancements as part of the ROL program, it really may be, by far, the most breath taking of the WDW symbols after dark.

Just my 2 cents. (Yes, I am sure I am going to be blasted for not writing messages before; been on here for a good long while as you'll see---just haven't chimed in because of the general reaction...until now.)

Agreed in full. It's a subtle aesthetic.

 

[PREMiERdrum]

I would expect to see projection used to achieve the RoL effects on the Tree of Life. I've read plenty here about "LED leaves", but to what degree to we expect that to be used? An LED wire border of each individual leaf? A stronger diode at the stem of each leaf that reflects out onto it? I keep imagining the cable load for each stem and each branch, and I can't figure out how to make it work. Additionally, having the leaves being self-illuminated slightly hamstrings designers because you can't guarantee which way any given leaf's illuminated face would be facing at any moment of the show.

I'd expect the "twinkle" effect (strobing LEDs embedded in the tree) to be combined with mapping and uplighting used to pull it off... The leaves would probably need to be replaces with those of a more reflective-over-matte material to more clearly display the reflection.

Of course, I could be totally off base. However, this is how the Technical Theater major in me would do it.

 

[Shaman]

I thought I read somewhere (maybe the LA piece) that in addition to the Bellagio people, Disney was teaming up with Cirque du Soliel for RoL. Which means that there must still (budget adjustments or not) be some kind of a live performer element to the show.

 

[Sage of Time]

I would expect to see projection used to achieve the RoL effects on the Tree of Life. I've read plenty here about "LED leaves", but to what degree to we expect that to be used? An LED wire border of each individual leaf? A stronger diode at the stem of each leaf that reflects out onto it? I keep imagining the cable load for each stem and each branch, and I can't figure out how to make it work. Additionally, having the leaves being self-illuminated slightly hamstrings designers because you can't guarantee which way any given leaf's illuminated face would be facing at any moment of the show.

I'd expect the "twinkle" effect (strobing LEDs embedded in the tree) to be combined with mapping and uplighting used to pull it off... The leaves would probably need to be replaces with those of a more reflective-over-matte material to more clearly display the reflection.

Of course, I could be totally off base. However, this is how the Technical Theater major in me would do it.

I envisioned that the leaves would have LEDs built into them and just short of shimmer and change colors. Nothing related to a screen.

 

[NoChesterHester]

No offense, but i can't say i'm impressed with that at all. I hope the final product is way better than that, doesn't even come close to the concept art.



Both @marni1971 and @whylightbulb stated last year that the budget for Rivers of Light had been substantially cut. Specifically stating that the show was originally intended to be something on the scale/quality of Fantasmic meets World of Color, but the slashes had instead reduced it to something more like a smaller scale Bellagio fountain show. So ask them about the details of how this cut came about.

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/...ys-animal-kingdom.875251/page-45#post-6467070
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/...stake-in-20-years.885865/page-46#post-6183458

WDW1974 also recently posted that Rivers of Light costs about $100 million (also confirming Pandora is around $500 million).

I guess I have a different definition then "cut" or "slashed." More like "less budget approved then requested." The perception on here is that corporate cuts the budget of projects after they are underway. They may underfund projects from WDI's perspective, but from a corporate expenditure standpoint it is rare that once the money is actually allocated it changes.

 

[BazH]

Didnt World Of Color cost 75 million dollars though? Doesnt that mean this show will be 25 million more dollars than World of color? or am i missing somthing

I've heard that amount thrown around, unsure if it's accurate (there's a lot of misinformation regarding specific budgets of the DCA overhaul, including what specific attractions cost within the overall budget). I will remind everyone however that World of Color is now over 5 years old (June 2010), and that's just since it opened. Its announcement occurred in 2007, which would mean that initial budgeting and development stretches even further back than that. So the show itself was probably funded and conceptualized well over 7 years ago.

It's well known how bloated and unbalanced Disney has become with its spending. Something that seems to get worse as time goes on. 7+ years is actually quite a long time. If you were to adjust World of Color's cost to the Disney spending of today, i'd not be at all surprised if it would require well over $100 million.

World of Color cost (all said and done) just north of $175M. Had it been Steve Davison's original version of the show, it would've come in closer to $160M, but when he realized his entire 'little squirt' concept didn't work, he scrambled to make adjustments. At that point, the show was lacking a lot of the visuals it premiered with - animation and content from the Studio and Pixar was just too expensive. Iger is the one who came in and gave him the keys to the candy store - essentially a blank check to 'finish it right.' This allowed Steve to use the original voices for the songs (A Whole New World, So Close, etc) and to obtain new content/animation (Sebastian during The Little Mermaid/Under the Sea segment being the most expensive). The real bulk of the show's cost came from R&D and engineering.

RoL has been on the table since 2005. It was killed in 2007. Brought back in 2009.... the saga went on. It's going to be half the show originally pitched in 2005, but should still be pretty.