News Announced: Mary Poppins Attraction in UK Pavilion

[UNCgolf]

I may be in the minority here, but Shaiman did a really superb job. I think the team gave him specific moments/ideas for songs that were too close to the original film. But his contributions, in isolation, are really quite lovely and well written.

That's fair -- I've just never heard a Shaiman composition that I've really loved. Not in MPR, not in Hairspray, not in any of his other work. There are a lot of other Broadway writers who could have done significantly better IMO.

 

[britain]

It seems to me that they had the choice to either remake the original or make a new film. Since they went with the latter option, I think it was smarter to go with all new songs as they would have undermined the whole premise by dropping in musical references to the iconic songs from the original. If people come out humming Spoonful of Sugar rather than, say, Can You Imagine That, then that's a pretty big fail for the movie. It would be a little like throwing in the towel and just making Let It Go the musical theme to Frozen 2.

I hear you, but I don’t think it’s a fail that the Raiders march showed up in the subsequent Indy movies, the Back to the Future theme showed up in its sequels, etc, etc. Why give us an inferior new theme for Mary Poppins?

And it would have been nice to hear Let it Go return with new lyrics in Frozen 2. There, I’ve said it!

 

[bhmclaurin]

I wish they would have saved the money and used it towards the imagination pavillion, or spend it on a Coco overlay

 

[nickys]

I wish they would have saved the money and used it towards the imagination pavillion, or spend it on a Coco overlay

Saved the money for the attraction or the movie? Since we’ve veered off topic - again!

 

[bhmclaurin]

Saved the money for the attraction or the movie? Since we’ve veered off topic -
My post is clear enough

 

[nickys]

Okay. Except the discussion for at least three pages has been about the movie.

I’ll assume you mean the pavilion. In which case, is this because you don’t think what we will end up getting will be worth the money spent on it? Or is it because you aren’t interested in Mary Poppins? Or would have prioritised the other options over the U.K. pavilion getting an attraction?

All three of which are perfectly valid opinions to hold.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

Okay. Except the discussion for at least three pages has been about the movie.

I’ll assume you mean the pavilion. In which case, is this because you don’t think what we will end up getting will be worth the money spent on it? Or is it because you aren’t interested in Mary Poppins? Or would have prioritised the other options over the U.K. pavilion getting an attraction?

All three of which are perfectly valid opinions to hold.

If I may intrude, I agree with @bhmclaurin because all the indications are that this is going to be a very expensive but mediocre attraction whereas a new Imagination or Coco ride could be great. I think either of those things also have greater potential to be in keeping with the (original) spirit of EPCOT.

Personally, I liked both MPR and the original, so I have no issue with the IP. If we were talking about something more on the scale of, say, Ratatouille in France, that would be a different matter. But a souped-up flat ride with movie set facades in WS is hard for me to get too excited about.

 

[Rich Brownn]

That's fair -- I've just never heard a Shaiman composition that I've really loved. Not in MPR, not in Hairspray, not in any of his other work. There are a lot of other Broadway writers who could have done significantly better IMO.

See, I was the opposite. When on saw "Hairspray" on stage, I bought the CD during intermission because I already loved the score.

 

[Rich Brownn]

I hear you, but I don’t think it’s a fail that the Raiders march showed up in the subsequent Indy movies, the Back to the Future theme showed up in its sequels, etc, etc. Why give us an inferior new theme for Mary Poppins?

And it would have been nice to hear Let it Go return with new lyrics in Frozen 2. There, I’ve said it!

You're confusing a song with a theme. They are two different concepts for different reasons. A theme is usually to identify a character (such as 'Leia's theme'). A song is used to express an emotion, idea or plot point. So the Raiders march is associated with the character of Indy. They wouldn't just throw in the theme from Star Wars cause its from the same composer. With MPR, the songs match the expressions or emotions of the characters.

 

[britain]

You're confusing a song with a theme. They are two different concepts for different reasons. A theme is usually to identify a character (such as 'Leia's theme'). A song is used to express an emotion, idea or plot point. So the Raiders march is associated with the character of Indy. They wouldn't just throw in the theme from Star Wars cause its from the same composer. With MPR, the songs match the expressions or emotions of the characters.

That’s why I said they should have kept SoS in the score as Mary’s theme, just as it was in the original film. Add all the new songs you want, just don’t dismantle what’s been established in the score.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

That’s why I said they should have kept SoS in the score as Mary’s theme, just as it was in the original film. Add all the new songs you want, just don’t dismantle what’s been established in the score.

Keep in mind that Mary's job was very different this time around - life had already provided the young Banks children with enough medicine and they didn't get any sugar to go with it. They needed a reminder of how to be children after being made to grow up so quickly, so it makes sense that Mary would come in with a different sort of catchphrase. Not that I necessarily think "Can You Imagine That?" was 100% the right song for the sentiment, but it makes a lot of sense that she needed to do something totally new.

The other thing too is that you have to spend most of your time trying to give people reasons to love the new movie instead of simply reminding them why they already love the original . . . otherwise they'll wonder why they're watching this when they could just be watching the original. I'm glad they sprinkled Spoonful of Sugar here and there as a little cookie for the audience, but I think they put their effort in the right place by focusing on generating a lot of new content with some delightful nods to the things we walked in loving already.

I will also say that I think it's arguable that Spoonful of Sugar is "Mary's Theme" - she has a few songs in the first film that for various reasons could be argued are more centrally aligned with the character as a musical representation. They do play it a few times in the background while she's up to something, but they play other things too - it doesn't necessarily sum up Mary thematically, and it's not as if "Spoonful of Sugar" is meant to be the musical takeaway of the film. This is especially true in the context of the sequel where she's navigating the family through a very different sort of landscape - it need not come back as more than a wink, and you risk undermining your new movie if you use it more than that.

 

[nickys]

If I may intrude, I agree with @bhmclaurin because all the indications are that this is going to be a very expensive but mediocre attraction whereas a new Imagination or Coco ride could be great. I think either of those things also have greater potential to be in keeping with the (original) spirit of EPCOT.

Personally, I liked both MPR and the original, so I have no issue with the IP. If we were talking about something more on the scale of, say, Ratatouille in France, that would be a different matter. But a souped-up flat ride with movie set facades in WS is hard for me to get too excited about.

Intrude away! It makes it a discussion, instead of just a statement with no explanation.

There seems no doubt this “attraction” is going to disappoint a lot of people. If they go with the double decker carousel with “extras”, that at least would be better than “Tales with Mary”.

I want a UK attraction, but feel let down by the likely outcome. Guess I let my expectations get too high. So I can understand if people who prefer they use the money elsewhere to better effect.

 

[Rich Brownn]

That’s why I said they should have kept SoS in the score as Mary’s theme, just as it was in the original film. Add all the new songs you want, just don’t dismantle what’s been established in the score.

There were interpolations of music from the original film weaved in as part of the score. But they didn't do songs.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

Intrude away! It makes it a discussion, instead of just a statement with no explanation.

There seems no doubt this “attraction” is going to disappoint a lot of people. If they go with the double decker carousel with “extras”, that at least would be better than “Tales with Mary”.

I want a UK attraction, but feel let down by the likely outcome. Guess I let my expectations get too high. So I can understand if people who prefer they use the money elsewhere to better effect.

Not knowing exactly what they're planning for the UK Pavilion, I think I'd actually still be excited by a "Tales with Mary" kind of thing - imagine if they took things in an Enchanted Tales/Tiki Room sort of direction. We go into the Banks' house to meet with Mary and prepare for an outing, only for it to start pouring outside the window. Since we can't very well go out in the rain, she changes the plan and makes an adventure out of being in the Banks' living room. Maybe Admiral Boom "chimes the hour" and sets the room into disarray, but she shows us that with a snap of our fingers we can reset the toppled books and knickknacks on the shelf. Maybe she pulls a couple fun things out of her bag to brighten up the room and we see her engage in conversation with her umbrella parrot. Maybe she brings the pictures on the wall to life to talk to us, and a la Enchanted Tales and we step into a beautiful landscape for something fun and a chance to take a picture with her, after she does a magical costume change before our eyes. And just as our spirits have been lifted, the sky brightens back up outside the window and everything in the room goes back to normal, with Mary pretending none of it happened and insisting she must be off. Maybe we see her fly away out the back window before we're returned out to Cherry Tree Lane.

But that's enough armchair imagineering! I certainly won't begrudge a ride if that's what we're getting, though I hope it's more interesting than it has been made to sound, but as far as elaborate Meet and Greets go I think Mary has way more potential for a magical "event" in a dynamic space than a character like Belle. I'd love to get to have a special encounter with her along those lines.

 

[DoleWhipDrea]

If I may intrude, I agree with @bhmclaurin because all the indications are that this is going to be a very expensive but mediocre attraction whereas a new Imagination or Coco ride could be great. I think either of those things also have greater potential to be in keeping with the (original) spirit of EPCOT.

Personally, I liked both MPR and the original, so I have no issue with the IP. If we were talking about something more on the scale of, say, Ratatouille in France, that would be a different matter. But a souped-up flat ride with movie set facades in WS is hard for me to get too excited about.

This is how I feel. I’m so glad that WS is getting new things, and I’m all for Poppins, but hearing that it’s likely going to be a carousel or a souped up M&G is frustrating. Poppins is rich with storytelling potential!

Not every attraction can be a HM or RotR, but making such a big to-do over what we’re hearing feels...disingenuous? I mean they brought out the incomparable DVD at D23 for the announcement. Poppins is a real legacy property for Disney, and IMHO it deserves something grand.

There just seems to be a lot of poor budgeting with this EPCOT makeover.

 

[rreading]

The fact that this seems to be at a standstill suggests that what the Imagineers would like to do and what the budget allows is at an impasse and until someone gives, then there's nothing going here.

Sure, it's been announced but it was vague. Even something as concrete -and distinctly useful - as the Main Street Theater gets axed if the $$ doesn't allow.

Not sure whether this or Brazil will happen first. If I had to guess, the Coco overlay happens before either as that one makes the most sense from a conceptual and $$ standpoint.

 

[aladdin2007]

The fact that this seems to be at a standstill suggests that what the Imagineers would like to do and what the budget allows is at an impasse and until someone gives, then there's nothing going here.

Sure, it's been announced but it was vague. Even something as concrete -and distinctly useful - as the Main Street Theater gets axed if the $$ doesn't allow.

Not sure whether this or Brazil will happen first. If I had to guess, the Coco overlay happens before either as that one makes the most sense from a conceptual and $$ standpoint.

I think it was noted in the Brazil thread that Brazil is off the table now all together?...but I agree it feels like the poppins thing isnt happening either due to what you described, the experience presentation seems so vague its like they threw it in there just to look good.

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

I think it was noted in the Brazil thread that Brazil is off the table now all together?...but I agree it feels like the poppins thing isnt happening either due to what you described, the experience presentation seems so vague its like they threw it in there just to look good.

What are they doing with the land that they are building the barges for the new fireworks show? The real estate is huge.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Except it was taken straight from the books. “Returns” was a much truer adaptation of the books than the original movie. The stage show, at least the London version (not sure if Broadway was the same) was much darker then the movie, and also closer to the book.

The broadway show opened with the same wonderful score (additional score was by Stiles and Drew, Cameron McIntosh promised PL Travers it would be a Britist writing team).

After a few years they toned it down by putting in Playing the Game instead of Temper Temper which was my favorite song in the show.

As a side note... Gavin Lee was incredible as always performing those songs at Epcot this past week!

Back to on topic.... it would be amazing if they had Burt performing 1-man band or street organ shows, Jack lighting the lamps, and the Park Keeper back in the courtyard, Admiral Boom etc.

 

[marni1971]

What are they doing with the land that they are building the barges for the new fireworks show? The real estate is huge.

It’ll go back to scrub until it’s needed.