Avatar Land...think Disney regrets the idea?

Cesar R M

Well-Known Member
S


oh really! so it couldn't be because people liked it
http://www.the-numbers.com/alltime-bluray-sales-chart

also saw this article that shows you the significance of this movie
http://www.weather.com/travel/tourists-flock-chinas-avatar-national-park-photos-20130926

speaking of TRON why is Shanghai making a TRON lightcycle coaster? because its great eye candy and a really good concept for a ride, same thing with cars land..Pandora falls into this category

a little anecdotal story for you...I teach geography and every year I show my students a picture of the Huang shun mountains (mtns Cameron based on floating mountains) and ask what do these mountains remind you of and without hesitation these kids in every class say avatar

I think the one argument that's legit is merchandising but if this is the key indicator of success hello kitty land would have already been built and harry potter doesn't exactly kill it in regards to merchandising

also critically successful as well as 9 academy award nominations and 3 wins
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/avatar/

so bottom line to me IP is less important than execution and WDI going all in and delivering a solid product

again I say we wait until the next movies come out and the land opens to determine how successful of a franchise it is..by the way facebook likes
Harry Potter 70,000,000
Star wars 11,000,000
LOTR 13,000,000
Avatar 51,000,000

on the Disney blog the day ground breaking happened that particular blog had 46,000likes by far more than I ve ever seen on that blog
YOU may not like it and it may not have been the greatest story ever written but clearly there is an audience for this land

im a big believer in facts and waiting to see the final product
as my man Bill O Reilly says Ill give you the last word

not trying to be mean, but you really believe that the entire franchise health could be resumed by facebook likes?
 

twebber55

Well-Known Member
not trying to be mean, but you really believe that the entire franchise health could be resumed by facebook likes?
of course not but that's one piece of the puzzle and that FACT means a lot more than joe schmoe saying "I don't know anyone that liked the movie"
those face book likes mean about as much as the comments on this board about not liking the movie
that's why I listed several FACTS about the movie

did you read the weather channel article? pretty interesting huh for a forgotten movie lol

to be honest I don't care if people do or do not like the movie that's their opinion but I don't see how anyone can compare the success of the land to the story of the movie when time and again people have given evidence that it really doesn't matter or people saying I wont go to DAK now because of Avatar
 

Obi

Well-Known Member
i'm just glad that they are giving dak some attention. hopefully creating enough of a boost to making it more than a 1/2 day park.

i'm also hoping that they give hs the same attention. hs is my favorite of the 4 parks and i would love to see it given more attention.
 

HatboxGhost

Well-Known Member
I will be 40 this year. I have a daughter who will be 6 this summer and a son who will be 4 this Christmas. I did not see Avatar in theaters, I tried to watch it after it was released on the cable movie channels. I couldn't do it. I don't think it was a particularly good movie and I have zero excitement for its own land. Given the choice I had rather wait to see Elsa and Anna with my kids that experience a whole land based on one movie that I don't care about.
While recently at a friends house, they showed me some of Avatar on Blu-Ray which looked fantastic however the film itself did nothing for me. I watched a total of about 15 minutes and had no interest in continuing on. I think Disney can take the crappiest movie and make a wonderful ride out of it so I cant really say anything until the actual park opens. I would prefer them to sink their time and effort into a Star Wars land.
 

Cmdr_Crimson

Well-Known Member
Not if James Cameron came in and surprised The Imagineers..
3169265854_f8bc3449d5_z.jpg
 

twebber55

Well-Known Member
While recently at a friends house, they showed me some of Avatar on Blu-Ray which looked fantastic however the film itself did nothing for me. I watched a total of about 15 minutes and had no interest in continuing on. I think Disney can take the crappiest movie and make a wonderful ride out of it so I cant really say anything until the actual park opens. I would prefer them to sink their time and effort into a Star Wars land.
my guess would be that none of the land for Pandora has anything to do with the first 15 minutes of the movie
 

Pluto401

New Member
My only comment on this is that if I can't think of Avatar land without thinking it's about the Nickelodeon cartoon I wonder what young kids are going to think lmao
 

CinematicFusion

Well-Known Member
No they don't regret it. Pandora is the perfect fit for Animal Kingdom. Pandora brings the fantasy to the park, fantasy world, fantasy animals. It completes the thought that beastly kingdom was supposed to do back in 1998.
Pandora is going to be a beautiful area to walk through and explore. I believe with Cameron's reputation on the line, he will make sure the rides are outstanding as well.
If we look at the detail Disney has put in new fantasyland and Carsland, then I think Pandora will be just as beautiful. At night, Pandora will be beautiful and will open up Animal Kingdom as an after dark park.
Expedition Everest would be fun to ride at night.
 

Rodan75

Well-Known Member
Precisely why I think Disney jumped the gun.

Disney doesn't need to movie tie in to make great lands and great themed attractions. Build that and incorporate movies like Avatar as a portion of a bigger land if and when they become popular enough to do so.

They jumped the gun in getting in bed with the man who has directed the two highest grossing movies in the last 30 years? While I get that Avatar isn't everyone's cup of nerd tea, let's not lose focus on the big goals. Cameron hasn't failed on a movie yet and building a relationship with him, while also building attractions in one of your least successful theme parks seems like smart business.

It could fail horribly, but it is a bet worth taking. It is pointless to try and fanboi argue Potter vs Avatar vs Star Wars...it is a fools gambit.

If I were Fox, I'd be worried. Disney is looking to profit off of three of their only franchises (FF,Xmen and now Avatar)
 

Rodan75

Well-Known Member
Pandora the Rides(s) will be dated within a few years, and the movies will be largely forgotten, since they're already pretty forgettable in the first place. The intelligent way to expand upon Animal Kingdom would have been to focus on the Lion King, the Jungle Book, and build that area for mythical creatures (historic, iconic mythical creatures, not Cameron's lame riffs) as was originally planned. Maybe Pandora could be re-tooled for a Fantasia area, complete with dragons, centaurs, unicorns and pegasuses (pegasi?) The merchandising alone for such an area could be fantastic. Have you guys ever noticed that the baby unicorns and pegasi (we'll go with that plural) in Fantasia look an awful lot like the My Little Pony characters? They're pastel-colored and multi-hued with big eyes and cute faces. Disney could sell a ton of plush based on them. As for Pandora...I don't think we'll see adorable plushes of the blue kitty cats anytime soon. Mostly because your average kid would consider that nightmare fuel. :D

I rarely agree with you, but I think you have a point here. It is simply a waste that DAK didn't capitalize more on Jungle Book and Lion King at DAK. But that doesn't stop nothing to do with Pandora.
 

Chef Mickey

Well-Known Member
They jumped the gun in getting in bed with the man who has directed the two highest grossing movies in the last 30 years? While I get that Avatar isn't everyone's cup of nerd tea, let's not lose focus on the big goals. Cameron hasn't failed on a movie yet and building a relationship with him, while also building attractions in one of your least successful theme parks seems like smart business.

It could fail horribly, but it is a bet worth taking. It is pointless to try and fanboi argue Potter vs Avatar vs Star Wars...it is a fools gambit.

If I were Fox, I'd be worried. Disney is looking to profit off of three of their only franchises (FF,Xmen and now Avatar)
Doesn't mean it will make a great themed attraction/land. It might do fine, but Avatar hasn't proven to be a lasting franchise.

My main point was that Disney doesn't NEED to get in bed with anyone or a quick movie tie in to make great lands, attractions, or both. Beastly Kingdom would be a great start.

Remember, many of the greatest attractions of all time have little or no movie tie. That's a new thing that isn't always bad, but usually seems to be the cheap or easier way out.
 

FrankLapidus

Well-Known Member
I couldn't care any less about Avatar but the park needs more than that anyway. Disney didn't need Avatar, they have an extensive library of stories and a history of creating brilliant and immersive original attractions, but Avatar should be the start of an extensive, long-term development of DAK; The Lion King and The Jungle Book should have a presence there (or more of a presence than a show that's been running for years), Dinoland is a mess, existing attractions at the park need attention.

The Avatar deal is symptomatic of a leadership with no creative vision, who prefer to simply buy, but in order to really start to solve the issues at DAK they will have to loosen the purse strings even further and place more trust in the creative minds they have in their employ.
 

GoofGoof

Premium Member
Doesn't mean it will make a great themed attraction/land. It might do fine, but Avatar hasn't proven to be a lasting franchise.

My main point was that Disney doesn't NEED to get in bed with anyone or a quick movie tie in to make great lands, attractions, or both. Beastly Kingdom would be a great start.

Remember, many of the greatest attractions of all time have little or no movie tie. That's a new thing that isn't always bad, but usually seems to be the cheap or easier way out.
I agree with your last paragraph which completely invalidates the first one. If many great rides have little or no movie tie in then why would it matter if Avatar is a lasting franchise? If Avatar the movie fades completely from most people's memories but the rides and area in Avatarland are well done they will still be popular and it won't matter. It doesn't take a lasting franchise to make a ride great. See Splash Mountain.
 
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Rodan75

Well-Known Member
Doesn't mean it will make a great themed attraction/land. It might do fine, but Avatar hasn't proven to be a lasting franchise.

My main point was that Disney doesn't NEED to get in bed with anyone or a quick movie tie in to make great lands, attractions, or both. Beastly Kingdom would be a great start.

Remember, many of the greatest attractions of all time have little or no movie tie. That's a new thing that isn't always bad, but usually seems to be the cheap or easier way out.

I agree that they don't need to partner with Cameron to add an outside franchise to the parks, however in the bigger scheme of TWDC, this is a smart move. As long as Cameron is happy with Pandora, it will be at least moderately successful and TWDC will have partnered with one of the most successful directors of this generation. They have a bonus of putting Fox on their heals to protect the viability of one of their franchises ...again.

Under Iger TWDC has worked diligently to give content creators a positive view of TWDC, some thru purchase (Lucas, Lasseter, Perlmuter)and some thru partnership (Spielberg, Cameron) and don't forget all of the creative goodwill they have built thru the Marvel movies (Whedon, Favreau, Russo bros, etc).

Unfortunately the impact of the actual attraction is a bit of an afterthought.
 

Chef Mickey

Well-Known Member
I agree with your last paragraph which completely invalidates the first one. If many great rides have little or no movie tie in then why would it matter if Avatar is a lasting franchise? If Avatar the movie fades completely from most people's memories but the rides and area in Avatarland are well done they will still be popular and it won't matter. It doesn't take a lasting franchise to make a ride great. See Splash Mountain.
My point was, Disney didn't need to jump on the avatar bandwagon to do something great. It probably won't matter bc disney does a great job regardless. I just wish they didn't feel the need to include the Avatar name especially since the lasting appeal isn't proven.
 

GoofGoof

Premium Member
My point was, Disney didn't need to jump on the avatar bandwagon to do something great. It probably won't matter bc disney does a great job regardless. I just wish they didn't feel the need to include the Avatar name especially since the lasting appeal isn't proven.

Fair point. Disney didn't need to do an Avatar based land. They could have gone a lot of different directions or used something completely original. I think partnering with Cameron is a pretty smart move though. Before they bought Lucas Film they partnered with George Lucas to create Star Tours and the Indy attractions. Why not bring in a great creative mind to help build a new land?

Why I think the Cameron partnership is especially beneficial is his extensive knowledge and work with cutting edge film making (especially when it comes to 3D). With the exception of Soarin Disney has limited experience with screen based attractions. I think Cameron can bring his skills and experience with cutting edge digital film to create an even better ride experience than WDI could do alone. I guess Disney brought over the guy from Universal who is in charge of Star Wars projects now for WDI, but outside of him they are lacking in true screen/film based ride experts.
 

twebber55

Well-Known Member
Fair point. Disney didn't need to do an Avatar based land. They could have gone a lot of different directions or used something completely original. I think partnering with Cameron is a pretty smart move though. Before they bought Lucas Film they partnered with George Lucas to create Star Tours and the Indy attractions. Why not bring in a great creative mind to help build a new land?

Why I think the Cameron partnership is especially beneficial is his extensive knowledge and work with cutting edge film making (especially when it comes to 3D). With the exception of Soarin Disney has limited experience with screen based attractions. I think Cameron can bring his skills and experience with cutting edge digital film to create an even better ride experience than WDI could do alone. I guess Disney brought over the guy from Universal who is in charge of Star Wars projects now for WDI, but outside of him they are lacking in true screen/film based ride experts.
agree
Disney will hopefully do a great job on this (certainly on cars land level) and that will draw people, also the movie and Cameron (contrary to some on this board) will also be a draw
to me this idea of adding hours to the park makes this a home run idea, its not just about Pandora but all three new elements
well thought out
 

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