While I certainly appreciate the intent behind the homage to John Hench's E.P.C.O.T. painting, I can't help but think that: 1) these statues are yet another place they're jamming characters in simply to make it more "Disney" rather than using setting-appropriate design, and 2) the whole concept of a series of matching artist-painted statues just seems kind of dated in 2021.
The concept burst on to the scene in 1999 with the Cows on Parade in Chicago, and has been copied by countless other cities around the world in the time since. They started in big trendy places, and quickly expanded to mid-level markets, to the point that nearly every city had their own spin on the idea. It seemed to hit it's peak in the mid-00s (as
@Cmdr_Crimson pointed out, even Disney commissioned a set for Mickey's 75th in 2003 that toured the country for several years), but the statues have lingered around in public spaces ever since.
Pigs in Cincinnati, pandas in DC, manatees in Jacksonville, bead dogs in New Orleans, horses in Rochester, crabs in Baltimore. Big cities, small tourist destinations, self-important suburbs: they've all done it at this point. It's just been done so many times by now that the whole thing feels a little passé.
Coincidentally, the original Chicago cows included a faux-jewel-encrusted cow with a not-so-hidden-Mickey wearing a virtual reality headset near the short-lived DisneyQuest:
It's not that there's anything about the artistry the one we've seen that feels inappropriate for Epcot. But in 2021, it just doesn't feel like something that really evokes a sense of cutting-edge futurism.
Then again, for a space whose design seems to be based on a suburban Apple Store circa 2008, maybe it's just right.
