Rumor Disney Characters Being Added to IASW

[Mickey5150]

That's not really true at all.

Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad
Main Street Cinema
Main Street Shooting Gallery
Disneyland Street Railway
Jungle River Cruise
Mark Twain Riverboat
Golden Horseshoe Revue
Stagecoach Ride
Sleeping Beauty Castle
King Arthur Carrousel
Mad Tea Party
Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride
Peter Pan’s Flight
Snow White’s Adventures
Dumbo The Flying Elephant
Autopia
Tomorrowland Boats
Space Station X-1

So 7 attractions out of 18, and all contained in Fantasyland.

2 more would be half which is why i said almost half. Also Mark Twain would be an IP so 8 out of 18. Just pointing out that Walt used IPs plenty in what he did.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

For those who might not have been around when it was done to Disneyland’s.

The BLAIR Family Speaks

Dear Disney Executives, It has recently been brought to my attention that the Walt Disney Company including WDI has proposed changes to the ...

imagineerebirth.blogspot.com

The BLAIR Family Speaks

Dear Disney Executives,

It has recently been brought to my attention that the Walt Disney Company including WDI has proposed changes to the “It’s a Small World Ride” at the Disneyland Park in Anaheim. As I understand the changes include the addition of the Disney Characters (Mickey, Minnie, Lilo & Stitch, etc.) to the ride in select areas, and the replacement of the “Rainforest” section with Mickey Mouse in a tribute entitled “Up with America”. I also understand that the boats and trough they ride in will be expanded for the safety and comfort of the parks modern day guests.

While I fully understand and support the upgrade to the boats as a necessary safety upgrade, the addition of the Disney Characters and the “Up with America” section I do NOT support as it represents a gross desecration of the ride's original theme and my Mother’s stylized artwork.

The Disney characters of themselves are positive company icons, but they do NOT fit in with the original theme of the ride. They will do nothing except to marginalize the rightful stars of the ride “The Children of the World”. This marginalization will do nothing but infuriate the ride’s international guests and devoted Disney fans.

My Mother and I have always had a strong sense of patriotism for America and I DO support a tribute to America. Disneyland has several venues, which are perfect places for this tribute including “Main Street USA” or “New Orleans Square”; unfortunately the “It’s a Small World” ride is NOT one of them. Once again this will marginalize the children of the world theme and bastardize my Mother’s original art. Furthermore ripping out a rainforest (Imaginary or otherwise) and replacing it with misplaced patriotism is a public relations blunder so big you could run a Monorail through it.

As a former WED employee I am saddened to realize the degradation of the company’s talent and focus and the subsequent decline at the Disneyland Park itself. I cannot believe someone from WDI was paid to come up with such an idiotic plan as this.

As the head of the Blair family I cannot urge you strongly enough to abandon this idiotic plan and instead upgrade the boats and return the ride to it’s original classic form, design and colors. The desecration of Mary’s art is an insult to Mary Blair, her art, and her memory, and to the entire Blair Family itself.

Sincerely,

Kevin L. Blair
Representing;
Kevin Blair, Donovan Blair, Jeanne Chamberlain,
Maggie Richardson, Kevin Allison

 

[FigmentJedi]

You forgot to add the ™s and ®s because when I visit the Walt Disney World Resort™ in Florida I love to ride Dinosaur® at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park ™, based on the Disney animated classic “Dinosaur®”!

Dinosaur made its tie-in nature super obvious when they did the "Movie is out now" tweaks. Same logo used for the movie and ride, putting the Aladar statue in front of the building, and continuing to lean on their Iguanodon and Carnotaur dinosaur leads that they went with since day one because of the "Co-develop the ride and movie together" mandate Eisner had.

 

[MisterPenguin]

"It all started with monetizing a mouse." -Walt Disney FTFY

 

[Castle Cake Apologist]

2 more would be half which is why i said almost half. Also Mark Twain would be an IP so 8 out of 18. Just pointing out that Walt used IPs plenty in what he did.

The Mark Twain is a paddle wheeler named after an author who enjoyed paddle wheelers. Mark Twain is an author, not an IP. The attraction is not based on his life or any of his stories. On opening day, it was simply a paddle wheeler. Tom Sawyer Island didn't even exist yet.

Though, for argument's sake, let's say "Mark Twain" is an IP. This would be an example of an inclusion of IP that makes thematic sense. Shoving Disney characters into a ride about world harmony through the children of the world is not such an example. The original creators of the attraction have come out against the addition, and the family of Mary Blair penned an open letter in opposition to it as well. I would think that should be all the proof anybody needs that this is a misguided decision.

 

[Castle Cake Apologist]

"It all started with monetizing a mouse." -Walt Disney FTFY

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As several people have stated in this thread (and others when this same document has been posted), Walt did not leverage IP into literally every project within the parks. IP was used appropriately and in a way that doesn't water down the brand. Literally shoving Disney characters into a ride that Walt clearly felt did not need them is not an example of what that document is referring to. Lest we forget, Walt was heavily involved in the creation of iasw. I guess he just forgot to add Alice to the UK scene.

 

[Brer Panther]

I'm cool with this, just make the characters subtle. As in, don't have them front-and-center and more prominent than the other dolls.

On a somewhat-related note, didn't Tokyo's version have a Pinocchio cameo long before THEY added Disney characters? Like, one of the kids is holding up a Pinocchio doll? And if so, is that still there?

 

[lazyboy97o]

As several people have stated in this thread (and others when this same document has been posted), Walt did not leverage IP into literally every project within the parks. IP was used appropriately and in a way that doesn't water down the brand. Literally shoving Disney characters into a ride that Walt clearly felt did not need them is not an example of what that document is referring to. Lest we forget, Walt was heavily involved in the creation of iasw. I guess he just forgot to add Alice to the UK scene.

These charts were also created after the lawsuits that resulted in Walt Disney Productions purchasing WED Enterprises. They were part of the efforts to quell fears that Walt was no longer focused on the Studio and was instead absorbed with his amusement park.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I'm cool with this, just make the characters subtle. As in, don't have them front-and-center and more prominent than the other dolls.

They did the opposite:

 

[tirian]

As several people have stated in this thread (and others when this same document has been posted), Walt did not leverage IP into literally every project within the parks. IP was used appropriately and in a way that doesn't water down the brand. Literally shoving Disney characters into a ride that Walt clearly felt did not need them is not an example of what that document is referring to. Lest we forget, Walt was heavily involved in the creation of iasw. I guess he just forgot to add Alice to the UK scene.

I think @MisterPenguin was being sarcastic.

But it’s also true that making money from high quality creativity doesn’t make the creativity less important.

 

[tirian]

I'm cool with this, just make the characters subtle. As in, don't have them front-and-center and more prominent than the other dolls.

On a somewhat-related note, didn't Tokyo's version have a Pinocchio cameo long before THEY added Disney characters? Like, one of the kids is holding up a Pinocchio doll? And if so, is that still there?

Florida has it too, but it’s a traditional Pinocchio doll in the final scene.

 

[disnyfan89]

Actually it was quite the reverse...the show was used as a way to market the park...

 

[FerretAfros]

It's worth keeping in mind that the character additions at both DL and TDL were done as part of major technical work (at DL, to deepen the flume and install new lighter boats to compensate for increasing guest size; at TDL to fix structural damage from the Fukushima earthquake), as a means to justify the long closure to the general public. Instead of opening from extensive downtime with no visible changes, the characters were added purely to make the costly refurbishments marketable.

DL has had the characters for over a decade at this point, the novelty has largely worn off, and the general consensus seems to be that they're more of a distraction than a pleasant addition. I don't know what the current status is, but a few months ago there was a rumor that the characters would be removed as part of a marketing campaign hailing the return of a classic, similar to what was done after the DLP soundtrack and façade color scheme were added and later removed in the 90's. They're not overwhelmingly unpopular, but they're also not widely considered to be an improvement.

HKDL is a bit of a different animal, as a new build in a park that sorely lacked any attractions and was focused on quickly adding as much character representation as possible. Given that the post-iasw additions have had a larger proportion of non-IP attractions than all of the other resorts, it's possible to infer that the characters in HK aren't a major factor either.

To my knowledge, WDW's version of the ride doesn't need extensive technical work that would require a long closure. While there are always things that could be improved, it's been kept in fairly good shape since its big 2005 refurbishment. The resort as a whole already has a pretty wide range of IP representation (particularly from the obvious choices of what would fit in iasw), so adding them here wouldn't really add much overall. While it's possible that characters could be added because they're low-hanging fruit easily understood by unimaginative leadership, the circumstances in WDW are quite different from the other places where they've been added.

 

[disnyfan89]

They did the opposite:

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The only one in Tokyo I think overly stands out is Baloo and Mowgli

 

[OG Runner]

They did the opposite:

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I still like the additions and keeping in the style of the other animatronics.

 

[JohnD]

They did the opposite:

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View attachment 396262

Hmm. By your logic, replacing a doll with a "character" doll makes them "front and center". Just how do you insert the characters without making them noticeable? You might as well not insert them at all if you don't want to see them. If you don't like the insertion of characters just say so.

 

[FigmentFan82]

My experience with IASW is constantly looking around and taking in different parts that I may not have on previous rides since there is quite a lot to see. Having ridden DL's with the characters I found them to be integrated wonderfully well and a fun surprise when you did notice them. It's impossible for them to be distracting because you look at them, smile, and then look at other things. This addition will add a nice freshening up to WDW, which needs some love.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Hmm. By your logic, replacing a doll with a "character" doll makes them "front and center".

If you can't see how a light-up tiered display of Frozen is anything but "subtle" then I don't know what to say.

Moana is also placed in the center of her scene, above the other dolls.

Just how do you insert the characters without making them noticeable?

You can't really, and that's the problem.

If you don't like the insertion of characters just say so.

Already did.

 

[JohnD]

If you can't see how a light-up tiered display of Frozen is anything but "subtle" then I don't know what to say.

Moana is also placed in the center of her scene, above the other dolls.



You can't really, and that's the problem.



Already did.

The Frozen scene is no bigger than the English soldiers to its right. Regarding Moana, the blinking hippo is bigger than her. You're really nickel and diming it. Just say you don't want the characters in it. Period. It's alright. It's a valid point of view to keep it as is. Otherwise, you're criticism comes off as nitpicking.

 

[OG Runner]

I'm cool with this, just make the characters subtle. As in, don't have them front-and-center and more prominent than the other dolls.

On a somewhat-related note, didn't Tokyo's version have a Pinocchio cameo long before THEY added Disney characters? Like, one of the kids is holding up a Pinocchio doll? And if so, is that still there?

I believe they did, and as a throw back to The Three Caballeros they had Donald Duck as a piñata in Mexico.