"Frozen" coming to Disneyland?

[britain]

I agree with this. Though I’m not excited for this movie, Erivo’s performance as the Blue Fairy is very intriguing to me, and I will watch it for that alone.

I wish they hadn’t gone with the exact same design of Pinocchio as it is in the original. I would have preferred something more puppet-like, and I’m saying that as someone who has a fear of puppets.

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio looks better.

As much as I don’t care for the Beauty and the Beast remake, it seemed like a natural progression: “Animated film that is trying really hard to be like a legitimate broadway musical gets turned into a live legitimate broadway musical, why not go the extra step and make a live action film?”

The animated films that have SEMI-anthropomorphized animals (Lion King / Jungle Book) also seem to lend themselves to CG adaptations since their original intent was to “tell a story ABOUT animals.”

Things start breaking down, however, when you’ve got cartoons with FULLY-anthropomorphized animals. Ask yourself if Zootopia would be better if the CG were done with “live-action photorealisim.” Or would Mickey, Donald or Goofy be better if they looked a lot more like actual mice, ducks or dogs?

No, in those contexts, we’re really just talking about cartoon people and we’re using animal symbolic shorthand. Making them “live action” would rob them of their power.

This is why I’m not digging Jiminy, or the Fox & Cat. They need LESS detail, not more. They’re creatures that only exist in imagination, and the more realistic you try to make them appear, the more emotionally disconnected they’ll be. They need the IMPRESSIONISM of hand drawn animation or the play-like suspension of disbelief that comes from non-realistic puppetry (like the Muppets).

Pinocchio himself would probably emote better if he too were obviously a puppet.

Also, oddly, Figaro and Cleo… why are they also rubbing me the wrong way? Perhaps because, unlike Jiminy/Fox/Cat, they weren’t anthropomorphized animals in the original film. Other than some moments of human-like expression, they’re supposed to be a REGULAR cat and a REGULAR fish in the story. It would have been charming to see Tom Hanks interact with a real kitty on set, but nope. Missed the boat here too.

 

[Rich T]

I think I would say that it's definitely better than a lot of people give it credit for. People like to talk like it's a slog, but it has a good amount going for it. I think it could shine like a new penny with a bit of elbow grease. I agree with you that some refreshed lighting could make a big difference in the ride.

I'm not the biggest fan of Projection Mapping, but if used tastefully I can see how that also could pump up a handful of scenes in the ride. Pleasure Island seems like an obvious choice. Maybe some projection and fiber optics creating the Blue Fairy's radiating magic inside the giant Bird Cage to make our "escape" more magical than just a door opening and a sound effect:
View attachment 662563

Monstro could maybe benefit from projection, too - though I feel like that scene could maybe use a bigger rethink. It seems positioned to be the climactic scare of the ride, but it doesn't live up to Monstro's . . . monstrousness. The fact that Monstro already has a bigger moment in Storybook Land probably played a part in this as well. It seems silly to have two rides in Fantasyland where you get swallowed by Monstro, so I get why they didn't try to do that, but if they're just going to give us a lesser Monstro scene in the dark ride then maybe it'd be better to just try something else entirely.

I like Lampwick's transformation scene, but aside from the Hologram effect in his mirror that many seem to miss it's very nearly the same gag as the Queen's transformation in Snow White, which I think it maybe compares unfavorably to. I bet there's a way to make a bigger impact with that moment that also differentiates it from the Queen scene.

The Blue Fairy at the end is already the best effect in the ride - litter the scene with even more Fiber Optics and some projection to bring in that radiating magic again and the scene could be better than ever. Maybe do something where her magic sets off all the clocks and mechanical objects in the cottage as we ride by them.

It also seems odd how little "When You Wish Upon A Star" factors into the ride - you'd think a big, choral version of that would be playing as you make your way out of the ride. We only hear a brief instrumental before heading into Geppetto's cottage. The celebratory song that plays in the final scene is more upbeat and makes some sense, but it seems like this ride should make a more prominent home for the de facto Disney Anthem. Maybe restage Jiminy with his Badge at the final window in the cottage, looking out at the Wishing Star, with him hitting the high notes as we're sent into the Unload.

And please, while you're at it, make that final Pinocchio figure on the bed a Real Boy instead of a Puppet! It seems like such a silly thing to have done in the first place.

Great ideas! Here’s my take:

1) Improve the opening “Got No Strings” scene with more motion (and NOT by replacing it with a projected clip from the movie, which I’m afraid they’d do!)
2) Restage the Stromboli room so that Stromboli is closer, scarier, and front-and-center. Drop going into the cage entirely.
3) In the “Wrong Way” Room, add a custom animated projection of the coach full of doomed rotten kids (even just in silhouette would work) cresting a hill, and you follow its direction.
4) Use projections to give Pleasure Island more life and make it feel actually POPULATED instead of dead.
5) I get why Honest John and Gideon are here, so keep them but give them full animatronics and have Honest John cheer you on as he clutches a bag of gold coins he’s received.
6) Make Tobacco Road even scarier
7) Yes, improve the transformation room. The Coachman doesn’t have to be here at all.
8) Completely rework everything that folllows starting showing with caged donkeys immediately. No more “atmosphere.” We’re speeding up the pace and tension now!
9) You turn a corner and—BOO!— The Coachman and his hulking Goons are lunging at you from behind stacked crates and cages! You crash through a wall to escape.
10) Projected waves crash all around in a brief transition to—
11) You get swallowed by Monstro.
12) The End. Honestly, this would be the perfect climax for the *ride*—The 1955 gang knew what they were doing with the scary endings! But, we know that’s not gonna happen, so…
12B) In the dark for a second, then you see Pinocchio and Gepetto building the bonfire.
13) Projection speed tunnel effect of getting sneezed out of Monstro’s mouth. This could be really fun.
14) Abstract crash room—A swirl of ocean waves, boulders and flashing lights (and Gepetto yelling “Pinocchiiiiooooooo!!!”)
15) No village at all. Just a small, quick tableau of Gepetto carrying lifeless Pinocchio toward the workshop’s front door.
16) Inside the shop, Blue Fairy does her thing.
17) Gepetto holds alive Pinocchio aloft in triumph, staged so you don’t see how creepy “real” Pinocchio looks. Jiminy, Figaro and Cleo look on happily.
18) It ends HERE. You get out of the vehicle and Exit by WALKING through a happy, cozy workshop.
19) Little AA of Jiminy above the exit, saying “Bye folks! If you get in trouble, just give a little whistle! Always let your conscience be your guide! That’s what I call a good dark ride! On to my next assignment! His name’s Bob!”

 

[lazyboy97o]

But yes, there is definitely some nightmare fuel in that movie.

Which actually makes sense when you’re adapting a story that is like all nightmare fuel.

 

[Brer Panther]

First of all, I find "On to my next assignment! His name's Bob!" hilarious.

Second, here's a question: if they WERE to add a Frozen attraction to Disneyland, would it be based on the original or Frozen 2? Or set in-between them?

 

[Rich T]

First of all, I find "On to my next assignment! His name's Bob!" hilarious.

Second, here's a question: if they WERE to add a Frozen attraction to Disneyland, would it be based on the original or Frozen 2? Or set in-between them?

Oh, the original Frozen for sure. The sequel was a rushed, cash-grab financial disappointment that was received with a big “Meh” from the general public and disappeared from pop culture without a trace. Toys unsold. Music unheard. Oscar snubbed.

 

[Dear Prudence]

First of all, I find "On to my next assignment! His name's Bob!" hilarious.

Second, here's a question: if they WERE to add a Frozen attraction to Disneyland, would it be based on the original or Frozen 2? Or set in-between them?

Everything Frozen now seems to be related to Frozen 2, which almost everyone says was a better film. I have no seen it. I like the first spirit lizard thing, though!

 

[GiveMeTheMusic]

I would hope that Frozen 2 would be incorporated at DLR. WDW, HKDL and DLP are all Frozen Ever After, which takes place between the films, while the TDS ride will focus on the story of the original film. It would be great if DLR got something unique if this happens and not another FEA clone.

 

[Dear Prudence]

I would hope that Frozen 2 would be incorporated at DLR. WDW, HKDL and DLP are all Frozen Ever After, which takes place between the films, while the TDS ride will focus on the story of the original film. It would be great if DLR got something unique if this happens and not another FEA clone.

Maybe they can 86 Avengers' Campus and put it there.

 

[Rich T]

Everything Frozen now seems to be related to Frozen 2, which almost everyone says was a better film. I have no seen it. I like the first spirit lizard thing, though!

Frozen 2 has fans, but for the most part it got reviewed as a misfire and halted any talk of another frozen film. It’s not a bad film, but it’s not memorable and its songs came and went without a trace. It was not nominated for Best Animated Movie, and even its creators have said they wish they’d had more time to make the film they wanted. There will be no Frozen 2 musical at DCA, and definitely no Frozen 2 theme park attraction.

 

[Rich T]

I would hope that Frozen 2 would be incorporated at DLR. WDW, HKDL and DLP are all Frozen Ever After, which takes place between the films, while the TDS ride will focus on the story of the original film. It would be great if DLR got something unique if this happens and not another FEA clone.

Nobody wants a FEA clone. That ride is the definition of shoehorned drek. The “plot” is “You’re going to see Elsa! You’re so lucky! Here’s Elsa! Let it go, everyone! Hey, Olaf, sing that song about summer! The End!”

They should tick off WDW fans by making DL’s ride: “Elsa and Anna present Maelstrom, a Viking Voyage though Norway’s Past.”

 

[Professortango1]

Great ideas! Here’s my take:

1) Improve the opening “Got No Strings” scene with more motion (and NOT by replacing it with a projected clip from the movie, which I’m afraid they’d do!)
2) Restage the Stromboli room so that Stromboli is closer, scarier, and front-and-center. Drop going into the cage entirely.
3) In the “Wrong Way” Room, add a custom animated projection of the coach full of doomed rotten kids (even just in silhouette would work) cresting a hill, and you follow its direction.
4) Use projections to give Pleasure Island more life and make it feel actually POPULATED instead of dead.
5) I get why Honest John and Gideon are here, so keep them but give them full animatronics and have Honest John cheer you on as he clutches a bag of gold coins he’s received.
6) Make Tobacco Road even scarier
7) Yes, improve the transformation room. The Coachman doesn’t have to be here at all.
8) Completely rework everything that folllows starting with caged donkeys immediately. No more “atmosphere.” We’re speeding up the pace and tension now!
9) You turn a corner and—BOO!— The Coachman and his hulking Goons are lunging at you from behind stacked crates and cages! You crash through a wall to escape.
10) Projected waves crash all around in a brief transition to—
11) You get swallowed by Monstro.
12) The End. Honestly, this would be the perfect climax for the *ride*—The 1955 gang knew what they were doing with the scary endings! But, we know that’s not gonna happen, so…
12B) In the dark for a second, then you see Pinocchio and Gepetto building the bonfire.
13) Projection speed tunnel effect of getting sneezed out of Monstro’s mouth. This could be really fun.
14) Abstract crash room—A swirl of ocean waves, boulders and flashing lights (and Gepetto yelling “Pinocchiiiiooooooo!!!”)
15) No village at all. Just a small, quick tableau of Gepetto carrying lifeless Pinocchio toward the workshop’s front door.
16) Inside the shop, Blue Fairy does her thing.
17) Gepetto holds alive Pinocchio aloft in triumph, staged so you don’t see how creepy “real” Pinocchio looks. Jiminy, Figaro and Cleo look on happily.
18) It ends HERE. You get out of the vehicle and Exit by WALKING through a happy, cozy workshop.
19) Little AA of Jiminy above the exit, saying “Bye folks! If you get in trouble, just give a little whistle! Always let your conscience be your guide! That’s what I call a good dark ride! On to my next assignment! His name’s Bob!”

Not sure if this is trying to be ironic.

While I would love to see our Pinocchio enhanced, I'd hate to see it get the Snow White treatment and redone in a bland way. Right now it is perfect in terms of storytelling. We run away from home to join show business. Its scary. We escape and run away to go to Pleasure Island. Its scary too. We realize we just want to go home, so we race past Monstro, through the streets, until we are safe and home with our dad. The ride isn't about Pinocchio becoming a real boy, its about that childhood feeling of wanting to run away and join something exciting and forbidden, but then once you're in the scary world, you realize you were wrong and want nothing more to be safe with family.

 

[Phroobar]

Frozen 2 has fans, but for the most part it got reviewed as a misfire and halted any talk of another frozen film. It’s not a bad film, but it’s not memorable and its songs came and went without a trace. It was not nominated for Best Animated Movie, and even its creators have said they wish they’d had more time to make the film they wanted. There will be no Frozen 2 musical at DCA, and definitely no Frozen 2 theme park attraction.

How much time did they need? They had six years. Their own company was making jokes about. See the end of Ralph Breaks the Internet.

 

[Rich T]

Not sure if this is trying to be ironic.

While I would love to see our Pinocchio enhanced, I'd hate to see it get the Snow White treatment and redone in a bland way. Right now it is perfect in terms of storytelling. We run away from home to join show business. Its scary. We escape and run away to go to Pleasure Island. Its scary too. We realize we just want to go home, so we race past Monstro, through the streets, until we are safe and home with our dad. The ride isn't about Pinocchio becoming a real boy, its about that childhood feeling of wanting to run away and join something exciting and forbidden, but then once you're in the scary world, you realize you were wrong and want nothing more to be safe with family.

Absolutely agree. I do, however, think they laid on the atmosphere moments in this ride to the point where it’s noticeably, unnecessarily slow in spots—and there are ideas and attempts at effects that don’t have the intended impact (the Lampwick Hologram, for example). And some of the staging needs tweaking.

While I stand behind my ideas to make the ride scarier and punchier—and more fun—I totally applaud your position that the ride is fine as is. It’s a very atmospheric, sweet, dark and melancholy ride with a warm, quiet wrap up. That’s unique.

That said, this is Pinocchio’s Daring Journey, and he IS on a quest to become real. And on the current ride, he—and by extension, the guest—fails. And Jiminy gets his badge anyway. And the Blue Fairy is a liar. And Figaro apparently couldn’t care less about Pinocchio dying, cause he said “Ta hell with this,” and got all snugly in his little cat bed!

And to heck with empty streets, repetitive corners and so-ineffective-he’s-funny mini Monstro with lightning-breath; I want big scary Pleasure Island goons jumping out and a speed tunnel sneeze out through two rows of whale teeth, dang it!

 

[Brer Panther]

Having a Pinocchio ride where Pinocchio never becomes a real boy is like doing a Lion King ride where Simba doesn't become king.

 

[Rich T]

Having a Pinocchio ride where Pinocchio never becomes a real boy is like doing a Lion King ride where Simba doesn't become king.

Yes, and here’s the thing: If they didn’t want to show Pinocchio becoming real, then they simply should not have taken the ride in that direction at all in the first place.

But they instead built a ride that follows the movie plot right up to having the final transformation scene at the end…staged almost EXACTLY as it is the film… but then they don’t follow through.

Tony Baxter is brilliant, and there are far more wonderful things in the Pinocchio ride than there are flaws, but I do not agree with the choice to recreate the movie’s final scene… and leave out the reason the scene exists in the first place.

 

[britain]

I wonder if it had something to do with a minimal movement animatronic of “real boy” Pinocchio being more disturbing and distracting than just puppet Pinocchio?

 

[Consumer]

Does Pinocchio's Daring Journey still feature the Chinaman puppet?

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

I find it terrifying and disturbing, but the Adventures of Pinocchio has, so far, done the best job of bringing a walking, talking puppet to life without it looking too fake, but still looks like a puppet, if that makes sense.

View attachment 662539

I’m wondering if this live action will inspire Disney to update Pinocchio in Fantasyland. It needs one.

This Pinocchio is scary looking! I expect him to pull out a bloodied knife any minute.

 

[Californian Elitist]

As much as I don’t care for the Beauty and the Beast remake, it seemed like a natural progression: “Animated film that is trying really hard to be like a legitimate broadway musical gets turned into a live legitimate broadway musical, why not go the extra step and make a live action film?”

The animated films that have SEMI-anthropomorphized animals (Lion King / Jungle Book) also seem to lend themselves to CG adaptations since their original intent was to “tell a story ABOUT animals.”

Things start breaking down, however, when you’ve got cartoons with FULLY-anthropomorphized animals. Ask yourself if Zootopia would be better if the CG were done with “live-action photorealisim.” Or would Mickey, Donald or Goofy be better if they looked a lot more like actual mice, ducks or dogs?

No, in those contexts, we’re really just talking about cartoon people and we’re using animal symbolic shorthand. Making them “live action” would rob them of their power.

This is why I’m not digging Jiminy, or the Fox & Cat. They need LESS detail, not more. They’re creatures that only exist in imagination, and the more realistic you try to make them appear, the more emotionally disconnected they’ll be. They need the IMPRESSIONISM of hand drawn animation or the play-like suspension of disbelief that comes from non-realistic puppetry (like the Muppets).

Pinocchio himself would probably emote better if he too were obviously a puppet.

Also, oddly, Figaro and Cleo… why are they also rubbing me the wrong way? Perhaps because, unlike Jiminy/Fox/Cat, they weren’t anthropomorphized animals in the original film. Other than some moments of human-like expression, they’re supposed to be a REGULAR cat and a REGULAR fish in the story. It would have been charming to see Tom Hanks interact with a real kitty on set, but nope. Missed the boat here too.

I agree that a real cat and goldfish should have been cast. Yes, they possess human-like behavior in the animated film, but that didn’t need to be translated to the live-action. It would have been fine with real animals and a regular pet relationship.

 

[Jiggsawpuzzle35]

Does Pinocchio's Daring Journey still feature the Chinaman puppet?

View attachment 662918

I don’t recall seeing it recently.