starri42
Well-Known Member
Up until I stepped foot on Fight of Passage, I would have asked the same about Avatar.
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Rumor Inside Out to Replace Journey into Imagination with Figment?
- Thread starter Just4Pics
- Start date
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
Davy Crockett was a breakout mini series from Disneyland. Frontierland came first.
Animaniac93-98
Well-Known Member
The original Fantasyland rides in Florida took great liberties with the movies they were based on. The devils in Mr. Toad, Atlantis in 20,000 Leagues, the witch crushing you in the dwarfs' mine etc. were all invented to make the attractions more interesting as ride-through experiences and helped to tell their own stories.
There's a difference between taking inspiration from a movie and being strictly faithful to it.
RoysCabin
Well-Known Member
That's true; a lot of the common early complaints about many of the Fantasyland rides was "where's Snow White?", "where's Mr. Toad?", things along those lines, because people weren't catching on that the idea was that you, the guest, were assuming the role of the films' protagonists. And even then, those rides weren't designed to just be a "book report" version of the films' plots, they were designed around specific moments from the films or a general atmosphere people might have associated with them (keeping in mind that the rides opened in an era before home video releases), such as Snow White's scarier parts, or Toad's madcap style. That began to change in places over the years, like Snow White becoming more of a "book report" ride in its later iteration, but it certainly wasn't the original intention. My point was more that Fantasyland was originally the place with the attractions that were explicitly tied to movies, whereas the other lands avoided that, but the trend of "film property or bust" has made it into Tomorrowland (Stitch, Buzz, Monsters Inc.), Adventureland (Aladdin's carpets, Pirates w/Depp and company), Future World, World Showcase, etc., and it really does have an impact on the overall experience, kind of homogenizing the parks.
As for Flight of Passage, I'm looking forward to giving that a try when I get down to WDW in a couple of weeks, I've heard great things. It sounds like it comes from that older Fantasyland IP tradition: take a concept or an idea from a film and translate it into the medium of a theme park attraction, taking advantage of what the medium has to offer the experience, rather than just passively having guests consume a story or plot recycled from the original film. Doing that can definitely add to the "timeless" element of a ride; if you're not getting bogged down in the film's plot/characters/songs, etc., then the experience can stand on its own feet and thrive independent of the film's cultural relevance.
That said, I still have my doubts about the entire Avatar themed land; I'm sure it looks great, but man, the whole backstory/"lore" they did with it is really offputting to me.
FigmentJedi
Well-Known Member
Look who's headlining some new "Sleepy Disney Characters" plush line.
https://www.shopdisney.com/figment-dream-friend-plush-large-1520533
https://www.shopdisney.com/figment-dream-friend-plush-large-1520533
What part of the backstory is really off-putting to you?
DCLcruiser
Well-Known Member
We're cleaning out my parent's house and I found my Figment plush-book-bag from my first WDW visit in '88. Figment is still my favorite part of EPCOT and he deserves a better ride and maybe a reboot film.
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FigmentJedi
Well-Known Member
Jenny gets into a lot of the weird story issues in her big breakdown video. Lot of it amounts to weird implications of the relationship between the Na'vi and the tour company, how offputting it is that there's no Na'vi in the outside land, etc.
Me personally, I just feel weird about having a themed land extension of a movie that basically amounted to "Earth is screwed, so we gotta connect to nature somewhere in space and just abandon ship" in a park focused on trying to resolve our current environmental issues.
So I watched the video, and you do know that she really has NO idea what she is talking about. She puts out so much incorrect information that it isn't funny.
Disney Lover Addie
Well-Known Member
I feel like Disney needs to utilize Figment more since MANY of us are huge fans and we would definitely pay to see a film for him or wait in line for his (hopefully better) attraction. They don’t realize how crazy everyone would be if the did something with figment, they only think about IPs. (PS: Love the figment plush!)
pdude81
Well-Known Member
Nice. I have a doll of a similar vintage at home, but could use a dusting or 7.
FrankLapidus
Well-Known Member
But no one cares about Figment in 2019...
Figments Friend
Well-Known Member
Raise your vintage plush, and let your voice be heard!
FIGMENT POWER!
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fngoofy
Well-Known Member
You are correct. When Disneyland opened in the late 50s you had Davy Crocket, then Swiss Family, even Matterhorn is based on their movie 3rd Man on the Mountain. Then you toss in Snow White, Peter Pan, Mr. Toad, etc. Lot of IPs from the get go.
FigmentJedi
Well-Known Member
Davy Crockett had a wax museum that lasted only about a year and the serial itself was put into production to promote Disneyland. Westerns were one of Disney's early blind spots and the only content they could think of to represent Frontierland in the Disneyland show's first year besides Davy was So Dear to My Heart and Treasure Island of all things. Frontierland on opening day was less about immersing you into specific western films of the time and more about letting you have an adventure in that particular genre setting.
Similarly, while Matterhorn Bobsleds was inspired by the production of Third Man on the Mountain, there's no real connection besides the setting and no signs of that film's characters and music. The mountain climbing show tradition wasn't based around Rudi Matt, they made up a Hans and Franz mountain climber duo.
Fantasyland's animation focus was about as IP reliant as early Disneyland got.
DCLcruiser
Well-Known Member
The character is hidden inside of a decaying pavilion. Yes, there was a comic series, but that doesn't get the same exposure as tv or movies. There's a reason why the character remains (same reason why everything is a reboot these days)...new parents were all kids in the 80s, who grew up seeing Figment.
I'm sure Disney Animation Studios and Pixar can figure out a way to make Figment into a movie.
A Disney+ revival seems too obvious. So why no love?
RSoxNo1
Well-Known Member
It's not unprecedented for them to announce a development 4 years ahead of when we expect to see movement, but it does seem a bit early.
I don't think World of Motion was ever anyone's favorite attraction in the same way Imagination, Horizons or SSE was. Add in the fact that of the original Epcot pavilions that were ultimately replaced/updated, Test Track was the most well received.
IP attractions pray on familiarity and they're primary benefit is a year one marketing push. The Disney parks need to utilize IPs where they are most appropriate. It seems that under Iger they think about the IP first as opposed to the area it's going into. It needs to be the other way around if you want to avoid diluting themes and producing a subpar product.
Frozen Ever After is a perfect example of this. This would be a welcome Fantasyland C-ticket attraction and a better fit thematically than World Showcase. The actual quality of the attraction is affected by the disconnect in the theme. You can argue that "who really cares", but historically Disney absolutely did care about this.
I've written my fair share about this, but this may be the most relevant: https://www.micechat.com/101023-tim-grassey-addicted-easy-money/
There's also this quote from John Hench:
“Walt had the idea that guests could feel perfection. I once complained to him about the construction of some new stagecoaches. Walt had asked that the cab be suspended by leather straps as early Western stagecoaches had been. I thought that this was too much and told Walt “People aren’t going to get this, it’s too much perfection.” “Yes they will,” He responded. “They will feel good about it. And they will understand that it’s all done for them.” He went on to lecture me, “If they don’t understand it, if you do something and people don’t respond to it, it’s because you’re a poor communicator. But if you really reach them and touch them, people will respond because people are OK.”
“Guests’ memories come into play in many ways in theme park design beyond their recollection of certain films, as with the Indiana Jones attraction. Guests’ spontaneous decision making – where they choose to go in the parks and what they choose to do – is influenced by all kinds of personal and collectively shared memories, as much as by the sensory stimuli around them.”
Whether we consciously understand why we like something or not doesn't mean we don't like it. The best themed areas make sense and feel "right" due to the non-linear story telling that takes place. If something takes us out of that story the quality suffers.
Everest cost $100 mil and from 2005-2007 the park saw a 15.7% attendance increase
At minimum, Pandora costs $500 mil and from 2016-2018 the park saw a 26.8% increase. Not insignificant by any means, but not as efficient as Everest.
starri42
Well-Known Member
A larger percentage of a larger number of people, though.
And a 2019 low-season ticket costs $25 more per person when you adjust for inflation. It's even more when you factor in the surge pricing.
Figments Friend
Well-Known Member
I really loved 'World of Motion'.
That was a fantastic Attraction.
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That was a fantastic Attraction.
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