By Scott Shindeldecker, Aug 02, 2016
WDWMAGIC Contributor
If you’re a first time visitor to Walt Disney World, it can be easy to miss. The building itself is large, highly stylized, and still almost completely blocked from view by a giant spitting camel and a ride identical to the classic Dumbo attraction. It wasn’t always this way. You’ll hear some of those that grew up on the pre-millennium parks grumble about the carpet ride “ruining the theme” of Adventureland. What was once themed around mysterious jungles, recalling those in Polynesia and Africa, now sports an odd Middle-Eastern section smack-dab in the middle of the land. The merits of this attraction and theming can be discussed another day.
What lies in that building that towers over the carpets is descendant from one of the most important attractions ever built. One could argue that without it, the parks as we know them today would not exist. While designing and building this cheerful little show, the Imagineering department needed to step outside of anything that they’d ever built before. They needed more than just the slight movements that were still stunning crowds over at The Jungle Cruise, and Uncle Walt pushed them to create something new, something with realistic movements synched to sound, what would become known as Audio-Animatronics. Bringing the birds, flowers, and Tikis to life created a whole new technology, one that would set the standard for Disney Parks moving forward.
But why? Why Tiki? With a park filled with Davy Crocket, Snow White, and Mickey Mouse, why a tropical revue? What was it that led Walt and his team to create this classic attraction? The answer to that will bring us back over a hundred years, take us halfway across the globe, involve famous explorers, the Great Depression, World War II, Clark Gable, and a whole lot of rum.
Continue reading at http://www.wdwmagic.com/articles/29jul2016-let's-all-sing-like-the-birdies-sing---part-i.htm
WDWMAGIC Contributor
If you’re a first time visitor to Walt Disney World, it can be easy to miss. The building itself is large, highly stylized, and still almost completely blocked from view by a giant spitting camel and a ride identical to the classic Dumbo attraction. It wasn’t always this way. You’ll hear some of those that grew up on the pre-millennium parks grumble about the carpet ride “ruining the theme” of Adventureland. What was once themed around mysterious jungles, recalling those in Polynesia and Africa, now sports an odd Middle-Eastern section smack-dab in the middle of the land. The merits of this attraction and theming can be discussed another day.
What lies in that building that towers over the carpets is descendant from one of the most important attractions ever built. One could argue that without it, the parks as we know them today would not exist. While designing and building this cheerful little show, the Imagineering department needed to step outside of anything that they’d ever built before. They needed more than just the slight movements that were still stunning crowds over at The Jungle Cruise, and Uncle Walt pushed them to create something new, something with realistic movements synched to sound, what would become known as Audio-Animatronics. Bringing the birds, flowers, and Tikis to life created a whole new technology, one that would set the standard for Disney Parks moving forward.
But why? Why Tiki? With a park filled with Davy Crocket, Snow White, and Mickey Mouse, why a tropical revue? What was it that led Walt and his team to create this classic attraction? The answer to that will bring us back over a hundred years, take us halfway across the globe, involve famous explorers, the Great Depression, World War II, Clark Gable, and a whole lot of rum.
Continue reading at http://www.wdwmagic.com/articles/29jul2016-let's-all-sing-like-the-birdies-sing---part-i.htm
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