The central conceit of the Circle of Life is essential to the story of DAK. The “transformational power of nature” is not about animals doing Shakespeare, it is about accepting death and the cyclical nature of life.
The Lion King is about one of the most “Animal Kingdom” ideas out there. The intrinsic beauty of nature, clear in “I Just Can’t Wait To Be King”, and the beauty of the Pride Lands, and the beauty of a family bond, which (arguably) has something to do with nature. The value of Simba’s kingdom is the intrinsic beauty nature has, and the duty he has to protect it like all of us.
The story also textually features psychological change through adventure. Simba has his father taken away from him, and is forced to rediscover his relationship to himself and later the land he is meant to steward. He sees how awful Scar has been and vows to take action. And he accepts the challenge to restore nature.
In this way, it is a spiritual successor to Dinoland. In the way that extinction is forever, death is forever. And while those around you aren’t always going to be there with you, they will be recycled and “live within you”, both literally and metaphorically.
The call to action in the Lion King is to refuse to let your past, your failures, and your losses define you. I think this is a fine lesson for Animal Kingdom, and is a strong message in the face of climate change.
I think this is exactly why The Lion King is a difficult movie to textually adapt into a ride. FoLK barely touches on the ACTUAL story of the Lion King. The ACTUAL story is dark, and will likely be seen as “political” in today’s climate. In fact, it mechanically would be a spectacular ride, but in order to make an impact it needs to tell the very difficult story that justifies it’s place in the park AND keeps it a true classic.
The difficulty of doing a Tokyo-style book report ride for Lion King with American thematic sensibilities (less warehouse-sized rooms just because, focus on pacing, etc) is that Mufassa’s death MUST be included, even if in pre-show and disambiguated.
Say that Rafiki tells the story thus far in a pre-show. Where do we even pick up the story! The place that makes the most sense is when Simba meets Timon and Puumba. But the context of Scar and Mufassa’s death must be included. We know they’re not afraid to tell this story (World of Color), but truly it almost requires two rides to tell the story, like Rise of the Resistance. I wonder if they would be so ambitious to have a double pre-show… but then again, this would be par for the course for new ride design, and this IP deserves it.
I think talking Animal Kingdom integration is very easy. You talk about the actual cycle of life for a variety of kinds of animals, including death. You might also talk about risks as to what happens when we don’t take care of our environment. And, finally, the natural “inspirations” we all carry with us.
I dunno. Execution is everything. But this is a ride that must broach death in some way, and I wonder if today’s imagineers will stand up to the challenge.
