News Monster Inc Land Coming to Disney's Hollywood Studios

[Casper Gutman]

I don't personally feel that this is the same thing as film, TV, comics, or video games because by nature, theme park rides are not permanent. Long lasting, sure, but not permanent. They're not going to last forever in the same way that a film can live on, or a TV show can live on, or an album can live on. I absolutely believe they're art, but I also cannot pretend they don't have an expiration date.

What is unique about this medium is that when one piece of art reaches the end of it's lifespan, it can be replaced by a new piece of art. The debate that gets waged here is whether or not that new art is of the same caliber as the old art, and that is where I say there is no right or wrong answer to that question. Someone isn't wrong for liking a new ride just as someone isn't wrong for preferring what was there before.

We can argue all day about it, but that's just the simple fact of it all. No one side is objectively correct because there is no such thing as objectivity when it comes to what people enjoy. It is purely subjective in every possible way. There is nothing on this planet that everyone universally derives joy from.

MuppetVision's film is being preserved. That is the piece of this particular artwork that has no expiration and will live on well beyond the building it was shown in. The attraction itself though from the moment it opened had the same ticking clock that every theme park ride does because they simply cannot and will not last forever. I know you will disagree with me on that.

But I truly look at theme park rides like a theater production. From the moment that production opens, it's a ticking clock to when it closes. Yes, someone somewhere else can stage another version of that show, but it's not the same. It's a different version. That one show will only last as long as its run, and when that run ends, that particular show is gone for good. What other version comes after may not be as good as the one that came before it. What entirely new show moves into the theater once that show finishes its run may be better than the show that was there before. That's just how it goes. These things just don't last forever.

But several of the mediums I listed used to be marked by the exact same impermanence. Film degraded over time and TV and comics were deemed inherently disposable. Many early episodes of Dr Who and other BBC programs are lost forever because the company erased them to reuse the film and save money - a fairly apt comparison to ride replacement. Theater productions are inherently impermanent because people age, but just like films and paintings theme park attractions, if preserved and maintained, have far greater longevity.

And yes, everyone’s option of a work of art is valid FOR THAT PERSON, but we don’t judge each opinion to necessarily be an equally meaningful judgement of the piece of art. We would be very skeptical of someone who judged Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift a better film then Citizen Kane - we would not take that as a significant appraisal of the quality of the two films. I personally enjoy Rocketeer much more than Rules of the Game, but I’m not going to offer that as a serious critique of the two films. Expertise in the history of an art form, its aesthetic development, its broader cultural meaning - those DO matter in artistic analysis.

 

[Incomudro]

The Muppets aren't the same target audience as the Sesame Street gang. Most of their shows & movies are for all ages but they definitely have more of an edge to them than the Sesame Street characters.

Yes, I know and understand that.
But still...

 

[Trauma]

So any chance they don’t Re-theme RnRC to muppets until after the new Monsters land is built?

Having coaster and muppets down for extended periods at the same time is a capacity hit that the park really can’t handle.

 

[WowFactor]

IMO they should overlay RnR first. It seems faster than a whole new mini land.

 

[James Alucobond]

I would assume they can do the vast majority of what needs to be done for Monsters without shuttering MuppetVision. IMO, start both at once, but don't expand out into the MuppetVision theater area until the completion time necessary for the courtyard proper more or less aligns with the time remaining on construction of the coaster.

 

[Nevermore525]

RnRC retheme could probably only take a couple of months to at most a year. The ride part itself isn’t that highly themed and shouldn’t take long to tweak. It’s just the pre-show video and other theming in the show space to Muppet-ize things a bit. Hopefully they’ve already filmed a lot of those things or are in process with whatever artists they intend to collaborate with.

That and MV3D can stay open as long as possible even after they break ground on the Monster’s coaster. The exit could become a bottleneck as they wall off Stage 1 and the restaurants, but the could keep it up for a decent length of time. If they wanted to that is.

 

[Chupaca Bruh]

Maybe they need the Muppet animatronics for the coaster conversion.

 

[Charlie The Chatbox Ghost]

Maybe they need the Muppet animatronics for the coaster conversion.

I could see them using Stalter & Waldorf and the Chef, but zero chance Bean Bunny would be used.

 

[Nevermore525]

I could see them using Stalter & Waldorf and the Chef, but zero chance Bean Bunny would be used.

If they wouldn’t cause a bottleneck, the Statler and Waldorf animatronics in the backstage exit area could work well.

 

[disneylandtour]

Yikes, I hope not. I’m not going in anymore if there’s asbestos.

This would be true for many structures in the MK if they were built in 1970/1971. Restrictions on asbestos products don't begin until the end of the 1970s.

 

[disneylandtour]

The rest of Grand Avenue outside the Muppet area (Sci-Fi and such) can simply remain as is and not be touched.

Sci-Fi is outside this area, across the walkway.

 

[J4546]

if they did redo that entire grand ave to somekind of theming Id hope theyd at least relocate Sci Fi to Tomorrowland with an entrance under the PM between SM and Buzz

 

[Moth]

I could see them using Stalter & Waldorf and the Chef, but zero chance Bean Bunny would be used.

Is Bean Bunny like, fully retired?

 

[Captain Barbossa]

This would be true for many structures in the MK if they were built in 1970/1971. Restrictions on asbestos products don't begin until the end of the 1970s.

 

[disneylandtour]

What handcuffs? The Universal deal only restricts the use of the Marvel name and branding at Disney’s California Adventure. It imposes no other limitations in California or Paris.

This is mostly true. There are some trademark and naming restrictions. This is why MARVEL appears nowhere in the DCA name or promotions.

 

[disneylandtour]

Is it possible the Monsters theater show is another 3D movie/experience, like MV3D? Not sure if that’ been discussed in the thread yet…didn’t see it trying to catch up

I doubt that there's much space in the theater for anything but another screen show with maybe some animatronics in the room. There's no large stage, now backstage areas, dressing rooms, etc., etc., to accommodate anything more.

 

[The Leader of the Club]

Is Bean Bunny like, fully retired?

Not officially, but the director of Muppets Haunted Mansion confirmed on Twitter that the puppet no longer exists, so he would have to be rebuilt from scratch for future projects.

 

[The Leader of the Club]

I could see them using Stalter & Waldorf and the Chef, but zero chance Bean Bunny would be used.

I wonder if they’d reskin some of them for this. Don’t see much of a need for any of those characters, but I figure it wouldn’t be too hard to turn the penguins into the Mayhem.

 

[ᗩLᘿᑕ ✨ ᗩζᗩᗰ]

Not officially, but the director of Muppets Haunted Mansion confirmed on Twitter that the puppet no longer exists, so he would have to be rebuilt from scratch for future projects.

I thought he was retired and the puppet (or version of... they have multiples) is on permanent display in Atlanta's Center for Puppetry Arts.

 

[The Leader of the Club]

I thought he was retired and the puppet (or version of... they have multiples) is on permanent display in Atlanta's Center for Puppetry Arts.

He was considered for a cameo in Haunted Mansion, but since they don’t have an active puppet he would have to be rebuilt. Which would have been too expensive for that project. On top of that, Bean doesn’t have a performer currently due to Whitmire’s “departure.”