_caleb
Well-Known Member
Someone's obviously never picnicked in the Bois de Vincennes...
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Morocco Pavilion facing financial troubles
- Thread starter castlecake2.0
- Start date
Looks all earthling to me.
_caleb
Well-Known Member
Many of us believe that what makes Disney's theme parks stand out above the rest is their attention to detail. By detail, I don't mean just ornamentation or literal reproduction, but a level of authenticity that comes from deep understanding of the subject matter and careful attention to translating the essence of the inspiration into the theme.
The problem is that the general public doesn't usually seem to recognize these things as valuable. Because they don't understand all that went into the theming, they don't see the problem with elements that appear to only be slightly off-theme. But the details make the difference, whether guests "get it" or not. The details all add up, and in the end, guests do end up noticing when the theme falls short.
P.S.- Disney doesn't always get this right. In fact, they seem to have settled for "close-enough" on several attractions over the years, and quality has noticeably suffered. We can point to lands at other parks that are getting the details right, and that makes Disney's theming missteps even more apparent.
That's why Aladdin shouldn't be in Morocco.
_caleb
Well-Known Member
Just wait until they build the Walmart pavilion.
TheGuyThatMakesSwords
Well-Known Member
I'll probably be slammed....
All personal opinion - bulldoze it, and put in the Russia Pavilion, that people have been talking about for a good decade
.
All personal opinion - bulldoze it, and put in the Russia Pavilion, that people have been talking about for a good decade
.
LittleBuford
Well-Known Member
Why?! What on earth do people have against the Morocco pavilion? It’s absolutely gorgeous.I'll probably be slammed....
All personal opinion - bulldoze it, and put in the Russia Pavilion, that people have been talking about for a good decade
JoeCamel
Well-Known Member
Only if Putin pays 15 years upfrontI'll probably be slammed....
All personal opinion - bulldoze it, and put in the Russia Pavilion, that people have been talking about for a good decade
People concerned about shoving characters in the pavilion/altering the country should also remember that United Kingdom, Canada, American Adventure and Germany are also all fully operated by Disney and have remained (for better or worse) mostly unchanged.
UNCgolf
Well-Known Member
I'll probably be slammed....
All personal opinion - bulldoze it, and put in the Russia Pavilion, that people have been talking about for a good decade
Why would you want to bulldoze it to build something else when there are several empty expansion pads?
Sharon&Susan
Well-Known Member
Nah, they should demolish that British Colony Pavilion, you know the Ammerecan Journey or whatever it's called.I'll probably be slammed....
All personal opinion - bulldoze it, and put in the Russia Pavilion, that people have been talking about for a good decade
Brer Panther
Well-Known Member
...for now.
twilight mitsuk
Well-Known Member
Like iasw
FettFan
Well-Known Member
I have a degree in history... and Disney’s Aladdin is very much pre-Islamic.
Case in point: during A Whole New World, Aladdin and Jasmine witness a stonecutter working on the Great Sphinx in Egypt.
the Sphinx was built around 2500 BC., over 3000 years before your caliphates took control of Northern Africa.
plus here’s Aladdin teaming with Hercules in the animated series.
LittleBuford
Well-Known Member
This isn’t correct. Yes, the Sphinx is shown anachronistically in the process of being carved, but the film is full of references to Islamic culture, whether architectural (mosques, minarets), costume-related (fezzes and turbans), or terminological (the word “Allah” in particular). Agrabah cannot be situated in a particular time or place—it’s too much of a melange—but in overall feel, it belongs to the medieval Middle East.
FettFan
Well-Known Member
A lot of what we think of as “Islamic” culture actually predates Islam.
For example, Arab Jews and Christians also used “Allāh” simply because that was the Arabic word for “the god”, but it was codified into the Islamic faith because that’s the word God used to describe himself to Muhammad.
The fez/tarboosh? Nobody knows where it came from, but the current thinking is that it originated in Greece or Macedonia before being adopted by the Turks and then spread into Africa by Islamic conquest.
Turbans? Our earliest known example was a Mesopotamian sculpture of a man wearing a turban from 2350 BC.
LittleBuford
Well-Known Member
Yes, the word “Allah” predates Islam, as does the turban (I won’t get into the fez, because that’s a very complicated rabbit hole). The point is that Aladdin brings these things together in a way that is clearly portraying an Islamic cultural context. When the man saying “Allah” and wearing a turban is a sultan served by a vizier named Jafar, you can be sure we’re supposed to imagine ourselves in the Islamic Middle East (though his palace, inexplicably, looks more like the Taj Mahal). The Genie, while transforming Aladdin into Prince Ali, criticises his street-urchin gear as being “much too third century”, which already tells us we’re several millennia later than the carving of the Sphinx. Aladdin and Jasmine end their magic-carpet ride in China watching fireworks over the Hall of Supreme Harmony, which wasn’t built until the fifteenth century. And, as I mentioned in my previous post, the architecture shown in the film includes mosques, complete with crescent pinnacles and minarets:
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LittleBuford
Well-Known Member
More on Aladdin’s setting:
www.eonline.com
It should be noted that Baghdad didn’t even exist in pre-Islamic times: the city was founded by the Abbasids in the eighth century.
According to Musker, composers Howard Ashman and Alan Menken's original version had been set in Baghdad, Iraq. "We kept it Baghdad in our first treatment, and then the Gulf War happened—the first Gulf War. Roy Disney said, 'This can't be in Baghdad.' So, I took letters and did a jumbled anagram and came up with Agrabah," he explained.
Disney Myths Debunked by Ron Clements and John Musker, Directors of The Little Mermaid, Aladdin and Hercules - E! Online
Is one of the movies related to Frozen?
www.eonline.com
It should be noted that Baghdad didn’t even exist in pre-Islamic times: the city was founded by the Abbasids in the eighth century.
networkpro
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- Yes
I have a degree in history... and Disney’s Aladdin is very much pre-Islamic.
Case in point: during A Whole New World, Aladdin and Jasmine witness a stonecutter working on the Great Sphinx in Egypt.
the Sphinx was built around 2500 BC., over 3000 years before your caliphates took control of Northern Africa.
plus here’s Aladdin teaming with Hercules in the
animated series.
It indeed predates the 1001 arabian nights and was only included by an enterprising Frenchman's translation at a later date. That said, it would be disingenuous to not call Morroco a pan arabic country.
It's easy to determine when Aladdin takes place by looking for archeological evidence of when the first magic carpets were made.
