EDIT: Alright, I JUST Got a chance to read everyone else's ideas and this is eerily similar to @BryceM's idea. There are a lot of major differences, but a lot of a the big beats are the same. Feel free to disqualify this because apparently he beat me to the punch!
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Alright, it’s been a while since I submitted anything, but I was super-bored tonight, so I spent a few hours developing a quick idea for the Animation Plaza.
First one bit of housekeeping; presuming that Melrose Avenue is official greenlit for this plan, it would connect to the Animation Courtyard probably where Disney Junior is now. For the sake of this plan, Disney Junior has been relocated between Melrose Avenue and The Refurbished Animation Courtyard, freeing up the new path into the animation courtyard, and opening up that side of the street. With that said, I now bring you.
Walt Disney Animation Studios!
From the Sorcerer’s Hat, to the right is the Iconic Studio gate, brining you from the magical world of 1930s Hollywood Directly into the Campus of Walt Disney Animation Studios.
The first thing you notice is that the area is MUCH bigger. Disney Junior has been moved off the main path, and the buildings which previously held Voyage of the Little Mermaid, One Man’s Dream, And the Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow have all been torn down.
Instead you find yourself in a beautiful and whimsical city park-like courtyard in the middle of the studio, where you get the feeling that magic is being made on the page all around you. The buildings are decorated with sensible yet whimsical structures, murals of pencil sketches of characters, columns replaced by paint brushes, and the heart of which is a brand new tribute statue to Steamboat Willie.
The Statue would be in the middle of the beautiful garden-like courtyard, and would be a great spot for pictures.
The gardens would line all the sides of the buildings as well, and would be filled with topiary vignettes featuring classic Disney Cartoon Characters. One of the topiary’s would be of a giant Beanstalk, with a large scale Pencil Sketch of Willie the Giant on the side of the soundstage. Another would be a Pencil Sketch of the old Mill, with topiaries, statues, and show elements of all the woodland creatures from the short around it. Another great Photo Spot would be topiaries of Clarabelle Cow and Horace Horsecollar. The Vibe of the area is very classic, focusing on simplicity, the Pencil Sketch Style Murals and the various Vignettes of Classic and Forgotten characters that helped shape the studio would make the area a fun place to be, and provide a sense of celebration.
Besides the topiaries, Vignettes, and Statues, a Gazebo held together by, what looks to be paint brushes, can be found off to the left of the Steamboat Willie Statues, but we’ll get back to that later, Because what has really drawn your attention as you’ve come through the studio gate is the new focal point of the area, the new façade for the Magic of Disney Animation. A beautifully large structure modeled after one of the most famous studio buildings, featuring pillars of the seven dwarfs holding up the roof.
But the exterior is not all that’s changed, the Old Queue, Pre-Show, and outdoor Courtyard have been replaced by a beautiful theater space inside the new façade which will be home to the first new attraction at the Magic Of Disney Animation:
Goofy’s “How to Make a Cartoon!”
The theater is modestly sized, but the show would run approximately every fifteen minutes to accommodate large crowds. The stage would be set with easels and paint cans and would begin with a live actor talking very seriously about the art of animation. However, he would quickly be interrupted by A living Character version of Goofy, who is on break from another one of his “How to” Seminars seen in the classic cartoons. This would be accomplished similar to the screen in the Seas with Nemo and Friends, integrated into various parts of the set. He decides he wants to learn how to make an animated film too, so the Animator teaches him about character design, music, color, and everything it takes to make a cartoon. Obviously Goofy keeps things very light, and the show ends with Goofy’s own production of “How to Make a Cartoon” a two minute or so look at the process from Goofy’s Perspective!
The show would exit into the Magic of Disney Animation as we know it but with a few alterations. For example, there would be a second Drawing Classroom added, and a proper waiting area installed. Mickey’s Meet and Greet would receive a much more elaborate set to match his sorcerer costume. Off to the side, a re-Imagined and cleaned-up version of One Man’s Dream would also be located in this area. The idea behind these changes is to turn the whole place into a large scale, almost EPCOT-like pavilion with four attractions inside (How to, One Man’s, Animation Academy, and another below) It would also provide an excellent place to be on rainy days.
Part of the area would be expanded to include a brand new version of….
Goofy’s Paint n’ Playhouse
This time, it would be a continuation of the show, and Goofy has decided that he wants to turn his whole house into a colorful cartoon, and he needs your help. It would more or less be a clone of the Tokyo Attraction. The area would also feature a brand new meet and greet with Goofy in his Paint-Stained Animator Clothes.
Back out in the Garden, across the way, behind the brown derby is another classic cartoon vignette of the Three Little Pigs outside the
Fiddler, Fifer, and Practical Café
A Brand new bakery for Hollywood Studios serving delicious treats and Starbucks Coffee, and featuring topiaries, show scenes, and larger than life Pencil Sketch Murals of the Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf.
Back in the courtyard, without the old Mermaid/OMD/Sparrow building, the area has opened up significantly allowing room for a brand new show at the gazebo I mentioned earlier.
Swingin’ Spectrum Street Party
Several times a day, animation is celebrated in the streets with a live Swing band in the Gazebo and a brand new Street party along with it hosted by the expert on color himself Professor Ludwig Von Drake, joined by his good friends Donald, Daisy, Brer Rabbit, and King Louie. Not to mention four other dancers who are original clad in Black and White, but once the music kicks up, are able to make a quick move to be covered in bright vibrant colors!
The show opens with a swing version of the Wonderful World of Color, and after the Professor explains why color is so important, drawing on his appearances in the original Wonderful World of Color TV show, asks what everyone’s favorite color is! Of Course Brer Rabbit’s Favorite color is Blue for Mr. Blue Bird, and the dancers and characters would dance in the streets with guests to an upbeat swing version of Zip a Dee Doo Dah! Then it’s King Louie’s Turn, he desires man’s red fire, so that’s his favorite color, we transition into an upbeat swing version of “I wanna be like you” Donald Can’t decide on a favorite color, so Ludwig decides for him that he likes all the colors, which brings us to a swing version of the Spectrum Song. The show ends with a huge upbeat finale featuring classic dance/swing music intertwined with Disney Swing Favorites like “When I see an Elephant Fly” and “Everybody wants to be a Cat” Ultimately ending with the Wonderful World of Color song! The Show would only run about 12 minutes, but would be performed several times daily, and would give guests the opportunity to interact with and dance with favorite characters in the street party.
The Anchor attraction of the area is the one that replaces the old Soundstage Buildings. The name could change, but right now I think it’s best to call it something like…
Disney Animagic!
Disney Animagic would be an omnimover family dark ride through great moments of Animation, kind of an animated version of the Great Movie Ride, and narrated by Disney Legend Dick Van ! A family Omnimover is exactly what Hollywood Studios needs with its lack of family rides. Obviously it would also be very high throughput providing much needed capacity to the park. The queue would wind through the archives of Disney Animation, each room would be themed to a different animated feature, with Posters and Art from each film, models and concept art, and of course behind the scenes featurettes talking about bringing the magic of Disney to life on screen.
Now it’s your turn to take a trip onto the page, as you board your vehicle in, what looks like a flip book, you make your way down the first hallway, ripping through pages and pages, thinking you may hear whistling around the corner, brining you to your first scene.
The first animated short to feature sound “Steamboat Willie” is the first big show scene. It’s only a quick glimpse of an animatronic Mickey in one of his most famous poses at the helm of the boat before moving onto the next scene.
“Flowers and Trees” the first animated short to use full technicolor. But the Animated shorts could only last so long, Walt had something big in mind, the first full-length animated feature film…
“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” The scene would feature the Silly Song with Snow White and the Dwarfs dancing merrily in the cottage, as Dick Van Merrily explains how this move changed animation and the studio forever.
Around the corner would be a scene from, what is widely considered to be one of the best Animated Films of all time “Pinocchio” This movie set the tone for what the Walt Disney Company would strive for; wishes, dreams, magic, and fantasy, and would therefore depict the scene in which the Blue Fairy finally grants Pinocchio life, and Jiminy Cricket, Figaro, Gepetto, and even Cleo are dancing with joy.
But then came World War Two. Times were hard on the studios, but they still created some of their most iconic characters such as the “Three Caballeros!”
The movie that ultimately saved them and brought them back to the Fairy tale world was “Cinderella” The Scene depicted involves the magical Transformation of a Pumpkin into a carriage, and Cinderella thanking her Fairy Godmother, this scene would be known for the magical special effect of the transformation of both the carriage and Cinderella’s Dress.
Fast forward more than forty years, technology has come a long way, and one of the first and best uses of computer animation in a traditional animated film is the ballroom scene from “Beauty and the Beast.” The cars would make a sweeping motion around the dance floor, and enjoy animatronics of not just Belle and Beast, but the Enchanted Objects as well, including Mrs. Potts serenading the dancing couple.
The nineties were truly a renaissance for Disney Animation, and what has stood the test of time to become one of the most emotionally resonant animated films of all time is, of course “The Lion King” here depicted in the Circle of Life scene, in which animals of all types look on in wonder as Rafiki introduces them to their future king.
As technology progresses, so must the Studio, and so here we depict one of the films presented entirely in 3-D computer Animation “Tangled” and what choice is there but to depict the famous lantern scene. TONS of lanterns float suspended in the air around the room, and projections on the walls make it look like thousands more surround you, as Rapunzel and Flynn Serenade each other in the boat.
Let us not forget though, that no matter how far we come, it all started with a Mouse, and as we round the final corner we are treated to a spectacular finale scene of Sorcerer Mickey commanding the waters of the ocean surrounded by characters and scenes from both Fantasia and Fantasia 2000. The Hippos, Elephants, Crocs, and Ostriches from Dance of the Hours, the Flamingos from Carnival of the Animals, The Soundtrack, The Fairies from the Nutcracker, and the Centaurs from the Pastoral Symphony are just a few of the characters surrounding Sorcerer Mickey, and they are all watched over by the Spring Sprite.
The Building would also be positioned to provide a view in the park of the Earful Tower, and the outside would continue the theme of being decorated in murals of Pencil Sketches, and even some Paint Brush Strokes around the entrance.
Anyway, that’s my plan for Walt Disney Animation Studios, probably not my best work, just threw it together in a few hours, but I think it’ll work. Let me know what you think!
