News Paradise Pier Becoming Pixar Pier

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DanielBB8

Well-Known Member
dweezil78 said:
After dwelling on it, I think the magic ingredients for TSM are the frenetic pacing and shooting mechanism. They really did nail both of those things. With Buzz, you're rewarded with precision and accuracy -- but TSM, you're just constantly tugging on that string for the duration of the ride to the point where you are cramped by the end, only given a chance to catch your breath while you're quickly whipped around a corner on your way to the next game. Those things can never be replicated at home nor are they a product of any technology, modern or antiquated... and for some reason, they translate into a pretty fun experience!
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Plus the music and slate of characters.
 
Old Mouseketeer

Old Mouseketeer

Well-Known Member
Rich T said:
Writers have been creating cynical stories like this about the parks since 1955. In his 1968 book "The Disney Version," Richard Schickel went on and on and on about how making AA figures that looked liked (gasp) humans was--in his view--practically the freaking end of the world and the most horrific and offensive thing any showman had ever perpetrated on the human race. I'm only exaggerating a little; it's just stupid.
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It's been decades since I read The Disney Version. What I recall is that Schickel went too far out on a limb. The idea that Walt took stories and ideas and remade them in his sanitized or formulaic version is worth examining. But I think it's important to keep perspective. Walt (and Disney today) create commercial entertainment aimed at families. Often it reaches a level of great craftsmanship and even artistry to entertain, amuse, and even inspire. But there are also efforts that fall far short of that.

That Schickel would go hyperbolic over audio-animatronics is consistent with this view. Schickel had his own product to sell--his sensational, controversial critique which closely followed Walt's death. Walt was still revered by a great many people. Schickel sought to capitalize on the Disney mythos by poking at it with a stick, including a degree of psychoanalysis. Schickel had his adherents, as well as detractors. Reviews were mixed, but sales were good. It has been hailed as an excellent treatise on popular culture, but I remember it as a bit gimmicky. YMMV.

However, I should probably give it another read.
 
Rich T

Rich T

Well-Known Member
Old Mouseketeer said:
It's been decades since I read The Disney Version. What I recall is that Schickel went too far out on a limb. The idea that Walt took stories and ideas and remade them in his sanitized or formulaic version is worth examining. But I think it's important to keep perspective. Walt (and Disney today) create commercial entertainment aimed at families. Often it reaches a level of great craftsmanship and even artistry to entertain, amuse, and even inspire. But there are also efforts that fall far short of that.

That Schickel would go hyperbolic over audio-animatronics is consistent with this view. Schickel had his own product to sell--his sensational, controversial critique which closely followed Walt's death. Walt was still revered by a great many people. Schickel sought to capitalize on the Disney mythos by poking at it with a stick, including a degree of psychoanalysis. Schickel had his adherents, as well as detractors. Reviews were mixed, but sales were good. It has been hailed as an excellent treatise on popular culture, but I remember it as a bit gimmicky. YMMV.

However, I should probably give it another read.
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It seems kind of silly in retrospect (of a retrospect) to criticize Disney for taking classic tales and adapting them into a form the movie-going public would enjoy. Horrors. Fast-forward to a world of Slasher films, mean-spirited comedies and parents taking toddlers into R-rated movies-- Um, Mr. Schickel, what was your big beef with Disney again?

I do remember in his later reviews, however, Mr. Schickel being very down on the use of CGI in films. At first, I wrote it off as just more "Schickeling," but these days I find myself in near-total agreement there.
 
dweezil78

dweezil78

Well-Known Member
TROR said:
Big Thunder Mountain
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I don't think he's asking for specific examples of attractions... He's just asking why one has to be separate from the other. I agree. The average guest views characters/music as part of the overall theme of an attraction. They don't isolate it as branding. That's something only jaded forum dwellers do.
 
Old Mouseketeer

Old Mouseketeer

Well-Known Member
Curious Constance said:
You can't ask me about Johnny Depp in Pirates. I WON'T ALLOW IT!

That would be like telling the ten year old me that the dad I've always known is not my real dad and asking me if I'd like to go live with my real dad.
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Don't laugh. I actually know someone that happened to. They were middle-aged, but they found out through DNA testing that the father who raised them was not their biological father. Turns out, they added a whole new family that welcomed them.
 
smile

smile

Well-Known Member
Old Mouseketeer said:
Don't laugh. I actually know someone that happened to. They were middle-aged, but they found out through DNA testing that the father who raised them was not their biological father. Turns out, they added a whole new family that welcomed them.
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that's strength right there - good for your friend! good for everybody!!
... however, i'm sure they brought more to the party than pointless drunken ramblings and didn't displace a cousin or uncle.

least i'd hope not
:p
 
shortstop

shortstop

Well-Known Member
DanielBB8 said:
It’s not isolated. People notice when the goat is missing. There’s background music at the queue.
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They are part of the theme, but not the theme itself. Giant Jessie statues aren’t part of any larger theme, but rather they are attempting to be the theme itself. And it doesn’t work well. One could say the same of TSMM’s use of characters.
 
Curious Constance

Curious Constance

Well-Known Member
Old Mouseketeer said:
Don't laugh. I actually know someone that happened to. They were middle-aged, but they found out through DNA testing that the father who raised them was not their biological father. Turns out, they added a whole new family that welcomed them.
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Since this happens every so often to .0000001 percent of the population, I'll make sure to never speak of it again unless I'm being completely serious and not even cracking the slightest of smiles. :bored:
 
dweezil78

dweezil78

Well-Known Member
Old Mouseketeer said:
Don't laugh. I actually know someone that happened to. They were middle-aged, but they found out through DNA testing that the father who raised them was not their biological father. Turns out, they added a whole new family that welcomed them.
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Not to get off topic, but this week's This American Life is a great story about something like this happening. Evidently this 4 yr old kid assumed the identity of another 4 yr old kid who went missing and grew up the rest of his life as that kid. Great listen: https://www.thisamericanlife.org/352/the-ghost-of-bobby-dunbar
 
D

DanielBB8

Well-Known Member
shortstop said:
They are part of the theme, but not the theme itself. Giant Jessie statues aren’t part of any larger theme, but rather they are attempting to be the theme itself. And it doesn’t work well. One could say the same of TSMM’s use of characters.
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That’s what you say, but there’s no hard rule that theming does not apply to Toy Story. The Pier is just a collection of carnival rides along a seaside. Each ride is made to attract patrons as gimmicks even in the old days.
 
Old Mouseketeer

Old Mouseketeer

Well-Known Member
Curious Constance said:
Since this happens every so often to .0000001 percent of the population, I'll make sure to never speak of it again unless I'm being completely serious and not even cracking the slightest of smiles. :bored:
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Oh good heavens--you can laugh all you want--at least where my friend is concerned. They have told this story over and over since it happened with an emphasis on the dark humor value. While there are certainly aspects of this that have caused them some serious reflection and soul searching, it's the shared amusement of friends, family, and coworkers that has kept them going. IOW: You can't make this "stuff" up. Plus it has filled in a lot of blanks in the family history and explained some otherwise inexplicable behaviors.
 
Curious Constance

Curious Constance

Well-Known Member
Old Mouseketeer said:
Oh good heavens--you can laugh all you want--at least where my friend is concerned. They have told this story over and over since it happened with an emphasis on the dark humor value. While there are certainly aspects of this that have caused them some serious reflection and soul searching, it's the shared amusement of friends, family, and coworkers that has kept them going. IOW: You can't make this "stuff" up. Plus it has filled in a lot of blanks in the family history and explained some otherwise inexplicable behaviors.
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Okay I'll laugh where your friend is concerned but make it absolutely clear that I'm only laughing about this one, particular guy, and none of the other people that may be effected by this.

LOL our correspondences make me LOL
 

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