Not true at all. Only about ¼ of Disneyland's opening day attractions were intellectual property based, and a number of those were box office duds. By the 1960s, WED's focus was almost entirely on original concepts and branching out into other avenues such as transit systems and urban design.People forget, that's always been the reason the park existed in the first place -- to not only promote Disney's various franchises but also the products and brands of its various sponsors (much less these days). It's worth noting that one of Disneyland enthusiasts' most beloved extinct attractions, Adventures Thru Innerspace, was created for Monsanto -- one of the most hated companies in the world. Now that's magic!
The whole thing was a stroke of brilliance, as we all know, and provided deep synergy between the park, Disney's movies/products, and the emerging household device known as the television -- tying directly to the Disneyland TV show which launched almost a year before the park opened.
Let's not kid ourselves... Disneyland has always been a marketing vehicle from the company, an exceptionally good one loved by many.
I would still not be surprised to see them redo ToonTown into Arendale with a wooded transition into Star Wars Land back where gadget and Chip N Dale's place are now. Use the scenes they are building for Epcot but the ride system (non spinning) from Roger. I have to believe it's going somewhere in the park at some point unless Disney thinks it may not have legs out here.Since Toon Town does not seem to be on the chopping block anymore (for now) I was thinking wouldn't it be nice to re-theme Roger Rabbit to a Mickey and friends or Oswald ride?
Obviously it would be something totally for the kids, but it would add some relevance to the area because Disney hasn't touched RR for years. Seems like a nice re-theme they could do for cheap because after all that's how they like to do it
True dat. Space, Pirates, Mansion...all non IP additions that are arguably still amongst the best and favorite rides in the park. And the things that didn't survive like original subs, ATIS, House of the Future, Circle Vision, Peoplemover, America Sings, Country Bears....you get the idea. There is a part of me that really wishes they would go back down this path as I'm confident they are perfectly capable of making non-IP based attractions (DisneySea anyone?). I just think that they have for the most part trained today's guest that anything new must feature some IP a guest can connect to...and that Disney can "create synergy" around.
I agree with you on POTC, but I would assume most people who don't know that are under a certain age. Its one of those rides like Haunted Mansion or Space Mountain where even those with the vaguest knowledge of what's in the parks know what it is. People who can remember the decades before the movies and especially Wonderful World of Color would most likely remember that. However, I COMPLETELY disagree with you on Tarzan being less popular than than Swiss Family Robinson. While Tarzan isn't one of the most popular Disney movies, I can guarantee that more kids today have seen that than Swiss Family Robinson. Due to its heavy presence in the parks and to a much lesser extent Disney in general, I wouldn't even be suprised if more kids have seen Song of the South and that's saying something.
I disagree with you on getting rid of the houses. I grew up with Toontown Fair in Florida and seeing Mickey and Minnie's houses was always one of my favorite parts of the trip. Not relocating their homes was a big mistake in WDW and shouldn't happen again in Disneyland. The big cheese should always have somewhere in the kingdom to call home.
With the characters already meeting in Town Square there isn't much reason to visit toon town other than Roger Rabbit and Gadget for the smaller kids. I think if they eliminated all the houses (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Chip and Dale, and Goofy) and moved Gadget they could gain a lot of space for Star Wars while still keeping the rides and feel of Toon Town for the younger visitors....
Seriously. I'm so bummed I never saw Disneyland's version of googie Tomorrowland! I loved WDW's version.
I said opening day, so you are using a completely different metric. Davy Crocket was created to promote Disneyland, not the other way around. King Arthur Carrousel is not related to the film in any way beyond the name. The Storybook Land Canal Boats were originally the Canal Boats of the World. And sponsored attractions and exhibits are also not at all the same as promoting Studio properties. They were a means to an end with Disney exerting more creative control as the years progressed. So even using your year-long basis this emphasis only becomes abut 30%.
You're still fudging the attraction count by including attractions that opened later.Okay, let's be real strict and only do the 18 attractions that were ready to operate on Sunday, July 17th, 1955.
We'll use the same color code; Red for Disney IP attractions, blue for corporate attractions, black for everything else. And even though King Arthur's Carousel was based on the rights to the movie The Sword In The Stone that Walt purchased in 1939, we won't count that since Walt didn't release the movie until 1963, so it will be black.
Disneyland & Santa Fe Railroad
Main Street Cinema (showing vintage silent films, not Disney cartoons)
Horse-drawn Streetcars
Richfield Oil Autopia
20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (based on 1954 Disney film)
American Motors Presents CirCARama
Crane Bathroom of Tomorrow
Jungle Cruise
Mark Twain Riverboat
Davy Crockett Museum (based on 1955-56 Disney serial films and pop-culture fad)
Stage Coaches
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (based on 1949 Disney film)
Peter Pan's Flight (based on 1953 Disney film)
Snow White's Adventures (based on 1937 Disney film)
King Arthur's Carousel
Dumbo the Flying Elephant (based on 1953 Disney film)
Mad Tea Party (based on 1951 Disney film)
Mickey Mouse Club Theater (based on 1955-58 Disney TV program)
That's 18 attractions, and 8 of them were based on Disney Intellectual Property, and almost all of that IP from the early to mid 1950's. That's 40% of the attractions based on Disney IP on opening day!
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, and the Mickey Mouse Club Theater all opened in August while you dropped the Canal Boats of the World, Space Station X-1, the Horse-Drawn Fire Wagon, the Horse-Drawn Surreys, Pack Mules, Golden Horseshoe Revue, the Indian Village, Main Street Penny Arcade and Main Street Shooting Gallery.
