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The Simpsons in Disney Parks
- Thread starter The Grand Inquisitor
- Start date
That is such a great area over at Universal Studios. The entire land is really fun to be in.
Indeed. Disney has doubled down over and over again on embracing The Simpsons as part of "The Disney Umbrella of Brands." Some may not like that decision, but, it's done.
I agree that putting Simpsons in WDW would be overkill while USO has a Simpsons mini-land. But that doesn't mean they can't appear in other Disney parks, nor come to WDW if Universal ever decides to pack up their Simpsons land.
UNCgolf
Well-Known Member
My guess is that if/when Universal replaces the Simpsons land, the IP will no longer be relevant enough for Disney to bother spending money to add it to WDW.
Jon81uk
Well-Known Member
My guess would be there is more chance of the Simpsons leaving Universal Hollywood before Orlando. But that doesn’t mean Disney will be able to use them in the parks when it happens, depends on the license of course.
I agree that Disney have definitely integrated The Simpson’s into their family of media brands, even if not the parks. My guess is Simpson’s is just family friendly enough to be acceptable while being “cool” enough to attract some people who think Disney+ is just kids films and Marvel.
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Cmdr_Crimson
Well-Known Member
You can definitely see it when Henson and Disney brought Dinosaurs to ABC..
And then......Simpsons referenced it..
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WondersOfLife
Blink, blink. Breathe, breathe. Day in, day out.
The show was still pulling in about 4.8 million views per episode last year.
Personally, even I have started to get into it a bit more. It's like a slightly tamer Family Guy. I've grown to love it when, before Disney+ came along, I honestly just didn't care about it.
UNCgolf
Well-Known Member
Oh, I know it's still relatively popular, if nowhere near what it was in the 1990s (they had episodes with 30+ million viewers back then, although of course the TV market has also changed).
My point was more that Universal likely won't going to get replace the area as long as the Simpsons are still somewhat popular. If they do ever decide to dump it, Disney will almost certainly have many other properties they'd prefer to leverage. I actually think that's already true right now -- that Disney has many other IPs they'd want to leverage at the parks before the Simpsons, even if there was no Springfield at USO -- but will be increasingly so as the years pass.
WondersOfLife
Blink, blink. Breathe, breathe. Day in, day out.
I'm still not so sure about that. Simpsons are still amazingly profitable. Especially if they just have a singular attraction with a gift shop and a cafe that offers duff bear. Just like Universal Orlando's area. That'd be enough Simpsons. It'd fit good in HS.
UNCgolf
Well-Known Member
Sure, they are right now. I'm saying I don't think Universal will shut down their Simpsons area until it's no longer bringing in guests/money, and once that's the case, there wouldn't be any reason for Disney to build something (I'm assuming Disney wouldn't/can't build anything as long as it still exists at USO).
WondersOfLife
Blink, blink. Breathe, breathe. Day in, day out.
I agree with all of that.
On MY end, I was just stating if they were to be in Disney, I'd accept them at HS.
UNCgolf
Well-Known Member
They'd fit in fine at DHS (as would basically anything at this point), although DHS really needs any further expansions to focus on attractions. I'm sure Imagineering could come up with something, but I have a hard time envisioning anything that would be significantly different than what currently exists at USO. They could at least cut down on the motion sickness factor, of course.
WondersOfLife
Blink, blink. Breathe, breathe. Day in, day out.
Honestly, if Disney wanted to purchase the theme park rights and just put Simpsons replacing Star Tours in that corner, I would (personally) be down with that. That'd be the perfect simpsons presence... It even has the gift shop (kwik-e-mart), and they could also transform backlot express into the dining area Universal has.
Just pick it all up and move it over to Disney! It'd just be a different simulator is all.
Just saw this on TV and I thought it was pretty funny. My friend saw it as well and he said now knowing that the Simpsons are on Disney+ he will get it. So I guess it does help bring in more people.
RScottyL
Well-Known Member
Personally, I hope not!
I hate when parks start doing character branding from movies and TV shows, changing over from what it originally was!
CaptainTeo
Member
It's probably been said many times, but I don't believe that The Simpsons fits in Disney parks - it's never really been for kids, and has been drifting even further away from that over the last couple of decades. I know that you could easily say the same for Pandora, but that's both kind of a bizarre outlier and fitting for other reasons; Avatar's selling point is that it's supposed to be a serious film with environmentalist messages, which fits thematically in Animal Kingdom. The Simpsons' selling point is that it's primarily a comedy whose humour is often crude and mostly geared towards adults (no matter how many people let their kids watch it because "it's tradition"), and, while I believe that some of their writers have also worked on Disney shows, that's to an extent that feels like it doesn't fit in the "Disney is for kids and grown-up kids" theme that they have going for them.
On a more personal note, I'm firmly in the camp who believes that the show isn't worth the time anymore and shouldn't have been dragged out as long as it currently is. I still love the old episodes and have a tremendous amount of respect for how it revolutionised TV, but those days have been over for a very long time.
On a more personal note, I'm firmly in the camp who believes that the show isn't worth the time anymore and shouldn't have been dragged out as long as it currently is. I still love the old episodes and have a tremendous amount of respect for how it revolutionised TV, but those days have been over for a very long time.
You're dead if you aim only for kids. Adults are only kids grown up, anyway. - Walt Disney
That said, while I think any IP could be made to work with the right creative team and budget, I still say Futurama is the better of the two options. Might be just the right IP to inject some "grownupness" back into Magic Kingdom.
That said, while I think any IP could be made to work with the right creative team and budget, I still say Futurama is the better of the two options. Might be just the right IP to inject some "grownupness" back into Magic Kingdom.
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