The Universal Rumors thread

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djlaosc

Well-Known Member
scoobygirl39541 said:
What about the rumored Grinch ride? Is that completely out now that the Lorax is in?
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There have been people saying on here that both could happen - just that Lorax would be first, but I can't remember whether they were insiders, or not...

As long as Lorax doesn't take up as much space as Cat in the Hat, and Grinch would be mostly vertical, then looking at Google Maps, it looks like they both could fit.

The Lorax is supposed to be using the land behind OFTFRFBF - would it use the path between OFTFRFBF and the yellow tent?

And then could The Grinch use the path between OFTFRFBF and Cat in the Hat?
 
HTF

HTF

Well-Known Member
scoobygirl39541 said:
What about the rumored Grinch ride? Is that completely out now that the Lorax is in?
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Its not that the Grinch was really out so to speak but its just waiting at this point. Creative never had any chance of Jim Carey's Grinch. The bomb that was the Cat in the Hat starring Myers was publicly bashed by Audrey Geisel and she vowed there would never be another live action adaptation of any Suess Story for multimedia. So with live action out of the question the cartoon version was the only option. With that there were numerous issues with licensing rights, animation, and the most important sign off of the Geisel family. The original cartoon version of the Grinch was a work of art and something the Geisel family views as OFF LIMITS. From Chuck Jones art direction to Theodor Seuss Geisel himself being hands on throughout the entire project its in their eyes something they are not willing to chance any negative impact regardless of who wants to work on it.

Audrey Geisel has been very protective of the entire Suess brand. Universal tried and tried to get the rights to Suess years before IOA opened and Audrey wanted no part of it since she had recently lost Ted. So after numerous attempts the team really went all out and built an entire Caro-Seuss-el in a hangar for Audrey to see and ride in person. She saw the heart, effort, and dedication Universal was willing to deliver to the brand she so protects and on that day she finally gave the blessing. Hell it took creative 3 attempts to get Audrey to sign off on the Lorax project. Another reason why JP is going to beat it off the board so to speak.

And then there was 20th Century Fox and then Illumination Entertainment. Audrey Geisel finally approved animated CGI version of the adaptation of Horton Hears a Who after many years of waiting for the cat disaster to wear off. She then allowed a tiny company by the name of Illumination to attempt doing a CGI version of the Lorax. Mind you Audrey didnt just lay back and wait around this time for the final product to avoid a Mike Myers level disgrace. This time she only allowed both studios rights as long as she was executive producer in the films makings. She was so happy with the Lorax and how Illumination did it she has now granted Illumination the rights to do Cat in the Hat as well as FINALLY another animated version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Now once the new Grinch film hits and its "SUCCESSFUL," successful being the key word here I would be willing to bet money we finally get a Grinch ride of some kind as long as Audrey agrees but that in itself is going to be a battle. In addition to that whose to say we don't see an update to Cat in the Hat once that film comes out. The partnership between Universal and Illumination is VERY VERY strong right now. Strong enough that I would be keeping an very close eye on any other upcoming animated properties from them that could result in a theme park attraction.
 
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HTF

HTF

Well-Known Member
JT3000 said:
Does she realize they already use this version for Grinchmas?
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Grandfathered in and she personally approved it, Grinchmas started in 2000 to rave reviews but CITH live action came in 2003. During that time IOA was adding tiny low cost attractions while the Studios was desperately trying to add new attractions to balance out the Islands cannibilization of its attendance. You may also remember the issues with ownership, the Universal Studios Escape disaster, and massive budget issues just as Universal was dealing with massive debt and the beginning of cutting back. Islands was sacrificed in order to build the likes of ROTM at the studios with its tiny capital budget. But regardless of all of this Suess was the last thing on the agenda of expansion between 2000 and 2003. Jurassic Park was on the table for the first time and a B&M Hyper was proposed to sit behind Thunder Falls. 9/11 and failed attendance levels axed the expansion. But now...
 
Funmeister

Funmeister

Well-Known Member
HTF said:
Grandfathered in and she personally approved it, Grinchmas started in 2000 to rave reviews but CITH live action came in 2003. During that time IOA was adding tiny low cost attractions while the Studios was desperately trying to add new attractions to balance out the Islands cannibilization of its attendance. You may also remember the issues with ownership, the Universal Studios Escape disaster, and massive budget issues just as Universal was dealing with massive debt and the beginning of cutting back. Islands was sacrificed in order to build the likes of ROTM at the studios with its tiny capital budget. But regardless of all of this Suess was the last thing on the agenda of expansion between 2000 and 2003. Jurassic Park was on the table for the first time and a B&M Hyper was proposed to sit behind Thunder Falls. 9/11 and failed attendance levels axed the expansion. But now...
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What about overall resort expansion? Any insight to share?
 
nytimez

nytimez

Well-Known Member
HTF said:
Audrey Geisel has been very protective of the entire Suess brand.
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I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with you on this. Ted was very protective of the Seuss brand... he did little to no licensing, and did TV and film only when he had a very hands-on role.

She has not been nearly as selective or protective. A mediocre Broadway musical, two awful live-action films - and she did not wait "many years for the Cat disaster to wear off." Horton went into production only about two years after the Cat disaster, and I'm guessing the licensing/contract/etc had to have been handled well before then (but I don't know that for a fact).

By swearing off live-action films she wasn't being protective. She was acknowledging the reality that she had done real damage to the brand, IMO.

IOA is actually just about the only thing that handled the Seuss brand respectfully and tastefully, IMO (although I don't like having both a Jim Carrey-esque Grinch and a more Seuss-like Grinch running around at Grinch-mas).

While both the Horton and Lorax cartoons are decent films, they are not respectful of or deferential to the source material - and while I can't say what Ted would do, I have to say he wouldn't have allowed it. I mean, we know what he would have allowed because he did it - he made his own versions of the books into TV specials.
 
HTF

HTF

Well-Known Member
nytimez said:
I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with you on this. Ted was very protective of the Seuss brand... he did little to no licensing, and did TV and film only when he had a very hands-on role.

She has not been nearly as selective or protective. A mediocre Broadway musical, two awful live-action films - and she did not wait "many years for the Cat disaster to wear off." Horton went into production only about two years after the Cat disaster, and I'm guessing the licensing/contract/etc had to have been handled well before then (but I don't know that for a fact).

By swearing off live-action films she wasn't being protective. She was acknowledging the reality that she had done real damage to the brand, IMO.

IOA is actually just about the only thing that handled the Seuss brand respectfully and tastefully, IMO (although I don't like having both a Jim Carrey-esque Grinch and a more Seuss-like Grinch running around at Grinch-mas).

While both the Horton and Lorax cartoons are decent films, they are not respectful of or deferential to the source material - and while I can't say what Ted would do, I have to say he wouldn't have allowed it. I mean, we know what he would have allowed because he did it - he made his own versions of the books into TV specials.
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Totally your opinion and I respect that but whose to say Ted wouldn't of loved what he see's, outside of the CiTH lol. She was protective with the brand at IOA, let her guard down with Universal Pictures, and then over time gave the world another chance with the animated stories. But regardless I assure you she is protective of the brand. Everyone makes mistakes and she openly disagreed with the live action and Mike Myers. You can't really judge someones love of the brand until you see it first hand.
 

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