BagOfGroceries
Well-Known Member
Then they’d actually be worth something!
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News Tiana's Bayou Adventure - latest details and construction progress
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
Smiley/OCD
Well-Known Member
So, basically he stuck his hands in the water to fill the bottles…great picture for guests: Do as I (TWDC) say, not as I do…
BagOfGroceries
Well-Known Member
He’s Tony Baxter. If anyone is exempt, it’s the lead of the original project. Also, he’s Tony Baxter, dude absolutely came up with a creative way to get the water.
Smiley/OCD
Well-Known Member
Hey, I have (I should say HAD) the utmost respect for TB until this whole retheme…he’s all for it, he’s a ghost…he makes an appearance, there’s more bullet points than down the path at the shooting gallery. IMHO, Disney “enticed” Tony to sign on for PR purposes only…(and to keep his window). THERES NO WAY he’s a happy camper about this. All the pro-Tiana peeps can spin it any way they want…
SuddenStorm
Well-Known Member
Just speculating here, but I have no doubt Tony was involved in some of the early conversations when Disney started developing this attraction in 2020 after the retheme was hastily announced (anyone who actually believes they had the ride developed prior outside of some blue sky concept art is fooling themselves). Or at least, he was in the room for a few meetings so Disney could say he was involved- whether or not they cared what he had to say.
But to think he somehow has pull in this attraction, after not being able to do anything meaningful for the company in over a decade- is wishful thinking.
I'd bet he just has way to much class to publicly denounce the overlay. And is probably contractually prohibited by Disney from doing so. He's done a few interviews since 2020, and has basically avoided all mention of Tiana outside of a passing comment or two. So he isn't exactly rushing to praise the redo.
But to think he somehow has pull in this attraction, after not being able to do anything meaningful for the company in over a decade- is wishful thinking.
I'd bet he just has way to much class to publicly denounce the overlay. And is probably contractually prohibited by Disney from doing so. He's done a few interviews since 2020, and has basically avoided all mention of Tiana outside of a passing comment or two. So he isn't exactly rushing to praise the redo.
BagOfGroceries
Well-Known Member
Personally, I’d think his biggest concern would be the preservation of the America Sings Animatronics. That’s why the Splash concept began, I’m pretty sure.
Tony was a consultant and advisor. I've never seen anywhere that he was part of the imagineering *team*.
He knew were all the old AA skeletons were buried.
He knew were all the old AA skeletons were buried.
Dear Prudence
Well-Known Member
Or maybe he is just a dude in his 70s that doesn't want to commit to the stress of dealing with the retheme of one of his greatest achievements, because, again, the man is retired. People are allowed to change their mind. He was never going to lose his Main Street window if he said no, like COME ON.
IN ALL HONESTY, he probably saw how badly all of his creations were maintained (as in not, especially Splash and Indy) and said, you know what, naw.
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Smiley/OCD
Well-Known Member
Or maybe he’s a dude in his 70’s that created one of the best attractions in the history of TWDC…was a good company soldier and signed on…only to find out that in order for the new regime to create said attraction, they have to check EVERY box for the backstory. So if you don’t have a headache from standing in line in the heat, you have a headache from reading all the backstory. He echoed your comments, “Hey, I’m a retired, semi retired top imagineer, I’m NOT gonna be like Tom Brady and mark my legacy with a loss, I’m just going to fade into the background and let the chips fall where they may.” Perhaps he thinks that might be the PRUDENT thing to do.
MerlinTheGoat
Well-Known Member
Tony has very publicly crapped all over the current version of Imagination for decades now. Even on stage to Iger's face in front of a huge audience with video recording. If he was upset about Tiana, I'm sure he'd make it quite loud and clear.
Tha Realest
Well-Known Member
Not if he has an NDA
To slightly change direction… we spent the last week at WDW and I was honestly surprised the overall difference in feel and spirit on the west side of MK not having Splash (or even the signage, area music, etc - that were present in past refirbishmenrs) made.
I’m not a fan of this project, but I hope they get the spirit of it right if for nothing else, than for the feel on that side of the park.
I’m not a fan of this project, but I hope they get the spirit of it right if for nothing else, than for the feel on that side of the park.
SuddenStorm
Well-Known Member
There's a difference between publicly deriding an attraction thats been open for a while and is loathed by fans, vs trashing an attraction that hasn't even opened.
Brer Panther
Well-Known Member
He might be afraid that if he tries to speak out against the retheme, people will assume that he's racist like everyone else who's spoken out against the retheme.
MerlinTheGoat
Well-Known Member
Then i'll reiterate that I definitely would have been told if there was a falling out (assuming the source knew about it, and they should, been very accurate about the details so far). Tony's involvement would not have been cited to me as a reason to be hopeful about the retheme if his ideas had been thrown in the garbage and he left the project upset.
I've noticed that there's a huge disparity between the backstory they've cobbled together for the ride, and what appears to be the contents of the actual ride itself. What little they've shown of the ride itself doesn't look like it has much if anything to do with the backstory, it also looks a lot like something Tony would create.
And I'll reiterate some things that are unlikely to endear me to ANYONE on this forum, but it warrants repeating-
If again my source is in fact correct about Tony's involvement, I would speculate that the reason he and Disney are keeping his involvement kept quiet is because he's the person who created Splash in the first place. Disney and their social media sycophants have spent several years now weaving the narrative that Splash Mountain is "racist" and has to be purged from existence (to such a degree that they've uncharacteristically foregone big merch opportunities at the end of its life). This is of course a foolish and wrong narrative, but it is the narrative. So, what would it say if the same guy who created such an apparently "evil" ride in the first place is working on the replacement starring a ton of non-white characters? Mind you, based on a movie that also went through the wringer of race related criticism when it released? And that a good chunk of the ride will probably focus heavily on the musical critters (much the same as Splash) rather than the humans? It looks a lot better to the audience they're targeting to have Charita Carter (who i'll reiterate is an accountant, not a creative) and the others to be the people who are promoting it. Even though there are tons of actual creatives behind the project who you probably won't hear much about (if at all) during development.
I do think they should stop trying to push the ridiculous backstory crap though and start promoting the contents of the ride itself. People want to hear and see the scenery, animatronics, music etc contained in the ride. Not hear the history of Tiana's empowering grocery business. Which again, I strongly believe will be mostly contained to the queue and parts of the exterior before the first drop.
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Smiley/OCD
Well-Known Member
I agree with you…I would imagine that Tony is really disappointed that his finest work has come under such intense scrutiny…I also understand that there is really no positive position Tony could be in with the Tiana makeover. There will always be pundits that will ultimately blame Tony for designing Splash using SotS. At this point, the best position for Tony is just to back away, let Tiana open and issue a general statement congratulating the new imagineers for the ride and save any criticism for a memoir IF he doesn’t have an NDA…
One more thing about Baxter; people who spoke to him at closing night recall him being very upset about closing Splash 1.0 and was quoted as saying "Sad, very sad" when asked what he thought. Doesnt sound like someone involved to me.
Tha Realest
Well-Known Member
another log to put in the “Baxter’s washed his hands of this” pile