"Timeless Disney", a thing of the recent past?

[KBLovedDisney]

With many changes that are coming (and the ones that are currently in progress), have we lost that Disney that we always thought would be around?

Yes it may be from nostalgic eyes and minds and blah blah blah, but look at today and compare for me.

What do you all think?

As always, be cool people and play nice.

 

[mousetrap rick]

I dont really know if kids grasp the concept of timelessness. Toy story land at DHS is todays Mickeys Toontown Fair. Thrown together and not that great, but I was 10 when I first saw it so that breathes nostalgia and timelessness into whatever the thing is. Some kid will always remember his first time in that cut rate excuse for a land. Its all reletive to an extent. I just wonder what comes after the IP meltdown. Technically a loss of artistic integrity which ultimately is the same thing anyway. Wait til its time to gut the IPs that didnt matter for something that matters even less.

 

[bryanfze55]

Are we talking just the parks or ALL Disney art? I happen to think Tangled, Frozen and Zootopia were very good Disney Animation films. Maybe not as good as the trio of Lion King, Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast - but that’s a high bar to meet. I want to see some of their original content on Disney+ before I judge. That will be a big test.

 

[KBLovedDisney]

Are we talking just the parks or ALL Disney art? I happen to think Tangled, Frozen and Zootopia were very good Disney Animation films. Maybe not as good as the trio of Lion King, Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast - but that’s a high bar to meet. I want to see some of their original content on Disney+ before I judge. That will be a big test.

That's a good question. At first I was aiming mainly at the parks with this poll, but I think an overall look at the actual artwork is also a good topic for debate.

 

[ELG13]

I think it's all relative. I went a few times as a kid, I went once in 2006 on a whim (I'm pretty sure that was the last time you could do Disney on a whim in the dead of summer) and we've started going at least once a year for the last 4 years. Every time we've gone it's been different, but still timeless to me. Certain rides I can't imagine they will ever get rid of (the mountains and haunted mansion) bring back so many memories. Just walking down Main Street. Was I bummed to hear they we're getting rid of Mickey and Minnie houses to expand dumbo? Heck yeah, that ride was boring to the thrill seeker in me. But now that I have kids I love the indoor play area and the extra ride space because littles love it!! It's definitely not the same but I think the larger crowds and the over planning and the high expense of a trip to Disney overshadows the changes they've made to rides etc. When we went in 2006 it was the last week of June and we easily strolled down Main Street at sunset after dinner at ohana(a reservation I easily got the week before we left) I have a picture of my step daughter hula hopping in the middle of main Street with hula hoops all over the ground for other kids to pick up and play with. There were no where near the crowds there are now. Walking down Main Street nowadays at any time requires precision navigation. That to me takes the timelessness away. You can't stop and take in the sights and smells like you used to in fear of being run over by a hoard of people trying to push to the front for a good seat for the show or you may get ran over by a stroller. People are in such a rush to get places they miss all the details. Those details make Disney timeless. My husband and I always get a night in magic kingdom when we go and our favorite part about that is that we can take our time and go in all the stores. We can enjoy our snack and just watch the world go by. My mom even commented about how different it was from when they would take us. She said that people are so busy trying to fit everything in to one day that they are really missing what makes Disney special.

 

[FmrWDWFX]

Walt said it would always be in a state of change and, though I miss all the great things that have been taken away, I have to think that for newer generations, things like all the incoming Marvel comics attractions may be the excitement they’ve been craving. Now the new generations can build their own dreams...

I could be wrong though.

IMHO, they did blow it letting Rowlings & the HP franchise go to Universal. I hate saying that the design and imagination it captures is what I would have expected to see come out of the classic Disney people, but that’s my honest opinion.

 

[bUU]

People have a very hard time seeing anything new as "timeless". It stems from a generalized bias against the present, a reflection of a sense of nostalgia.

 

[FmrWDWFX]

I agree @bUU,
I also believe It’s the old “Who Moved My Cheese?” thing. By nature, humans are resistant to change. Therefore it’s uncomfortable for most folks to embrace something new as a future reflection of nostalgia ... what you said.

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

I'll go with Timeless with an expiration date.

Everything is generational. Add to that new trends and technology. Case in point. As a child Disney was larger than life. I went once a year and enjoyed it very much. But once the vacation was over all I had were memories and a handful of brochures I collected at the Turnpike plaza's. To me at that point Disney was timeless. It would never change. I didn't want it to.

To pass the year until my next Disney trip I'd glance through the brochures for the 1000th time and we had a 30 minute VHS tape of the Magic Kingdom, which I would watch about 200 times. In my mind Disney was a mythical land. I didn't have the exposure that there is now with the Internet, Social Media, YouTube etc.

Keeping with the generational aspect. Take the castle. Unless Disney reboots Cindy (which I think they are doing), you'll have kids today growing up with more of a connection to Arendelle and Belle, than they have to Cinderella. I don't see much at Disney that will pass the test of time when you look ahead a few generations. So if you want to say timeless to the point of the next 20-30 years, sure I can see some of it from that perspective. But then again - Disney in the next 20-30 years is going to be a lot different than it is today.

 

[Nottamus]

I didn't vote.

I have been lucky (as I'm sure you have been too) to be close to a first time visitor seeing at attraction the first time.....

To be able to experience that reaction, and excitement thought their eyes....proves to me that Disney hasn't lost anything.

Its all still amazing, just different.

 

[DuckTalesWooHoo1987]

When animation in general moved away from hand drawn it put an expiration date on it. So, to me, a lot of the new Disney properties will not age NEARLY as well as the classics because as technology advances it will make things not look as good in retrospect. From a park perspective, the parks are still pretty much as great as they've always been but the problem is just that there is no offseason anymore and that really hampers things for all us regulars.

 

[StarshipDisney]

When animation in general moved away from hand drawn it put an expiration date on it. So, to me, a lot of the new Disney properties will not age NEARLY as well as the classics because as technology advances it will make things not look as good in retrospect.

Concur with you completely. These new aged "computer cartoons" are really poor compared to the animation that I grew up with.

 

[bUU]

Strangely, today's animation (Frozen, Zootopia and Moana, for example) are really excellent compared to the animation that I grew up with (Sleeping Beauty, One Hundred and One Dalmations, and The Sword in the Stone, for example).

 

[JIMINYCR]

It is and will remain timeless. As long as there is a mixture of the old, the classics, and the new to keep it alive for each person. Every generation has their own unique experiences, memories and images of what Disney is to them and how it reflects and represents their idea of a Disney filled world. The parks are forced to constantly change and use new technology to stay with or ahead of the competition. the newer generation moves along in conjunction with those improvements as they grow with it. Disney will always have their detractors and nay sayers who cannot accept change, but there will be enough fans to keep it going on and on and on.

 

[Phonedave]

Purely from a WDW perspective, I think it has lost that quality.

WDW parks were about a concept. The Wild West, Colonial Times, Adventure, The Future, Foreign Countries, Hollywood, Innovation, Invention, Animals, Nature.

Now the parks have shifted to being about things. Star Wars, Toy Story, Frozen, Ratatouille, Avatar, etc.

Those sort of things fade - yes even Star Wars. Concepts are timeless, and can be refreshed as necessary. These specific THINGS tend to grow stale.

 

[Walt Disney1955]

Timeless is hard to say, really. I think Snow White is pretty timeless, because even in 1937 when the movie was made the story had been around for a while. But in general I think things that are timeless are things in certain lands that are timeless. Frontierland, Fantasyland, etc. should be lands that have attractions that are timeless, and they do.