News Zootopia and Moana Blue Sky concepts for Disney's Animal Kingdom

[BlakeW39]

Lion King did have some attractions in the parks already and Up has Up! A Great Bird Adventure.

Would Dumbo, Bambi, Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmatians, Aristocats, Robin Hood, Rescuers, Fox and the Hound, Great Mouse Detective, and Oliver and Company be better Animal Kingdom attraction ideas too with their animal movies?

'Up! A Great Bird Adventure' was reverted back to the OG, non IP themed attraction. Thank **** God.

Of the rest of those films... none of them relevant, nor could they support their own land, and only two would fit in the park at all (Dumbo and Bambi, with the former already being found at Magic Kingdom).

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Lion King did have some attractions in the parks already and Up has Up! A Great Bird Adventure.

Would Dumbo, Bambi, Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmatians, Aristocats, Robin Hood, Rescuers, Fox and the Hound, Great Mouse Detective, and Oliver and Company be better Animal Kingdom attraction ideas too with their animal movies?

I would be supportive of a 101 Dalmatian attraction that is just a room with 101 actual Dalmatians puppies in it

 

[Elijah Abrams]

To rephrase this: Once Iger finally leaves Disney next year, for good this time, the new CEO should stop making their parks division take notes/strategies from Universal, and do their own thing. It’s hurting Walt's legacy, and goes against what he envisioned. Iger right now is being a corporate twit.

 

[MagicHappens1971]

To rephrase this: Once Iger finally leaves Disney next year, for good this time, the new CEO should stop making their parks division take notes/strategies from Universal, and do their own thing. It’s hurting Walt's legacy, and goes against what he envisioned. Iger right now is being a corporate twit.

Goes against what Walt envisioned? In what way? Disneyland opened with IP infused attractions and its centerpiece (Sleeping Beauty Castle) as an advertisement for a film that hadn’t even been released yet. I also hate to break it to you, but Walt is dead, and has been for a long time. Once Disney became a publicly traded company, and now a company of its size, all of the CEOs are going to be “corporate twits”. No matter who they are.

 

[KingMickey13]

To rephrase this: Once Iger finally leaves Disney next year, for good this time, the new CEO should stop making their parks division take notes/strategies from Universal, and do their own thing. It’s hurting Walt's legacy, and goes against what he envisioned. Iger right now is being a corporate twit.

That’s nice. But probably will never happen. And I’m usually optimistic in regards to Disney’s future (even when I shouldn’t be). But I’m not expecting a “new Walt” to appear. Nor am I expecting Disney to suddenly make a ton of new, non-IP related attractions. It’s nice to dream, that’s why we have the imagineering boards, but one must also be realistic.

 

[MagicHappens1971]

That’s nice. But probably will never happen. And I’m usually optimistic in regards to Disney’s future (even when I shouldn’t be). But I’m not expecting a “new Walt” to appear. Nor am I expecting Disney to suddenly make a ton of new, non-IP related attractions. It’s nice to dream, that’s why we have the imagineering boards, but one must also be realistic.

They're not interested in "realism", it's too pessimistic for them.

 

[BlakeW39]

That’s nice. But probably will never happen. And I’m usually optimistic in regards to Disney’s future (even when I shouldn’t be). But I’m not expecting a “new Walt” to appear. Nor am I expecting Disney to suddenly make a ton of new, non-IP related attractions. It’s nice to dream, that’s why we have the imagineering boards, but one must also be realistic.

I don't know how you can be optimistic about Disney's future while at the same time believing Disney will still not make "new, non-IP related attractions," but other than that...I agree. Personally I consider myself neither a pessimist or an optimist. I think corporate leadership at Disney is poor right now and the direction for the parks is the worst among all the company's divisions...which is saying something. But, on the bright side, it stands to reasons things will eventually gi up from here just because they've gotten so bad.

 

[Elijah Abrams]

Goes against what Walt envisioned? In what way? Disneyland opened with IP infused attractions and its centerpiece (Sleeping Beauty Castle) as an advertisement for a film that hadn’t even been released yet. I also hate to break it to you, but Walt is dead, and has been for a long time. Once Disney became a publicly traded company, and now a company of its size, all of the CEOs are going to be “corporate twits”. No matter who they are.

Then I think they need to tone the IP down a little bit in their parks once a new CEO comes (Maybe use IP in the parks responsibly, when/where needed mostly, and correctly). That person, I believe, might have intentions different from both Iger and Chapek. Don’t blast my opinions with reality.

 

[JustInTime]

The Lion King and The Jungle Book don't warrant their own lands. Africa and Asia already exist in the park. And Up doesn't fit in the park as well as Moana does, from a thematic standpoint.

I fail to see how Moana fits and I’ve been trying to figure this out. Without making up a second story, where does animal conservation come into play? I am certain they have a way to do it, I just can’t figure it out.

 

[MagicHappens1971]

I fail to see how Moana fits and I’ve been trying to figure this out. Without making up a second story, where does animal conservation come into play? I am certain they have a way to do it, I just can’t figure it out.

Animal Conservation is definitely a part of Animal Kingdom, but not one of the core themes. How does Chester & Hester tie into animal conservation? It doesn't need to. It also doesn't tie into any of these three themes.

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Moana ties into all three of these themes, and can be a beautiful fit into the park if done correctly. Now Zootopia on the other hand...

 

[KingMickey13]

I don't know how you can be optimistic about Disney's future while at the same time believing Disney will still not make "new, non-IP related attractions," but other than that...I agree. Personally I consider myself neither a pessimist or an optimist. I think corporate leadership at Disney is poor right now and the direction for the parks is the worst among all the company's divisions...which is saying something. But, on the bright side, it stands to reasons things will eventually gi up from here just because they've gotten so bad.

I’m optimistic because I think that the IP attractions can actually be a lot of fun (a lot of times they are less than stellar, but still). And you’re right, things should get better eventually.

 

[Brer Panther]

The Lion King and The Jungle Book don't warrant their own lands.

I'd argue that Moana doesn't either.

Africa and Asia already exist in the park.

And Adventureland - the actual tropical Polynesian-style land - already exists in Magic Kingdom. A Moana attraction would fit perfectly fine THERE.

Would Dumbo, Bambi, Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmatians, Aristocats, Robin Hood, Rescuers, Fox and the Hound, Great Mouse Detective, and Oliver and Company be better Animal Kingdom attraction ideas too with their animal movies?

Most of those, no. They might actually be about animals, but I don't think their more suburban settings would fit in Animal Kingdom (for example, The AristoCats takes place in France. France would be out of place in Animal Kingdom).

 

[Advisable Joseph]

No? Zootopia doesn't fit any of those themes save for maybe one (psychological transformation through adventure). And in terms of subject matter it also differs.

At D23, Jennifer Lee, who was one of the writers of Zootopia, claimed it was the WDAS movie which immediately came to mind when thinking of the themes of Animal Kingdom: connection to animals, intrinsic value of nature, and the transformative power of adventure.

See, Zootopia is not like Robin Hood, etc. When director Byron Howard pitched it to then-studio head John Lasseter, Lasseter asked that Zootopia be a diiferent take on anthro animals: a story about a civilization with no humans built by animals for animals: wolves that howl, wildebeests that travel in herds, rabbits that have giant families. Different sizes, different diets, different habitat needs.

Not humans.

That's the primary theme of Zootopia: how would such a animal civilization work? The theme of bias flows from this.

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

They're not interested in "realism", it's too pessimistic for them.

And I’d add, it seems neither are Disney’s core theme park fans. It's one reason that the original EPCOT Center didn't last.

 

[FigmentFan82]

I just don't think a story focusing on humans on a tropical island fits Animal Kingdom.

good thing that's not the plot of Moana then

 

[BlakeW39]

I fail to see how Moana fits and I’ve been trying to figure this out. Without making up a second story, where does animal conservation come into play? I am certain they have a way to do it, I just can’t figure it out.

Well that's the thing, in order to make Moana fit in Animal Kingdom, you would need to make a second story. One with animals.

I'd argue that Moana doesn't either.

And Adventureland - the actual tropical Polynesian-style land - already exists in Magic Kingdom. A Moana attraction would fit perfectly fine THERE.

Most of those, no. They might actually be about animals, but I don't think their more suburban settings would fit in Animal Kingdom (for example, The AristoCats takes place in France. France would be out of place in Animal Kingdom).

Okay, I have to ask, what are you arguing here? Disney clearly thinks Moana deserves its own land but Lion King and Jungle Book do not. And objectively, Moana does have some similar themes to Animal Kingdom. So what's your point? Is Moana perfect for DAK? No. I wouldn't even say it's good. I'd say it's actually bad from a creative stand point. But that's because Disney's IP mandate doesn't really allow any good ideas for Animal Kingdom. Moana fits DAK better than any other modern ("relevant") Disney IP. Does it fit well, not really. But such is the way of things when Disney only wants to use relevant movies for new parks expansions.

 

[Advisable Joseph]

I fail to see how Moana fits and I’ve been trying to figure this out. Without making up a second story, where does animal conservation come into play? I am certain they have a way to do it, I just can’t figure it out.

Don't think about the plot. Think about the theme, characters and setting.

Jennifer Lee mentioned encounters with mysterious animals and creatures of the deep.

 

[FigmentFan82]

Well that's the thing, in order to make Moana fit in Animal Kingdom, you would need to make a second story. One with animals.

Nope. The core concept within Moana is restoring balance and living in harmony with nature.

The value of nature and conservation is a key part of AK, not just animals.

 

[BlakeW39]

At D23, Jennifer Lee, who was one of the writers of Zootopia, claimed it was the WDAS movie which immediately came to mind when thinking of the themes of Animal Kingdom: connection to animals, intrinsic value of nature, and the transformative power of adventure.

See, Zootopia is not like Robin Hood, etc. When director Byron Howard pitched it to then-studio head John Lasseter, Lasseter asked that Zootopia be a diiferent take on anthro animals: a story about a civilization with no humans built by animals for animals: wolves that howl, wildebeests that travel in herds, rabbits that have giant families. Different sizes, different diets, different habitat needs.

Not humans.

That's the primary theme of Zootopia: how would such a animal civilization work? The theme of bias flows from this.

All of this is fine, but that doesn't mean Zootopia comes anywhere close to fitting in Animal Kingdom. Sure, Disney might THINK it does...but that's the problem...Disney doesn't "think" much at all.

The creatures of zootopia don't live in ecosystems, predator prey, kill to survive, wild places. They live in cities, they deal with...prejudice, they go to work and have jobs and wear clothes. They are fundamentally human. They are animal only in their superficial traits. In Zootopia's world, truly wild animals no longer exist, they've all become human facsimiles that live in apartments and houses.

 

[BlakeW39]

Nope. The core concept within Moana is restoring balance and living in harmony with nature.

The value of nature and conservation is a key part of AK, not just animals.

Irrelevant. The story of Moana as told in the 2016 film would not fit in Animal Kingdom. Its focus is not on animals. DAK's focus is on animals. That isn't the THEME of the park...but it is the subject of the park, i.e. what the park is about.