Great article Jim!   Unfortunately, however, I have absolutely no interest whatsoever in westerns.   The only way I might be pursuaded to see the movie is if they introduced the supernatural element as they did with the Pirates trilogy.    

Mask of Zorro-awesome.  Legend of Zorro-awesomely bad.  I was amazed they were both written by the same team....although I think I remember a few more names in there besides Terry and Ted for Legend of Zorro...so perhaps they were to blame...

I dig westerns but would prefer something more original.  Why not do a original western with brand new characters that could become an attraction?  Maybe they could go on a "western expedition" or something......

What a bad idea.

Continue Pirates.... without Sparrow.

Work on Jungle Cruise.

JUNGLE CRUISE... hahaha, they really need to make that one awesome. The Lone Ranger is a bit iffy. The fan base is low and it would have to take a ridiculously clever and entertaining script to pull the characters through. I guess the same was said about Pirates so I'll keep my mouth shut until the movie comes out.

BUT ANWAYS... JUNGLE CRUISE>>>>>!!!! WOOO! That would be sooo awesome. The main character would have to be some crazy and hilarious boat driver/guide that takes a group of tourists into tropical forests via a river. Along the way, the animals should look real but cartoony like in the ride. And there would be an awkward seen where they quietly stroll by a group of explorers up on a pole. Oh my gosh, the possibilities. Of course, they might just poop on the entire movie by making it like "Haunted Mansion" and have Eddie Murphy or Jackie Chan star in it with redundant catch phrases such as, "DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE WORDS COMING OUT OF MY MOUTH?!" Okay, now I'm ranting.

End...

Continue Pirates WITHOUT Sparrow???

Now THAT is a bad idea.

Hey, while we're at it, let's continue Indiana Jones without Harrison Ford.  I'm sure that would be smashing...

I'll be there to see it...    I know my father will, too.    He's been a Lone Ranger fan since he was a kid and Lone Ranger was one of the few westerns I actually enjoyed watching.  It was like a Batman of the west -- a lot more depth in the background than the average western character.   This could actually work very very well.

Hmmm, this sounds very interesting indeed. The sucsess of a Lone Ranger film could be very cool indeed. Just think of everything Disney could do too all of it's various Frontierlands around the world? They could even work the Lone Ranger intp the "Western River Expedition." (hint, hint) to any Disney executives reading this.

As for the previous Lone Ranger films, back in 1991 was when studios were making old TV shows into movies because they thought TV shows made into movies was a guaranteed sucsess. (which it isn't) With Jerry Bruckheimer in charge, I'm sure Disney could get a very good movie out of this.

I'm sure there was that feeling most people had that Disney would make a big-budget western film for Frontierland.  It really needs it.  Lone Ranger?  I guess.  Yes, it is ironic Disney wants the character back.  They could definately try original characters.  If the work turned out like The Mask of Zorro, good.  There were 2 things I didn't like about Legend of Zorro.  The kid felt like it limited the film also trying to be more family-friendly.  And the stupid CGI eye-popping horse.  That was the last straw.  Long story short, I definately see much potential in a new Disney western film.  Other recent western films I can think of right now are "Wild Wild West" and "Home on the Range"...

I somewhat agree with pirateguy, and did indeed catch the innuendo, but imagine if Thunder Mesa and The Western River Expedition were retooled WITH The Lone Ranger and friends? If this movie could provide the impetus to finally get the "wagon" wheels turning on this Phase One attraction, I don't care who it would feature. After all, some of the stereotype characters included in the original concept would never fly today, so insert honorable representations as the ones found in The Lone Ranger mythos.

I'll go see it and when it's successful, maybe it would convince Lasseter to spend some time in the Eastern Time Zone and the other powers-that-be some money on The Magic Kingdom. By 2010, the retooled DCA should be making money, right?

Regards

With Bruckheimer the question is aways who will direct. The man keeps giving films to guys like Tony Scott, or even worse, Michael Bay, whose work makes me throw up a little in my mouth, and may be the worst director still not just consistently working, but who is a household name and whose work is revered. Now I'm ranting so I'm done. Can't wait for Pirates 4, which might be the most fun movie since the first, with all the marriage drama out of the fold.

Easy on the spoilers reverse-Epcot, some people haven't seen the movie yet

Regards

Thanks for the article Jim..this is the reason why I visit this site!

I for one am extrememly optomistic about the prospect of a new disney western franchise...This might be just the right franchise to reignite Frontierland again!

It will be interesting to see what HOOK they inject into the film to entice audiences to want to see it. Personally I would have loved to see if they could have reawakened Disney favorites from yesteryear such as Texas John Slaughter etc. The Saturday matinee genre seems to be coming back...cant wait for Prince of Persia...John Carter of Mars... I'm hoping Jim can use his resources to find out whether or not there is any truth to the rumor of a new  DR SYN...

Great article, Jim :)

I'm in for the franchise. Me love me some franchises.. (:P)

I'm highly anticipating "Prince of Persia" and "CoN: Prince Caspian" But! I say "no" on the whole Pirates 4 issue. Stop trying to profit too much from a healthy franchise, and just stop at 3. Too much films of the same concept can do no good, unless your James Bond.

(Oh, and "Maverick" is a hilarious movie! Just putting that out there..)

I'm not a huge fan of westerns, but I'd be interested in "The Lone Ranger" if it has humor & a love story rolled in with the action (like POTC).  And, especially if it'd be a franchise, and if it's successful (make a great movie & market it well, & it will be successful!), then, what everyone else is saying- add something to Frontierland (just don't take down older attractions, like The Country Bears"...).

As for POTC4, I'm hoping they make it.  I felt, watching AWE, that there's room for a 4th.

My son would go crazy for a Lone Ranger movie.

The key to the success of this feature, as Eisner may suggest, is the story.  The script has to be compelling.   Lots of action, some comedy and a love interest.  It would be interesting to try ti figure out who may get the lead role, and who the hot girl is going to be.  I'm thinking Matt Damon...how about Adam Sandler?  Any suggestions...?

Casting will be what makes or breaks this movie. Westerns can succeed, but they need to have the right names on the marquee to draw people in. Although I would have thought Tombstone did that, but it bombed at the box office anyway (despite the fact that it's really a terrific film).

Of course the story will be important too. My concern is that there may not be a built-in fan base for this film the way there was for Pirates. Lone Ranger? I vaguely remember watching (and liking it) in reruns when I was a wee lad (must have been in the early 70's?), but since then? My kids would have NO CLUE who the Lone Ranger was. Play The William Tell Overture for my DD and she thinks Little Einsteins, not HI-YO SILVER!

We'll see ... I pre-judged Pirates as a bomb and couldn't have been more off base. It's all gonna depend, I guess ...

My vote is for Johnny Depp as the Masked Man. It seemed like a crazy idea for 'Pirates' too, but that worked out, didn't it?

How 'bout a movie based on the 'It's a Small World' ride??

Hey Jim! I've been reading the site for a while, but I just decided to sign up and take part in the conversations here.

The Lone Ranger could make a great movie. I love westerns, and I think a lot of people out there are like me and they're itching for a great action-adventure film in the genre. But please, no Lone Ranger stunt shows in Frontierland. We want Western River Expedition!

BTW: The potential sequel plot hinted at toward the end of Pirates 3 could be tons of fun, so I think Disney should go for it. But they need Depp and Rush. No doubts about that.

Yeti, Western River would be great, the problem is where to put it--Originally it was going to occupy the area that was "Nature's Wonderland"in DL---which is now the site of Big Thunder Railroad and Big Thunder Ranch.

What would be cool is if they tore up some more of DCA and made a version of the Western River expedition, with a Californian theme, say the 1849 Gold Rush or the SF Barbary Coast. It would be a shame to have those Marc Davis designs go to waste.

Anyone else see this as the one to cast Matthew McConaughey in since things didn't work out for him as Cap'n Jack? I think he'd be perfect here.

This is SOOOOO not a good idea. The Lone Ranger? Come on! That character is not ever going to be popular again. This will not work.

Now if Disney wants to do a western, create entirely original characters for a movie version of Big Thunder Mountain.

I'm all in favor of Disney tackling the Lone Ranger if for no other reason than getting the bad taste of the last one out of my mouth.  "The Legend of the Lone Ranger" was one of the most awful movies I've ever seen.  Spilsbury was terrible, as was the direction.  And the plot was closer to an episode of The Wild Wild West than The Lone Ranger.

It could be a good film if they make The Lone Ranger a fully-rounded character and less of a cardboard cutout.  And to make it really different, they need to have a "no CGI" rule.  Real stuntmen; real stunts.  

There is an interview with Rossio and Elliot at BoxOfficeMojo where they mention that they are working on a western right now and that they are trying to look for ways to make the "open spaces" more frightening to todays audience. Perhaps similar to the ways they found to make pirates and the oceans more frightening??

I heard rumours that the production would be done here in Canada, and that the film has a working title of "Onto Toronto pronto, Tonto!"

:-)

There's a great Lone Ranger comic that has recently been rolled out, completely fresh, and the art is gorgeous.  This is a property that can work, if it's given the lovin' and if the principals go into the project with the expectation that the audience has to be introduced to this character all over again.  This is nothing like the Legend of the Lone Ranger situation, where audiences still fondly remembered the cheeky aw-shuckiness of the television show and the earnest, almost campy performance of Clayton Moore (similar in some regard to George Reeves's Superman).   I'm not even sure where to catch a LR rerun anymore...

The Lone Ranger must retain his core attributes and probably should keep his key backstory, but this character has room to become as unique as Jack Sparrow.   He doesn't need to be a cookie cutter hero.

I can't see this working.

Pirates worked because pirates had come back into popularity before the movie hit. Punk trends tend to eventually hit the mainstream (they were at least five years ahead of trucker hats and, more recently, camo shorts [which are everywhere these days.]) Anyone going to punk shows in 2001 knew pirates would come back. Punk tattoos were all about pirate ships.

Beyond that, punk had been obsessed with zombies even longer, which finally swept the mainstream. And POTC was pirate zombies (zombie pirates?)

The Lone Ranger, though, is just cheese. It will not get anyone excited. The concept is borderline idiotic.

Westerns can work. They can work well. But they need to embrace the nihilistic, anarchic atmosphere of the West. That's what people today are interested in when it comes to that time period. People don't want happy heroic cowboys, they want cowboys with a bloodlust and little regard for human life.

They want Blood Meridian and Judge Holden, not The Lone Ranger.

Howdy Jim,

As one of the actors who has been privileged to portray the Lone Ranger, both on film & in my circus/rodeo/stage act, I would love to see another Lone Ranger project.  There are a few caveats though...first & formost, the film must be kept to the original concept (that's where that awful Legend of LR movie went bad...they had swearing & an no silver saddle for Silver...not to mention that some idiot had the bright idea to sue Clayton Moore...they threatened to sue me as well).  Secondly, the LR is a larger than life action hero...so keep him that way.  Making a hero just as dishonorable, frail, & mean as a modern gangbanger is NOT the way to treat the character.  Finally, remember that old Jim Croce song..."You don't pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger & you don't mess around with Jim!"

As to some of your readers' comments about kids today won't go for a hero like the Lone Ranger, I can tell you this much...I recently showed "The Lone Ranger & the Lost City of Gold" to a class room full of kids who went absolutely ballastic over it.  When the Lone Ranger went charging into the bad guys on Silver with guns blazing, those kids screamed, yelled, cheered, & jumped up & down with excitement!  Properly done, this project would fly big-time, trust me.

Oh, one last thought...Johnny Depp as the LR?  Give me a break!  J.D. is a great actor, but he is NOT the Lone Ranger.  That part needs someone like Tom Selleck, or Kurt Russell.  What it does NOT need is another limp-wristed, 20 yr. old, pretty boy type.  The Lone Ranger character was a MAN...not a kid barely out of his teens.

Well, I've had my say, so let me close with..."HI-YO SILVER!"