Normally, this is how things work at the Walt Disney Company: First Disney Studios produces a popular motion picture. Which then leads to the creation of a new ride, show or attraction for the theme parks that’s based on that film.
Of course, over the past five years (What with the production of those movie versions of “Country Bear Jamboree,” “The Pirates of the Caribbean” and “The Haunted Mansion”), we’ve seen an inversion of that formula. So that a popular Disney theme park attraction can then lead to the creation of a new movie that’s actually inspired by that attraction.
Well — sometime next year — look for the Walt Disney Company to put a whole new spin on this formula. Sometime this morning — as part of a press conference hyping Disney World’s 18-month-long “The Happiest Celebration on Earth” festivities — the Mouse will announce that it will be sending a team of scientists & explorers off this Fall on an actual expedition to Mount Everest.
That’s right, folks. For the first time ever, a Disney theme park attraction will inspire a really-for-real adventure.
Obviously, at this point, details remain somewhat sketchy. Which is understandable. Given that Disney wants to get as much bang for its buck when this expedition is officially announced at today’s press conference.
But what is known is that the Mouse will be taking great pains to stress the legitimacy of this enterprise. WDW’s PR department will supposedly insist that this proposed trip to Mount Everest is NOT just some elaborate publicity stunt to help hype this soon-to-be-opening WDW thrill ride. Which is why a legitimate organization like Conservation International has agreed to take part in this expedition.
More to the point, a seasoned cameraman is being recruited to join the more-than-30-member team to help document its findings. With the hope that the resulting footage can then be used as part of an ABC news special next year and/or as a stand-alone documentary for the Discovery Channel.
Just so you know: This is NOT the first time that the Walt Disney Company has done something like this. As in: Deliberately put together a television special that some might view as celebrating a pseudo-science. All with the hope that this TV program might then make it easier for the Mouse to promote a new ride, show and attraction.
Case in point: That syndicated “Alien Encounters from New Tomorrowland” television special that originally aired back in late February / early March of 1995. Produced with the full cooperation of the Walt Disney Company, this TV program — which made extensive use of alleged eyewitness reports & home video footage — attempted to make a case that UFOs were real. With the hope that this show (Which was hosted by Robert Urich) might then compel viewers to come on down to Orlando to experience the then-new “ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter” at WDW’s Magic Kingdom.
And — back in the early 1980s — Walt Disney Production executives also reportedly toyed with the idea of sending a group of explorers into the Congo. With the hope that these folks would then be able to find proof of the existence of the elusive mokele mbembe (I.E. The apatosaurus-like dinosaur that reportedly lives in the swamps of this region).
Why did Disney execs want to do this back then? Well, not-so-co-incidentally, Walt Disney Productions was getting ready to release a big budget motion picture entitled “Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend.” Which explored what might happen were a married team of scientists (Played by William Katt & Sean Young) to suddenly discover a family of dinosaurs living deep inside the jungles of the Congo.
Mind you, these 1980s-era Disney studio execs eventually got cold feet (Perhaps because “Baby” turned out so poorly) and pulled the plug on this proposed company-sponsored trip to the Congo. But here we are — some 20 years later — with a similar expedition about to get greenlit.
Of course, the irony of this whole situation is that — for a number of years now — the Walt Disney Company has held the film rights to a Philip Kerr novel entitled “Esau.” Which details what happens when an expedition to the Himalayas uncovers definitive proof that the Yeti actually exists.
So could this eventually turn out to be a case where a Disney theme park attraction inspires an actual expedition? Which — in turn — leads to the production of a major motion picture based on a book that spins out a very similar scenario to real life? Only time will tell, kids.
What is known is that the Imagineers plan on using any photographs & artifacts that these Disney-sponsored scientists & explorers bring back with them to help decorate the queue area of this new Animal Kingdom attraction. Thereby bringing an air of legitimacy to this thrill ride.
“Expedition Everest” is slated to open to the public in the Spring of 2006.
Your thoughts?