Okay. Quick show of hands. How many of you out there have visited the “One Man’s Dream” exhibit at WDW’s Disney-MGM Studio theme park?
Alright. Now how many of you remember the movie that was shown at the end of this attraction? You know, that short film about Walt Disney’s life? The one that was narrated by the company’s recently departed CEO, Michael Eisner?
Well, if you actually recall this portion of the “One Man’s Dream” exhibit … I have an interesting bit of news for you. Over the past 10 days, the Imagineers quietly made one very significant change to this motion picture.
“What sort of change?,” you ask. Well … Michael Eisner is now out as the film’s narrator.
“And who replaced Eisner?,” you query. Mary Poppins herself. Dame Julie Andrews.
Now it’s important to understand that the guys at WDI sometimes do this. Make changes to a long-running show or attraction. Just so this exhibit can then seem fresh to Disney theme park visitors.
Take — for example — what was done two weeks ago to Disney-MGM’s “Great Movie Ride.” You know that movie montage that’s shown toward the end of this attraction? You know, the one that’s made of brief clips from some of the greatest motion pictures ever made?
Well, that finale film was replaced by a slightly freshened up version of this same motion picture. So that the new version of this movie now features brief glimpses from such Disney-produced pictures as:
- Rene Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones dancing together in the final moments of “Chicago”
- Orlando Bloom looks on as Johnny Depp smiles wickedly toward the camera in “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl”
- Ben Affleck and Kate Beckinsale kissing in “Pearl Harbor”
- Jackie Chan getting ready to kick butt in “Shanghai Knights”
- Marlin & Dory’s first encounter with Bruce the Great White Shark in “Finding Nemo”
Me personally, I thought that the oddest moment from this new version of “The Great Movie Ride” ‘s finale film came when the clip from “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” zoomed by. It quickly showed Lucy (Georgie Henley) discovering that lamp post out in the middle of the frozen forest.
“What’s odd about that?,” you ask. Well, the finale of “The Great Movie Ride” is supposed to salute the greatest motion pictures ever made. Films that Disney-MGM visitors would already really think fondly of. Well … Isn’t it a bit odd to ask people to feel fondly about a film that they haven’t actually seen yet? Isn’t it a bit premature (not to mention extremely presumptious) of the Walt Disney Company to start lumping “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” in with all of the greatest motion pictures ever made?
Anyway … Getting back to Mr. Eisner. After making a few calls today, I learned that the change that was made to the film that’s featured in “One Man’s Dream” ‘s finale wasn’t done because Disney was looking to freshen up that attraction. But — rather — because Michael remains a controversial figure. At least in the eyes of a certain segment of the theme-park-going public.
As one Disney World Guest Relations staffer (who asked that I not identify him/her) explained it to me:
“People would regularly march into Guest Relations and insist that Michael Eisner didn’t belong in the ‘One man’s Dream’ movie. Mind you, it was mostly the Disney die-hards that were doing this. But — over four years time — we eventually logged a significant number of guest complaints about this one aspect of that film.
Which is why — once Michael Eisner was out and Bob Iger was officially the Walt Disney Company’s new CEO — the Imagineers decided to address these complaints by quietly changing out that film’s narrator. Bringing in someone much more appropriate to serve as that movie’s new narrator. And who better to narrate this updated version of ‘One Man’s Dream’ than the Honorary Ambassador of ‘The Happiest Celebration on Earth,” Julie Andrews?
Mind you, this was done with absolutely no publicity because no one ever wants to do anything that would upset Eisner. After all, given that Roy has made a deal to sell off most of his stake in the corporation, Michael is now the Walt Disney Company’s largest individual shareholder. Which means that — if Eisner ever got mad — he could really make life difficult for Bob Iger.
Which is why Disney deliberately isn’t making a big deal about Julie Andrews being brought in to replace Michael Eisner as the narrator of ‘One Man’s Dream.’ Sure, this change was ultimately made because of all the complaints from WDW guests. But Disney would never ever admit that publicly. Out of concern about what Eisner might do if he heard that that was the real reason that we had to make this change.”
Now where this gets interesting is that it isn’t just Eisner’s voice that’s being erased around Disney World. Michael’s image is also being eliminated all around the resort.
… with Jeff Lange recently took at Mouse Surplus. You know, that Orlando-area store where you can purchase props, uniforms and other items that have recently been cast off by the Walt Disney World resort?
Anywho … If you look carefully at this photograph, you’ll see that these are the official portraits that used to be displayed in various offices around property. Which were then removed and sent over to Mouse Surplus.
Of course, what’s really ironic about this particular image is that it shows Michael’s old corporate portrait right next to one of Roy E. Disney’s old corporate portraits. And that portrait … Well, Eisner reportedly asked that all of the pictures of Walt’s nephew that were then on display around the company’s corporate offices be taken down in late 2003 / early 2004. And this was done in direct response to Roy E. & Stanley Gold’s decision to exit the corporation and launch their “Save Disney” campaign.
So now — here we are — in the late Fall of 2005. And Roy E. Disney and Michael Eisner finally have something in common. In that they’ve both had their portraits pulled down. Their official images are no longer on display in Disney corporate offices. All because the company’s CEO reportedly wants to remove all public reminders of a rather controversial figure.
It’s weird how the world works sometimes, don’t you think? “As ye sow, so shall ye reap?”
Sooo … What do you folks think of Dame Julie Andrews replacing Michael Eisner as the narrator of “One Man’s Dream” ‘s finale film? Do you think it’s right that the Walt Disney Company has been removing Michael Eisner (Or — for that matter — Roy E. Disney) ‘s official corporate portraits from display?
Your thoughts?