When it comes to storytelling, the Walt Disney Company usually likes to stick with the lighter material. You know? ” … And they lived happily ever after” and all that jazz.
Which is why I was startled to see – as I recently made my way through “Expedition Everest” ‘s queue area – that the Imagineers were attempting to tell this pretty dark tale as part of the preshow of this new DAK attraction. A story that was genuinely scary. But – at the same time – kind of funny.
What am I talking about? That selection of photos you’ll find posted high up on the wall in the “Lost Expedition” section of the “Yeti Museum” area of the queue.
If you look closely at these pictures, you’ll soon realize that they do actually tell the story of one ill-fated explorer’s encounter with the Guardian of Forbidden Mountain. The key to understanding this tale is that you have to view these images in the proper sequence (I.E. In the exact order that these photographs were supposedly shot).
Our story starts with our hero high up on the mountain. From a distance, he suddenly observes some mysterious tracks in the snow. So he quickly snaps a picture of them …
Our hero then moves in closer. Trying to get better shots of these tracks, in an effort to properly document his find …
With the hope that this might bring some sense of scale to his photographs (I.E. Convince others who eventually view these images how truly big the footprint of this beast actually was), our hero takes off one of his gloves, lays it down next to one of the footprints and snaps a picture.
Our hero is snapping a second shot of that footprint and his glove … when the Yeti suddenly steps into his viewfinder!
Realizing that the creature is now standing there right in front of him, our hero quickly raises up his camera and tries to get a shot of the entire beast. But with one swing of its mighty paw …
… The Yeti knocks this ill-fated photographer through the air. Coming down hard on the snow several yards away, our hero tries once more to get a decent shot of the entire animal …
The creature now rushes straight at the photographer. Our hero is able to snap one final picture …
Before the Yeti does … Whatever it is that Yetis actually do to explorers whenever they find these unauthorized visitors high up on Forbidden Mountain.
You gotta admit that these photographs tell a pretty grim but ultimately funny (in an admittedly sick sort of way) story. I mean, imagine trying to get a shot of what you thinks is an Abominable Snowman’s footprint … Only to have the creature suddenly step into your viewfinder as you’re trying to take that shot!
As I said in Tuesday’s article, there’s some really great storytelling going on in “Expedition Everest” ‘s queue area. Which WDW visitors would really enjoy if they’d only slow down long enough to truly appreciate the tale that the Imagineers are trying to tell.
Jeff Lange is JHM’s own photographer/archivist. He has just released two new titles in his on-going series of Disney theme park DVDs, “Jeff Lange Remembers … Tarzan Rocks” and “Jeff Lange’s Cruise Line Classics.”
For further information on these two discs as well as all of the other titles that Jeff has created, I suggest that you follow this link.