Monday Mouse Watch: Why that AVATAR concept art got unveiled in Japan rather than stateside. And what’s in the works for the Disneyland Resort in regards to “Star Wars”

Jim Hill

11 years ago

It's been a busy couple of days, Disney news-wise. With all
sorts of official announcements being made and weird rumors bubbling up. So as
a special Columbus Day treat, I thought that it might be fun to dig down into
this pile and then offer some additional information about some of the stories
that have been swirling around out there.

First of all, let's talk about that concept art for James
Cameron's World of AVATAR that was showcased at Japan's
first-ever D23 EXPO. And while the stateside Disneyana fan community of course immediately
began carping about the 2017 projected opening date for this Disney's Animal
Kingdom expansion, there was also much "Oohing" &
"Aahing" about how lush & ambitious this Camp Minnie-Mickey
replacement looked.

Mind you, no one seemed to be questioning why this James
Cameron's World of AVATAR artwork had been released at Japan's
D23 EXPO rather than the stateside version of this Official Disney Fan Club
back in August. But there is method to Mickey's madness.

Long story short: Walt Disney Imagineering has been trying
to convince the Oriental Land Group (i.e., the company that actually owns &
operates the Tokyo Disney Resort's two theme parks & four onsite hotels) for
over two years now that they should add a World of AVATAR area to Tokyo
DisneySea. But so far, OLC execs have been resisting WDI's entreaties. So the
thinking within the walls at 1401 Flower Street was that — if they filled a
hall at the Tokyo Disney Resort with some of Japan's most passionate Disney
fans and then allowed these folks to be the first to see concept art for James
Cameron's World of AVATAR — Oriental Land Company officials then couldn't help but notice the huge, passionate & vocal reaction that this proposed DAK
addition would receive from the crowds at this past weekend's Official Disney
Fan Club event. And after that … Well, maybe OLC execs might then be willing
to revisit WDI's proposal to add a version of James Cameron's World of AVATAR
to Tokyo DisneySea.

The only problem with this idea is … Well, WDI's
relationship with OLC has recently hit a rough patch. As I understand it, Oriental
Land Company executives took issue with what it cost to add Toy Story Mania!
and the Toyville Trolley
Park to the American Waterfront
area at Tokyo DisneySea back in 2012. And ever since then, Imagineering has
been getting considerable pushback from Oriental Land Company, Ltd. when it
comes to the proposed budgets for any WDI-designed additions to the Tokyo
Disney Resort. (This is why the Cars Land project — which was to have replaced
Tokyo Disneyland's Rivers of America with a clone of DCA's Radiator Springs
area — reportedly went off the rails. All because OLC execs supposedly began
questioning what the Imagineers said it would cost to bring Radiator Springs
Racers to Japan).

So long story short here: No matter how enthusiastic those
Japanese D23 members were at the EXPO this past weekend when that James
Cameron's World of AVATAR concept art was unveiled, I seriously doubt that
we're going to see a clone of this proposed DAK addition begin construction
alongside Tokyo Bay
anytime soon. Which I know is going to disappoint a number of vice presidents
at Walt Disney Imagineering. Who were allegedly hoping that they'd then be able
to split the development costs of this obviously enormous project and its
ambitious attractions between The Walt Disney World and Tokyo Disney Resorts.

And speaking of enormous … There's this huge rumor making
the rounds right now about how The Walt Disney Company is reportedly in the
process of cutting a deal with Peter Jackson & Co. to acquire the theme
park rights to "The Lord of the Rings" & "The Hobbit"
movies. Which — I'm sorry to disappoint all of you J.R.R. Tolkien fans out
there — just isn't true. At least not according to the Imagineering insiders
that I've spoken with over the past few days.

That said, I can understand how this rumor might have gotten
started. You see, back in December of last year, some WDI officials took a
contingent of New Line Cinema (i.e., the studio that has produced all of the
"LOTR" & "Hobbit" films) execs for a tour of Cars Land
at Disney California Adventure theme park and then very publicly wined &
dined these Hollywood types.

"And what was the point of doing something like that if
Walt Disney Imagineering wasn't actually wooing New Line to then award them the
theme park rights to 'Lord of the Rings' and 'The Hobbit' ?," you ask. As
I understand it, it was supposedly about this same time that James Cameron had
once again become difficult when it came to the development of World of AVATAR.
And given that WDI officials had reportedly grown tired of dealing with James'
I'm-taking-my-ball-and-going-home negotiating style … Well, it was then
decided that it might be time to at least pretend that The Walt Disney Company
was exploring other options. Maybe send a message to Cameron that the Mouse
might be considering dropping the World of AVATAR in favor of a "Lord of
the Rings" -themed area for DAK.

Now far be it for me to suggest that this tactic worked.
But here we are, some ten months later. And there's James Cameron posing for a
photograph with Tom Staggs & Joe Rohde, the three of them smiling down at a
finished-looking model for the World of AVATAR. So maybe this bit of theme park
theatrics on WDI's part actually worked.

More to the point, given that The Walt Disney Company is
currently up to its knees in IP (EX: Marvel, Star Wars, The Muppets, Phineas
& Ferb, Pirates of the Caribbean … to name just a few) that it owns
outright and has yet to leverage to full effect across its theme parks &
resorts, why would Disney then be pursuing the theme park rights for yet
another film franchise? Wouldn't it be smarter — strictly from a fiscal
point-of-view — for the Mouse to stick to its knitting? Make the most of the
intellectual properties that it already owns, rather than spend outrageous sums
to secure the theme park rights for another entertainment companies' IP?

And speaking of Star Wars … Just last week, MiceChat posted a piece about a
proposed Star Wars-themed redo of Disneyland's Tomorrowland area which
reportedly involved ripping out a good portion of that theme park's Monorail
track as well as shutting down the Autopia ride to make room for a new Speeder
Bike experience.

Well, I'm not going to say that MiceChat got it wrong. But I
think that what may have happened here is that MC may have gotten wind of a one
dimensional model that's currently sitting in WDI's model shop. Which — truth
be told — is just one of several different site plans for Star Wars-themed
redos of Tomorrowland that are currently being considered for that Anaheim
theme park.

More to the point, given that there now are multiple
generations of Southern Californian drivers who got their first experience
behind the wheel by climbing into an Autopia car, Disneyland Resort officials
know all too well what sort of uproar would result should they ever decide to
replace this opening day attraction. Which is why they will look long and hard
at all other pieces of available Tomorrowland real estate before the Imagineers
then circle back on the idea of shutting down the Autopia.

And speaking of replacing Tomorrowland attractions at Disneyland
Park … I did hear from one friend
at 1401 Flower Street that
one of the ideas that's reportedly being toyed with is relocating Buzz
Lightyear Astro Blasters to DCA. Taking this interactive dark ride out of the
old Circlevision 360 show building and then moving it over to one of Paradise
Pier's expansion pads. Where it would then become a companion for Toy Story
Midway Mania (not to mention help increase the hourly ride capacity for this
portion of that theme park). More to the point, once Astro Blaster vacates the
old Circlevision 360 building, that then would free up space for a new Star
Wars-themed experience.

Beyond that … I guess I should mention that while it is
unlikely that Disneyland's Autopia will be closed anytime soon, simplifying the
route that the Monorail takes after it enters that theme park (to be specific,
eliminating a lot of the looping & the doubling-back that this
transportation system does as it travels over Disneyland's old Motorboat Cruise
area) is something that the Imagineers have been wanting to do for over 25
years now. So the fact that they're once again exploring this idea so that WDI
could then drop an attraction of size in the area between the Matterhorn
Bobsleds & "it's a small world" isn't really all that surprising.

Mind you, what's always prevented the Disneyland Resort from
doing this in the past is that — in order to simplify the Monorail route and take
out all of those lengths of track & support pylons … Well, that would
then mean having giant construction cranes inside of that theme park for months
at a time. Not to mention shutting down popular attractions like the Finding
Nemo Submarine Voyage, the Autopia, the Disneyland Railroad and "it's a
small world" for much of the time that this work would be going on. And
let's not forget about inconveniencing the folks who'd be staying at the
Disneyland Hotel while all of this Monorail track removal work would be going
on.

But given that Monorail service was going to be disrupted
anyway in the not-so-distant future once work finally begins on the
"Monsters, Inc." -themed coaster that's supposed to replace
Muppetvision 3D as well as Soundstage 17 (i.e., the home of DCA's version of
"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire — Play It!") in the not-so-distant
future … Disneyland officials are now wondering if
they should just bite the bullet here. And that — when construction finally
goes vertical on the Doors Coaster and it's time to bring the cranes in to lift
all of that structure steel & ride track into place — the Imagineers
should just take advantage of this necessary closure of the Monorail to then
simplify this now-54 year-old transportation system's layout in & around Tomorrowland.

And speaking of construction projects that are sure to be a
bear … You did see that concept art for that new night-time show which will
be presented on, in and around DAK's Tree of Life, right? Well, as you might
expect, a project like this is going to be huge. It'll basically involve
replacing all 102,583 man-made leaves that currently hang off of this 145
foot-tall structure, with leaves that feature an internal lighting
mechanism. Not to mention running the wiring for all these leaves out through
the Tree of Life's 756 tertiary branches and 7891 end branches.

All of this work means that the Tree of Life will then be
surrounded by scaffolding for the better part of a year starting in 2015. But
the upside is … Once the scaffolding comes down, all of the faded green
plastic leaves that currently cover this structure will then be replaced with
leaves that look far more life-like; that are a deeper, richer green. More to
the point, many of the paths that are currently closed on Discovery
Island and much of the safety
netting that's now in place due to falling leaves & branches will then be
removed. Which means that the Tree of Life will then be returned to its former
glory, looking better than it did when this DAK icon first opened back on April 22, 1998.

Beyond that … I have heard some rumblings about the
night-time water pageant for DAK's Discovery
River area. To be specific, that
this will NOT be a "World of Color" -like, moving nozzle-based show.
But — rather — that it will make use of a NextGen version of the water screen
technology that's currently used in "Fantasmic!"

And one final interesting little bit of trivia here: As part
of the site planning work that's currently being done on both Star Wars Land
for Disney's Hollywood Studios and James Cameron's World of AVATAR for Disney's
Animal Kingdom, the Imagineers are reportedly deliberately folding in multi-purpose venues that can then be used in the future for fan events like
Star Wars Weekends.

Which means (you guessed it) after James Cameron's World of
AVATAR opens in 2017 (which will be right inbetween when the first
"AVATAR" sequel opens in theaters in December of 2016 and when the
second extension of this film franchise hits the big screen in December of
2017), you should anticipate that DAK will then annually begin hosting "AVATAR"
fan events. Which will feature appearances by those movies' stars, signings by
the authors of the "AVATAR" books as well as limited edition
merchandise.

Remember. You heard it here first, folks. So be sure and
save me a spot in line for that special collector's edition of a mountain
banshee. Which will undoubtedly be offered at that first "AVATAR" fan
event. Which — the way I hear it — could be held at DAK as early as the late
Fall of 2017 (and might even feature an early work-in-progress screening of
"AVATAR 3").

Okay. Here's hoping that the above info gives all of you Disneyana fans
/ theme park enthusiasts something to chew on / debate in the coming week. In
the meantime, have a Happy Columbus Day, okay?