Katie from Milford, MA. writes:
Jim!
Did you see that “Disney’s Imagineers” special that ran on the Travel Channel last month? I was particularly struck by that “autonomous walking platform” that they showed in the final minutes of the program. As they showed that huge robot lurching about, the show’s narrator said something like “Don’t be surprised if you see a dinosaur walking around during your next visit to a Disney theme park.”
Is this true, Jim? Are the Imagineers really going to turn loose some giant walking robotic dinosaurs and let them walk through the theme parks? If they did … That would be so COOL!!
The truth is, Katie, if Disney’s big Summer 2000 release – the computer animated “Dinosaur” – had been a bigger success, that massive mechanical creature would have been strolling down Main Street U.S.A. months ago.
All too often, this is what happens at WDI: The Imagineers come up with a great idea for a brand new show / ride / attraction that’s based on characters from a forthcoming Disney film. They develop all of these wonderful plans, then patiently sit by & wait for that movie to be released to theaters and prove itself to be a huge success … Only the film ISN’T a huge success. Sometimes it’s an outright flop. Other times, it’s just an under-performer. A would-be blockbuster that barely ends up covering its production and promotional costs.
Either way, Disney Company management suddenly doesn’t want anything more to do with this ill-fated movie. Which is why all talk about spin-off TV shows, direct-to-video sequels and – of course – theme park rides that are based on that movie immediately ceases.
This most recently happened with the company’s Summer 2001 release – “Atlantis: The Lost Empire.” The Imagineers were so certain that the Walt Disney Company had a huge hit on their hands with that film that WDI had already drawn up plans for an “Atlantis” themed attraction that they wanted to quickly drop into Disneyland.
This ride (which was actually supposed to have been a somewhat ambitious retheming of Tomorrowland’s extremely tired “Submarine Voyage”) was supposed to have taken Disneyland visitors down into the depths to visit the graveyard of lost ships. Once there, guests would actually have been able to use a mechanical arm (that extended right out into the water from their sub window) to grab at the gold coins & gems that lined the sea floor.
Of course, all of this undersea activity would have awakened the Leviathan, that massive mechanical lobster-thingy that destroyed the “Ulysses” during “Atlantis: The Lost Empire.” As its giant, crab-like claw closed around the ride vehicle, its sides would bow inward and water from pinhole leaks in the hull would start spritzing the guests inside. (This particular moment in the attraction bring to mind the slogan that the Imagineers had supposedly cooked up for the show: “Don’t waste your breath screaming.”)
How did these Disneyland guests eventually escape the clutches of the Leviathan? Sorry, but that would be telling. Let’s just say that – in spite of the severe shaking that their sub was supposed to have received – that they still made it back to the surface. Unfortunately, most of the booty that the sub’s crew had hauled in with their mechanical arms had been lost during the high speed return trip to the surface. Even so, a few coins did remain in the collection basket…
Which is why – as they exited the sub – each Disneyland guest was to have been handed a genuine plastic coin with the stylized Atlantis “A” stamped on it. To remind them of their fateful trip to the bottom of the sea and their far-too-close encounter with the deadly Leviathan.
Sounds like a fun ride, doesn’t it? WDI sure thought so. The Imagineers were counting on this particular attraction to lift the pall that had fallen over Disneyland’s new Tomorrowland (following the public’s lackluster response to this land’s misbegotten 1998 makeover).
Unfortunately, “Atlantis: The Lost Empire” wasn’t the box office behemoth that Disney had hoped it would be. During its domestic release, the film only pulled in $84 million – which didn’t even cover “A:TLE”‘s negative costs, let alone the ten of millions more that the Mouse had poured into promotion of the picture. Which is why – not wanting to throw good money after bad – Disney executives decided to deep six WDI’s plans to drop an “Atlantis Expedition” attraction into Disneyland’s new Tomorrowland.
Kind of a sad end to the story, right? Wait. It gets sadder. Walt Disney Television Animation also thought that “Atlantis: The Lost Empire” was going to be a huge hit. Which is why they put TWO “Atlantis” follow-up projects into production: A direct-to-video sequel to the film as well as “Team Atlantis.”
What was “Team Atlantis”? “TA” was actually probably the bigger loss of the two projects. Why for? Because “Team Atlantis” was supposed to have been this ambitious animated series that would have heralded a return to epic storytelling by Walt Disney Television Animation. Something that this division of the Walt Disney Company hadn’t attempted since “Gargoyles” stopped production ‘way back in 1996.
So what was the story arc for “Team Atlantis”? Due to events that had occurred during the climax of the direct-to-video sequel to “Atlantis: The Lost Empire,” Milo and Kida were now trapped on the surface. Their return route to Atlantis has somehow been sealed off forever. Which means – in order to return to the “Lost Empire” – Milo & Kida must now travel the globe. With the help of the Shepherd’s Journal as well as their old friends from the Whitmore Expedition, they must seek out a new route back to Atlantis.
“Team Atlantis” story arc – as Disney Television Animation’s writers had mapped it out – would have been ambitious, to say the least. Each episode, Milo and Kida would journey to another far-flung corner of the globe where they would be re-united with Moliere (or Vinnie or Audrey or Mrs. Packard or Dr. Sweet). Then the intrepid explorers would have to deal with some paranormal phenomenon (Be it the Loch Ness Monster in Scotland, the Abominable Snowman in the Himalayas, or strange lights in the night sky over Roswell, New Mexico) as they sought out yet another rumored entrance to the “Lost Empire.”
Now here’s the really sad part of the story … During interviews that she did as part of the pre-opening publicity for “Atlantis: The Lost Empire,” Cree Summer (the actress who provided the voice of Princess Kida) revealed that she and the rest of the “A:TLE” vocal cast (sans Michael J. Fox, who had opted out of the TV series) had already begun recording dialogue for a few episodes of “Team Atlantis.”
Cree described working on the weekly “Atlantis” TV series as “a lot of fun. When you record dialogue for an animated feature, you usually work alone. But – when you’re working on an animated TV series – everybody’s there in the booth at the same time. So it’s a lot more fun. I love the people that I do voice-over work with.”
Unfortunately, within days of this interview, Disney realized that “Atlantis: The Lost Empire” wasn’t going to be the big box office “Wow!” that everyone had thought it would be. Which is why the company quietly shut down production on the “Team Atlantis” TV series.
So does this mean that all those recordings that Cree & Co. made for “Team Atlantis” will now never see the light of day? Actually, no. You see – even though Disney had lost interest in doing a spin-off series based on “Atlantis: The Lost Empire” – the company was still committed to doing a direct-to-video sequel to the film.
But – rather than go ahead with the “A:TLE” sequel that Disney Television Animation had already scripted – Mouse House execs elected to take the two or three episodes of “Team Atlantis” that Cree and Co. had already recorded dialogue for and (With the help of a few additional scenes) pass that off as the direct-to-video sequel to “Atlantis: The Lost Empire.”
Of course, one wonders how the writers at Disney Television Animation are going to explain away Milo & Kinda being trapped on the earth’s surface – unable to return to Atlantis. After all, it was the events that occurred during the climax of the original version of the “Atlantis: The Lost Empire” direct-to-video sequel that lead to up the dire situation that these two found themselves in as the “Team Atlantis” TV series got underway. Now … Who knows how Disney intends to deal with this gaping hole in the plotline?
I guess we’ll all have to wait ’til the direct-to-video sequel to “Atlantis: The Lost Empire” hits store shelves next year to learn how Milo & Kida got themselves in this predicament. More importantly, how they get themselves out.
Of course, “Atlantis: The Lost Empire” wasn’t the only recent animated feature that Disney had high hopes for. The Mouse also allegedly thought that “Dinosaur” had franchise written all over it. Which is why there were reportedly plans in place for WDFA to do at least two “Dinosaur” sequels in the direct-to-video format. (Disney executives reportedly had visions of “Dinosaur” becoming their company’s answer to Universal Studios’ highly lucrative “Land Before Time” series. Which – by the way – Episode No. 9 in the “LBT” series hits store shelves this coming December.)
Anyway … Disney execs supposedly felt that “Dinosaur” was going to be so popular with movie-goers that they forced the Imagineers to fold the starring character from that film – Aladar the iguanodon – into Disney’s Animal Kingdom Big “E” Ticket attraction, “Countdown to Extinction.” Which means that Aladar has been on the job, rescuing WDW guests from that vicious Carnotaur, ever since April 1998. A full 25 months before “Dinosaur” would finally reach theaters.
Of course, to capitalize on what Disney execs felt sure was going to be a huge box office hit, Walt Disney Studio also forced the Imagineers to change “Countdown to Extinction”‘s name on the very same day (May 19, 2000) that “Dinosaur” opened in theaters nationwide. And what was the new name of this Disney’s Animal Kingdom attraction? The not-terribly-original-sounding “Dinosaur – The Ride.”
The only problem was … “Dinosaur” wasn’t really such a monstrous hit. Oh, sure. The film grossed $137 million during its domestic release. But the film reportedly cost an astounding $200 million to make. (In an attempt to get a handle on all the negative publicity that had begun swirling around the film and its high price tag, then Disney studio head Peter Schneider insisted that “Dinosaur” had actually “only” cost $135 million.)
So why didn’t the huge audience that Disney had been expecting turn out for “Dinosaur”? Some pointed to the film’s all-too-predictable storyline. Still others suggest that the Discovery Channel’s “Walking With Dinosaurs” mini-series (Which – just like Disney’s “Dinosaurs” – took computer generated prehistoric beasts and cleverly inserted them into film footage of real scenery) had stolen much of “Dinosaur”‘s thunder. Particularly since “Walking with Dinosaurs” had aired in the US in early April, a full six weeks before “Dinosaur” was due to hit theaters.
Whatever the case … “Dinosaur” had not proven to be as success as Disney executives had hoped it would be. Which is why they began backing off on all plans to fold additional “Dinosaur” related shows and attractions into the Disney theme parks.
Chief among these was Danny Hillis’ “autonomous walking platform.” Which – had it been perfected (More importantly, fully funded) – would have allowed a live sized Aladar, Eema and Baylene to have strolled down Main Street U.S.A. Which – you’ll have to admit – would have made for one hell of an exciting finale for any Disney theme park parade.
But – as I said earlier – “Dinosaur” didn’t make all the kind of money that Disney had thought it should. Which is why studio execs decided to cut funding for any direct-to-video sequels to the film as well as any additional theme park attractions that were tied to the “Dinosaur” mythology.
Of course, when Mr. Hillis heard about this, he immediately opted to bail out of WDI’s R & D department. I mean, what was the point of hanging out in Glendale if Disney wasn’t going to get serious about going forward with something as ground-breaking and amazing as the “autonomous moving platform.” (For those of you who’d like to learn more about what’s involved with this cutting edge development, check out this article from the March 2001 edition of “Discover” Magazine – “Pushing the Envelope on Robots” – by following this link.)
Mind you, even though “Dinosaur” tanked, the Imagineers still had hopes that – if the right film were to come along – that they’d still be able to find a logical way to fold the “autonomous walking platform” technology into one of the company’s theme park setting. For a while there earlier this year, WDI had thought that “Reign of Fire” might be that movie. Given that that Touchstone Picture featured fire breathing dragons, the Imagineers felt that it really wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to take the robotic skeleton that had been built as the core component of a full-size walking, roaring dinosaur and use it to build a fire breathing dragon.
But then – of course – “Reign of Fire” got snuffed out at the box office this summer and … Well, you know the rest of the drill by now, don’t you?
Jeese …This is a really depressing way to end this story, isn’t it? Okay, how’s about I try to find a happier way to wrap this article up?
How’s about this exciting tidbit? … Those of you who also saw the “autonomous walking platform” sequence in the Travel Channel’s “Disney’s Imagineers” TV special may recall catching a glimpse of a miniature Cinderella’s Castle that seemed alive with color. This castle was plainly visible behind Eric Haseltine (Executive vice president in charge of research & development at Walt Disney Imagineering), as Haseltine spoke enthusiastically about how much fun it was to work at WDI.
So, what’s the deal with that castle? Well, those fluid color changes come as a direct result of all the fiber optics that had been installed in that miniature version of Cinderella’s Castle. This model was a test for … Well, I don’t really want to spoil the whole surprise. But let’s just say that Hong Kong Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty Castle will seem that much more magical after dark.
More to the point, provided that Cynthia Harris can actually get Disney Company management to approve the funding, the original Sleeping Beauty’s Castle at Disneyland may take on an extra special sheen after dark too during its 50th anniversary year … But you didn’t hear this from me.
There. Is that a better ending?