First up, Marni’s Mom writes in with a question about Winnie
the Pooh:
Jim –
I was surprised to learn recently that Disney is ending
production of “My Friends Tigger and Pooh.” My daughter really enjoys watching
this educational Playhouse Disney series as do many of her friends at daycare.
Which is why I was so startled to hear that the Disney Channel would be
shutting down production of this CG show after just two seasons. To borrow your catchphrase, Why For is Disney
pulling the plug on what I understand to be a very popular program?Marni’s Mom
Dear Marni’s Mom –
This wasn’t actually the Disney Channel’s call. Truth be
told, the decision to shut down production of “My Friends Tigger and Pooh”
doesn’t have all that much to do with the show itself. But – rather – Disney Consumer Products’
recent decision to try & reposition its Winnie the Pooh franchise.
Copyright 2007 Disney. All Rights Reserved
Long story short … Mothers of infants and toddlers are the
primary consumers of Winnie the Pooh merchandise. And at least when it comes to
“My Friends Tigger and Pooh,” these super-important shoppers never really
seemed to embrace this new take on A.A. Milne’s classic characters. Which is
why you can walk into your local Disney Store and pick up a Darby Plush
(which
was originally priced to sell at $25.00) for just $3.00.
So – with the hope of recapturing this key consumer – Disney is now refocusing the Winnie the Pooh brand. To be specific, they will be
retiring the “Super Sleuth” personas that Tigger & Pooh portrayed in
this Playhouse Disney series and then returning that Silly Old Bear to his
roots. Turning Winnie the Pooh back into the character that people around the
world (but especially mothers of infants and toddlers) used to know and love.
Mind you, there’s still be some “My Friends Tigger and Pooh”
–related product making it through the pipeline (EX: A new DVD – the “My Friends Tigger, Pooh and a Musical Too” –
which is due to hit store shelves on April 7th). But once that stuff makes it makes out through
distribution channels, look for Winnie the Pooh (at least as far as the Walt
Disney Company is concerned) to revert to looking & behaving just as he
did in “Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree.”
Copyright 2009 Disney. All Rights Reserved
FYI: This coming Wednesday is Winnie’s 43rd
anniversary as a Disney character. “Honey Tree” (i.e. Pooh’s first featurette)
debuted in theaters back on February 3, 1966 on a double bill with “The Ugly Dachshund.”
Next up, SidKnee writes in to say:
Jim,
I’ve just discovered your website, and have spent the past
week digging down into the JHM archives and reading through all of your old
articles. I notice, though, that as I read through your stuff that you don’t
seem to have a lot of love for Epcot. Why is that?
SidKnee
I’ll admit that I’m kind of bass-ackwards when it comes to
this particular Disney theme park. Unlike most Disneyana fans, I’m actually
quite fond of some of Epcot’s newer shows. To my way
of thinking, “The Seas with Nemo & Friends” ride-thru is far more
entertaining than “The Living Seas” ‘s original pre-show. Likewise I consider “Gran Fiesta Tour starring the
Three Caballeros” to be a huge improvement over the Mexican pavilion’s
tired old “El Rio del Tiempo” boat ride. And as for “Soarin’” at The Land … I’ll
take that DCA clone any day over those two AA shows that used to occupy
this spot in the Park, “Kitchen Kabaret” and “Food Rocks!
As for the assortment of attractions that EPCOT Center
originally opened with back in October of 1982 … I’ll grant you that a number
of them were extremely ambitious & beautifully designed. But – to my way of
thinking, anyway – most of those Future
World pavilions were more earnest than entertaining. Far too corporate & safe when it
came to their take on the future.
Which is understandable. Given that the Imagineers had to cut
deals with some of America’s then-largest corporations (ex: Kraft, GE, AT &
T) in order to come up with the cash necessary to make Walt’s dream a reality.
Speaking of Walt’s dream … That’s another bone of
contention. For me, anyway. When Walt initially proposed EPCOT back in the
1960s, it was supposed to be this really-for-real city. A place where people
could live, learn & work. Not some camel of a theme park (i.e. half science
fair, half internationally themed shopping & dining district).
But that said, I can still understand why hardcore Disney
dweebs still jones for the early 1980s version of this Park. Back when EPCOT
Center had truly epic attractions like “Horizons” …
Photo by Jeff
Lange
… which promised us all a future that was full of limitless
possibilities … Plus flying cars!
Photo by Jeff
Lange
To be honest, I have some problems with the storytelling aspect in
this Future World attraction. I mean, as a father of a 14-year-girl, I think
that it’s great that Disney chose to depict the Mother in “Horizons” as being
the one who ‘s in charge of that huge hydroponic orange grove (Remember how
that artificial orange scent used to waft out of this pavilion’s then state-of-the-art
smellizers ?) ‘way out there in the desert.
Photo by Jeff Lange
But to then follow this scene with that toothless old gag which shows Dad in the kitchen, struggling to finish decorating Junior’s birthday
cake ? How lame & predictable is that? I mean, that sort of joke stopped being funny back in the early 1950s when Ozzie
first put on a frilly apron and then tried to serve Harriet breakfast in
bed.
Photo by Jeff Lange
You see what I saying? In “Horizons,” the wonder of the future
was constantly being undercut by these stale sitcom moments. Never mind about
how cool it might be to actually live under the sea. Here’s a guy promising
his girlfriend (for the umpteen millionth time) that he won’t be late for a
family party.
Photo by Jeff Lange
And as for the beauty & majesty of the infinite cosmos? It’s upstaged by a
Dad who struggles to retrieve his child’s teddy bear in zero G.
Photo by Jeff Lange
And then “Horizons” wraps up with this ham-handed attempt at
a heart-warming moment. Where it doesn’t really matter if our futuristic family is
scattered to the four winds. Thanks to holography, they can still
all be together (albeit artificially) for important moments like Junior’s birthday.
Photo by Jeff Lange
Okay. I admit it. “Horizons” did have a very cool ride
system. Not to mention those two amazing Omnimax projection rooms that you rode
through, where the enormous images on those screens just seemed to envelope you. And it is worth
noting here that – thanks to this Future World attraction’s
you-pick-the-finale feature – that “Horizons” was Disney’s very first
interactive attraction. Sort of.
But beyond that … Me personally, I found this Future World pavilion to be too safe, too predictable. And to be honest, that’s pretty much how I felt about the rest of this theme park back in 1982. That EPCOT Center had a lot of great design and showcased some amazing technology. But beyond that the place was just too bland, too corporate back then.
And I can’t have been the only one who felt
this way. Given that EPCOT Center’s attendance levels plummeted in its
second year of operation. The word clearly got out among would-be WDW visitors that the Resort’s newest theme park was something of a snooze. Which is why – in order to get those turnstiles turning
again — Disney’s new management team was forced to bring temporary, high profile attractions
like the Daredevil Circus Spectacular.
Photo by Jeff Lange
Mind you, WDW’s PR staff really struggled to come up with a
way to justify setting up what was obviously a contemporary circus right in the middle of Communicore. Which is why press releases from that era described
the pachyderms who appeared in this new EPCOT Center show as being “Martian Mastodons.”
Photo by Jeff Lange
Of course, your mileage may vary when it comes to Epcot. And
if you really are fond of the original version of this WDW theme park … Well, then you might want to go check out this auction. Which features an actual chunk of the 70MM film that was used in this Future World pavilion. Or at the very least head on over to JeffLangeDVD.com. Where Mr. Lange recently put together a terrific 3-disc set that pays tribute to “Horizons.” Plus – just today – Jeff posted
a great selection of images from the EPCOT Center Daredevil Circus Spectacular. So if you’d like
to see what this short-lived show really looked like, click on this link.
And – finally – one JHM reader who wishes to remain
anonymous wrote in to say:
I find it incredibly offensive when you refer to
JimHillMedia readers as “dweebs.” I, sir, am not a dweeb. I come to your
website for the entertaining & informative stories, not to be insulted. If you continue to call your readers “dweebs,” I – for one –
will stop coming by your website. And I will then tell all my friends who are
interested in reading about Disneyana to avoid JimHillMedia as well.So you’d best heed my warning. Stop calling JHM
readers dweebs.
Okay then. You’re not a dweeb. Are you an overly-sensitive, humorless jerk who takes himself entirely too seriously? Absolutely. But let me state for the record that you, sir, are not a dweeb.
Look, before anyone else chimes in here and pretends to be mortally offended, let me explain: Me personally, I consider “Disney dweeb” to be a fairly innocuous way to describe someone who’s just a tad too obsessive when it comes to The Walt Disney Company. You know the type. That guy who won’t let you get a word in edgewise because they’re determined to prove that they know ‘way more than you do when it comes to the World of Walt.
And — yes — I’ll admit it. There are days when I am a big, honking Disney dweeb. My only saving grace is … Well, I don’t take myself all that seriously. More to the point, I at least know when to shut up.
Speaking of which … It’s time that I wrap up this week’s Why For column. But before I go, I just want to remind everyone about New York Comic-Con. Which is being held next weekend at the Jacob K. Javits Center …
… because no self-respecting Disney dweeb is gonna wanna miss out on this year’s event.
Have a great weekend, okay?
And remember — if you want your Disney-related questions answered
as part of this weekly column — you need to send them along to jim@jimhillmedia.com.