Why (For) Disney doesn’t feel all that bad about missing out on the theme park rights to “Harry Potter” ?

Jim Hill

17 years ago

As you might expect, I got an awful lot of e-mail yesterday concerning that “Wizarding World of Harry Potter” project that Universal Studios just announced. That $500 million re-theming of the “Lost Continent” section of Universal’s Islands of Adventure theme park.

First up, Kurt G. wrote in to say:

Boy, Disney is going to regret passing this one up !

Dear Kurt G.

Actually, I don’t honestly think that this is really the case here. You have to remember that Disney was trying to make a deal with J.K. Rowling back in late 2004 / early 2005. During those dark, depressing days when Steve Jobs & Michael Eisner were openly sniping at one another and it genuinely looked like WDFA & Pixar weren’t going to renew their highly successful co-production pact.

“Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling
Photo courtesy of Google Images

At that point in the company’s history, Disney was eager to acquire the theme park rights to the Harry Potter characters because

A) It would give the Imagineers a very popular franchise to build new rides, shows and attractions around, and …

B) This theme park rights acquisition could then also serve as a future distraction.

That way, whenever anyone in the press and/or the financial community would begin complaining about how Disney had let Pixar slip away … Well, Disney officials could then just point to the Potter deal and say: “Look, we don’t need Pixar anymore. We’ve got the theme park rights to J.K. Rowling’s characters now. Don’t worry about Disney. We’re going to be just fine.”

Of course, the plan that I’ve described above is a Michael Eisner-era scheme. Once Bob Iger came to power at the Walt Disney Company … Well, Bob is really more of a pragmatist. And Iger figured that — in the long run — it would be far better for the Mouse if the company were to remain in business with Pixar. Rather than allow that CG studio to go off on its own and then emerge as additional competition for WDFA.

Walt Disney Company CEO Robert Iger
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved

So Bob made pursuing a new deal with Pixar his top priority, rather than pushing WDI to do whatever it had to in order to make J.K. happy. So that Disney could then close a deal with this rather demanding author and acquire all of the theme park rights to the Harry Potter characters.

So then … When word came back from Glendale that Rowling was making unrealistic demands, that the various items that she was insisting on including as part of Phase One of Disney’s Harry Potter park would just make this project fiscally irresponsible as well as an operational nightmare … It was Iger who then reportedly made the decision that the company shouldn’t continue to pursue this deal. That it would be far better for all parties involved — if they couldn’t agree on what show elements should be included in the Potter project — that Disney & Rowling just abandon this negotiation.

Which is why — in late 2005 — J.K. began talking with the folks over at Universal. Whereas Bob … He then had Disney redouble its efforts to renew that studio’s co-production pact with Pixar. Never dreaming that Steve Jobs might ever agree to sell his animation studio outright to the Mouse for some $7.4 billion.

So if you were to press senior Disney officials on this matter … Yeah, I’m sure that they’d express some regret that the company wasn’t ultimately able to acquire the theme park rights to the Harry Potter characters. But then when you compare that lost opportunity with being able to own Pixar (More importantly, to own all of the merchandising rights to every single one of the characters that John Lasseter & his talented team have created and/or will create) … It’s really not a contest.

Next up, Mickey_Morse_Code writes in to ask:

So what do you think of Universal’s plans for that Harry Potter addition to IOA ? Those concept paintings look just amazing. I just wonder if that, once built, this part of the park is really going to deliver on the depicted level of detail.

Copyright 2007 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved

Dear Mickey_Morse_Code,

I’ll say this much. It’s a very, very clever re-theming of the “Lost Continent” section of Islands of Adventure.

I mean, if you take a close look at that owl’s-eye-view of the proposed retheming of this side of that theme park, you’ll notice that IOA’s extremely popular “Dueling Dragons” racing coasters is still one of the featured attractions for this part of the park. Only — in this incarnation — it’s be re-imagined as part of the Tri Wizard Tournament. Where brave wizards do battle with fierce dragons. With the hope that they’ll be able to win the Goblet of Fire.

FYI : As you wander through the significantly overhauled queue for “Dueling Dragons” (Which will have 90% of its skeletons removed, so I hear), you’ll actually get a chance to get a close-up look at the Goblet. Which — just as it appeared in the “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” film — will be displayed on an ornate pedestal with magical blue flames licking out of its top.

The key to making this project affordable (Which — given the enormous licensing fees that both J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. are demanding as well as that huge cut of this area’s merchandising money that Universal allegedly had to surrender — is a real challenge) is that Universal Creative already had the good strong bones of IOA’s “Lost Continent” area to build upon.

Take — for example — that area’s “Flying Unicorn” kiddie coaster. According to what I hear, Universal plans on retheming this area so that you first queue up in the garden outside of Hagrid’s cottage. Then — after wandering through the Care of Magical Creatures teacher’s home — you then get the chance to board the now re-themed “Flying Hippogriff” kiddie coaster.

By clever reuse of pre-existing facilities, Universal is then able to concentrate most of its money on things that the “Wizarding World of Harry Potter” will really need. Which are:

The incredible level of detail that Harry Potter fans have now come to expect from all of Warner Bros. films. Which is why it’s very fortunate that Universal was able to persuade Stuart Craig (I.E. Production designer of all of the “Harry Potter” pictures that Warners has produced to date) to come ride herd on this project. So that there’ll then be some artistic consistency between the “Wizarding World” that one sees in the “Harry Potter” films and the one people will soon be able to visit in Central Florida.

A big “E” Ticket attraction. Which — as you may have already heard — will be a state-of-the-art family-friendly thrill ride that will then allow IOA guests to first soar through the trees of the Forbidden Forest and then fly high above the grounds of Hogwarts inside of the Weasley family’s Ford Anglia. (FYI : This attraction will reportedly be housed inside of the soon-to-be-closed-and-gutted “Eighth Voyage of Sindbad” stunt show theater).

As I said earlier, this is a very, very clever retheming of IOA’s “Lost Continent” section. One that — provided that Universal Creative is actually able to deliver on J.K. Rowling’s incredibly rich source material — will then make this Central Florida theme park a “must see” for all Harry Potter fans worldwide.

Which then brings us to today’s final “Why For” question. Which comes from Lucas A. Who wrote in to say;

Disney’s not going to leave this challenge unanswered, right ? Tell me that the Imagineers have some great new theme park or huge new attraction up their sleeve that Disney can use to lure tourists away from the “Wizarding World of Harry Potter” ?

Dear Lucas A.

You know how you’re supposed to fight fire with fire ? Well, when it comes to theme parks, you fight franchise with franchise.

Please forgive that I can’t be more definitive here. But — obviously — given that WDI has just undergone a pretty significant management change, a lot of that division’s plans are now very much in flux. As Bruce Vaughn & Craig Russell review many of the plans that Tom Fitzgerald originally hatched for the company’s Florida parks and then see how many of these projects Walt Disney Imagineering still wants to implement.

I’ll say this much : One of the more intriguing ideas that’s currently on the table is a total revamp of the theming of the Magic Kingdom‘s Adventureland section. Where this part of that theme park would basically become Pirate Land. And the Swiss Family Treehouse would be ripped out & replaced by a full-sized version of the Black Pearl that you could explore. And the long-empty Adventureland Veranda would then be changed into this Pirates-themed tavern that featured interactive entertainment. Where even the “Enchanted Tiki Room” would be reworked so that this Audio-Animatronic show would star pirate parrots.

Of course, the really big draw for this side of the Magic Kingdom would be an “E” Ticket. A brand-new thrill ride that (Keying off the proposed storyline of “Pirates of the Caribbean 4.” I.E. Captain Jack Sparrow & Barbossa’s search for the Fountain of Youth) would then take WDW guests through this long-abandoned, over-grown temple that is just loaded with booby traps.

You know ? Something similar to Tokyo DisneySea’s new “Raging Spirits” coaster ? Only with a more piratical twist ?

Now please keep in mind that this “Pirates of the Caribbean” -based retheming of the Magic Kingdom’s Adventureland section is — of course — conditional on Bruce & Craig actually liking Tom’s original concept and then deciding to move this rather elaborate & expensive redo through WDI’s extremely convoluted approval process. And then Bob Iger would have to agree to put up all of the money necessary to tackle a retheming project of this size. (And — no — I don’t have any answers yet as to how this proposed Adventureland revamp might then impact “The Jungle Cruise” and/or “The Magic Carpets of Aladdin.” Whether these two Magic Kingdom favorites would be left alone, rethemed to reflect this area’s new “Pirates” -based theming and/or removed entirely).

Obviously, there are a lot of “ifs” involved in the Adventureland retheming scenario that I’ve described above. Which is just one of the many possible ways that the Imagineers may choose to answer the challenge of IOA’s new “Wizarding World” addition. In essence sending Captain Jack Sparrow out to do battle with Harry Potter for your theme park dollars.

So which franchise do you folks think would come out on top in a big budget brawl like that ? Your thoughts ?