Why For do the Imagineers keep adding new characters to Disney’s classic theme park attractions?

Jim Hill

17 years ago

Earlier this week, Perry T. sent me the following e-mail :

Jim,

Are you as sick as I am about how the Imagineers keep forcing characters into older attractions at the Disney theme parks? Just in the past six months, we’ve had that new “Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor” show replace the Magic Kingdom‘s old “Timekeeper” Circlevision attraction as well as the “Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros” replace “El Rio del Tiempo” at Epcot‘s Mexico pavilion. Meanwhile out in California, Tom Sawyer Island has been invaded by pirates and the Tomorrowland Subs are now searching for Nemo.

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Whatever happened to the good old days when WED used to build attractions that didn’t feature well-known Disney characters? Where we could splash down into a village where pirates that didn’t look like Johnny Depp were raping & pillaging? Or the Haunted Mansion didn’t feature Tim Burton characters every holiday season?

What’s wrong with keeping things just the way they are? Was it really necessary to toss the Swiss Family out of their treehouse just so “Tarzan” fans would then have a place to go see the apeman whenever they visit Disneyland?

Can’t something be done to stop the Imagineers from making all of these changes to Disney’s classic attractions? Adding new rides and shows to the parks is fine. But why can’t the company also preserve what it already has? If they had done so eight years ago, we’d now be able to enjoy a version of “Journey into Imagination” that featured both Figment AND Dreamfinder.

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Do you think that it would be worth it to start a petition that asks the Walt Disney Company to start preserving its own theme park heritage? Or at least gets the Imagineers to cut back on the number of Pixar attractions that they’re addng to the parks? I don’t know about you, but I think that they’ve already built enough “Finding Nemo” based rides and shows.

Could you please answer my questions as part of your next “Why For” column?

Thank You,

Perry T.

Dear Perry T. ,

Where to start … Jeese …

First of all, I think that you can just forget about a petition like that. For the days when a show like the “Carousel of Progress” (Which was built around this anonymous set of characters with no obvious ties to any pre-existing Disney films or brands) would be built for the parks are long gone. Nowadays, Mouse House management insists that every new ride & show that Walt Disney Imagineering develops for the parks must feature some sort of character tie-in.

And this includes already proven, well-known franchise attractions like “it’s a small world.” Which — when it opens at Hong Kong Disneyland early next year — in addition to the usual assortment of singing & dancing dolls, this Fantasyland classic will also feature stylized versions of 30 well-known Disney characters.

Don’t believe me ? Then check out the shot of the model of the Hong Kong Disneyland version of “it’s a small world” that I’ve posted below.

This scale model depicts the French portion of this Fantasyland favorite. And if you’ll look closely at the awning that’s directly above that line of six dancers toward the center of the model, you’ll spy Marie from “The Aristocats” …

… And then — to the far right, at the foot of that blue-&-white castle — you can also see Cinderella dancing with her prince.

Which — I know — seems kind of bizarre. But these days, it’s actually a hard-and-fast rule at Walt Disney Imagineering that all new rides, shows and attractions that are proposed for the parks must feature an obvious tie-in to a previously existing set of characters from a popular Disney movie &/or TV show. The last attraction to be excempt from this character tie-ins rule? “Expedition Everest : Legend of the Forbidden Mountain” at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

Which (I know) makes a lot of you truly hardcore Disney fans crazy. The very idea that an attraction like “ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter” was ruined because the Imagineers were under pressure to add more characters like Stitch to the mix at WDW’s Magic Kingdom.

But the fact of the matter is “Lilo & Stitch” was WDAS’s last notable success. And when the regular paying customers shell out $60+ to come visit a Disney theme park, they do expect to see the company’s most popular characters wandering the grounds. Which is why a decision was made to find an attraction in the parks that could be rethemed/rebuilt around Stitch. And given that “Alien Encounter” had never really become that break-out hit that Magic Kingdom management had hoped it would be, it was the logical choice for a makeover.

When you take that approach (I.E. That the Imagineers aren’t out to destroy classic Disney theme park attractions with all of these rethemings. But — rather — they’re trying to make the parks’ older assets seem that much appealing to a younger crowd) … Then it’s easier to understand how Perry T.’s second concern (I.E. The perceived over-use of Pixar-related characters & storylines inside the parks these days) actually happened.

Let me be blunt here, folks. Until “Shrek 2” came along — “Finding Nemo” was the highest grossing animated film of all time … Which is why it only made sense for the Imagineers to try & capitalize on the enormous success of this Andrew Stanton movie. And in the case of the new The Seas with Nemo & Friends ride-thru that was added to Epcot’s The Living Seas back in October of 2006, that retheming was wildly successful. Attendance levels for that Future World pavilion shoot through the roof once word got out that the stars of “Finding Nemo” had set up shop there.

The question now is … How much of a good thing is too much of a good thing? When you consider that — just in the past few years — “Turtle Talk with Crush” has opened at both Epcot & DCA, followed by “The Seas with Nemo & Friends” ride-through, “Finding Nemo — The Musical” at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, the “Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage” at Disneyland as well as “Crush’s Coaster” at Walt Disney Studios … That’s an awful lot of “Finding Nemo” -related material to be going into the parks in a relatively short period of time.

Mind you, given this week’s reports of 4-hour-long lines for Disneyland’s “Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage” and 2-hour-long lines for WDS’s “Crush’s Coaster,” the paying public is clearly interested in the characters from this Andrew Stanton film. Which is why discussions are now moving forward about possibly converting DCA’s “Mulholland Madness” into a stateside version of WDS’s wildly popular new coaster as well as replacing that theme park’s “Aladdin — A Musical Spectacular” with DAK’s “Finding Nemo — The Musical.” So the “Nemo” -ization of the Disney parks may not be over yet, folks.

And then there’s the “Toy Story Mania” attractions that will be opening at Disney-MGM & DCA next year, plus the “Toy Story Live” musical that’s supposed to open at Disneyland & the “Monsters, Inc” -themed interactive ride that goes on line at Tokyo Disneyland in 2009. Not to mention the “Carland” ride that will start rolling through California Adventure in 2010. And that “Incredibles” -inspired “E” Ticket that may be going into WDW’s Magic Kingdom in the next few years. On top of that is the”Woody’s Round-Up” redo that’s being considered for Disneyland’s Big Thunder Ranch area …

When you look at a list like that, is it any wonder that there are already Disney theme park fans who have begun saying things like “No Mo Nemo” or “Nix to Pixar” ? That they feel that things have reached a saturation point? Which is why these folks would like to see an attraction that prominently features a non-Pixar character be greenlit.

Well, that ain’t happening anytime soon. In an effort to recover that $7.4 billion that the Walt Disney Company paid for Pixar Animation Studios last year, even more Pixar-related projects are headed into WDI’s development pipeline. Earlier this month, I learned that Tony Baxter himself is allegedly already looking for ways to bring “Ratatouille” into the parks …

You just have to wonder how long it’s going to be before the average Disney theme park guest (Not the overly-sensitive annual passholders who already carp about everything & anything) start OD-ing on all of these rides, shows and attractions that are built around Pixar’s assortment of CG characters.

And when you consider that there are already some very powerful people in the Team Disney Burbank building who are losing their enthusiasm for all things Pixar, who have begun complaining that John Lasseter & Ed Catmull are trying to turn the company’s corporate headquarters into Emeryville South, you just have to wonder if …

Oops. That’s Monday‘s story. Come back then and I’ll tell you all about how there’s already trouble in Pixar-dise …

Your thoughts?