Disneyland General
Topic: small world changes

#	Author	Message
41	ChurroMonster Wed 2/27/2008 2:03a	If the cartoonization of IASW really happens then WDI is truly creatively bankrupt. First of all, the ride is as popular as it ever has been, especially during the holidays. It doesn't need a fix in its show element. Second, why infect yet another attraction with characters? The entire park is now filled with the characters. They walk around. All the merchandise in every single shop has characters. And now most attractions have them. Characters are like friends. We all love them. But if you can't get away from them they become a nuisance and you just want them to back off. I love Disney but I'm afraid I'm going to feel like punching Mickey when I see him.
42	aracuanbird Wed 2/27/2008 4:06a	Disney in the Walt years was a pretty daring company. Consider this: whenever the company met success the audience and the moneymen were clamoring for more of the same. More MICKEY! More PIGS! More DWARFS! More DISNEYLANDS! More MARY POPPINS! This is why Disney was daring: time and again, Walt didn't answer success with some formula (e.g. sequels) but with something you've never seen. Some of those things weren't well received, things like Fantasia, but others were. They went on to become intellectual cornerstones of the company. In the early 1960's, no one was asking Walt to take the dark ride to new heights, to push on the boundaries of scale and narrative. No one said: more MARY BLAIR! No one said: create an attraction that resonates emotionally in ways that no previous attraction ever attempted. But that is what It's a Small World did. This proposed change--adding characters--is vapid and monocular. It is the answer that comes out of a sausage-making computer. Doing this to It's a Small World is bad, but what is worse is that Disney rarely has the ambition to rise above the clamoring moneymen and the audience (if there really is an audience clamoring here) to create attractions that redefine the nature of the theme park experience. Walt's legacy of innovation has been all but dismissed in the parks. 'Bird When in Cyberspace visit http://www.plausible-impossibl e.com
43	jonvn Wed 2/27/2008 4:29a	"yet the most popular new stuff didn't have any characters at all!" This is the most annoying part of it. THey never are. THe most popular things in the parks are NOT character based. Yet they keep cramming them in there. "absolutely my daughter's favorite attraction " My son's favorite things were Imagination, he walked out singing the song, and Test Track. He also likes to watch the Discovery Channel and Animal Planet. Toon Disney is not the pattern for every single child.
44	jonvn Wed 2/27/2008 4:40a	And as to being a "Purist?" Yeah, I'm a purist. I want them to create a variety of things having different subject matter that matches the themes of the areas the attraction has been put in. If that makes me a purist, then I'm a purist. If wanting quality attractions that appeal to me, and people like makes me a purist, then I'm a purist. If not wanting to see the place being ground into mediocrity by talentless corporate egomaniacal hacks, then yes, I'm a purist. You know what really a purist is? It's the word they are obviously using inside the halls of Disney to refer to people who are not happy with them gutting 50 years of tradition. It's the word they derisively use for people who complain when they hack something that was once good to pieces. It's the name they call the public as an excuse for them to go ahead and do damage. And then, they have the gall to be arrogant about it. "You're just a fan." "Don't tell me how to do my job." Well, obviously they CAN'T do their jobs. They are without a shred of foresight, subtlety or ability. This ride was about world peace, it was about the children of the world coming together to beg the people of the world to please not kill us all. It was about our children and our future and how we are all one. It was originally built for Unicef. It was about us, and our children, and hope. Now it's going to be about how we can add some plush sales to the mix. The high ideals the company once had thrown to the gutter for a few extra dollars. A few extra dollars they so desperately need because they don't quite make enough money on $5 boxes of popcorn and $10 balloons and paying their employees as little as they possibly can. It's disgusting.
45	Mr X Wed 2/27/2008 5:04a	**"absolutely my daughter's favorite attraction " My son's favorite things were Imagination** Imagination was probably her second favorite (I'm presuming to speak for the kid, but she's three so it's okay I guess). She also loved ice cream on main street, the small animals at the entrance of DAK, the fireworks at Magic Kingdom AND Epcot, and the drummers at Animal Kingdom (in no particular order).
46	Mr X Wed 2/27/2008 5:08a	**The high ideals the company once had thrown to the gutter for a few extra dollars.** I would have to reluctantly agree here. On the optimistic side though, I'd have to suggest Jon that maybe, just maybe, it might be time for you to take your own advice and not bother with Disney for a while...you seem to be far too bitter to be able to really enjoy the thing right now for what it is (which is, like it or not, exactly what you're railing against AND, upon further reflection, all the more reason that I can't imagine making another trip to America (Disney used to be part of the priority) for another 5-10 years if ever. I'll spend my (more valuable) YEN in asia and europe, most likely.
47	jonvn Wed 2/27/2008 5:20a	The reason I go now is for my kid. Otherwise, I would not. We stopped going for quite a while, but now that he's of the age to enjoy this stuff, and he really enjoys it, he should get to see it. However, if it gets to the point where I'm just gritting my teeth all day listening to high pitch voiced cartoon characters singing songs, then I'm not going to be able to do that. Even the kid walked out of a couple of these things, notably Stitch in WDW, saying "That was it?!" *HE* doesn't even like this stuff. And if it comes to pass that they have cartooned and femmed up the place to the point where he no longer cares, at FIVE no less, well, that's going to be one entire family's money Disney no longer gets. But not just for me, but for him, and his kids too. If they manage to grind it out of him at this age, and he can't possibly be the only one, then they are building themselves up a whole lot of trouble with this junk. And before someoen says I'm influencing him, no. We went into the thing all excited about him seeing stitch (for instance). It was gonna be great! It was not. It simply appeals to very few people. They are narrowing the scope of their appeal, and that is not a very good business model to be engaged in.
48	jonvn Wed 2/27/2008 5:24a	BTW, I'm not tht bitter. Just, well, disappointed. That would be the best way to describe it. I just sound angry all the time anyway, even by just saying "hello."
49	Mr X Wed 2/27/2008 6:17a	I felt disappointed too. In certain respects. I also had a very nice time, overall...and was pleasantly surprised to find the staff as friendly and accomodating as always. That's how it goes. And, Jon, how DARE you say "hello" to me in such a tone!!?? >:(
50	DBitz2 Wed 2/27/2008 8:45a	I'm not opposed to enhancing or plussing the ride, but, I feel that adding Disney animated characters to the ride would be a huge mistake. Regardless of how well integrated, or seemless, to use a term the Imagineers like to throw out, the characters are with the design aesthetic of the attraction's interior, human nature being what it is, the attention of guests, especially children, will shift naturally to the Disney characters. They will become the "stars" of the ride and the children of the world will become just background, like extras in a movie. This fundamentally changes what the ride is all about. Pure and simple. I really hope that they rethink the idea and wiser heads prevail. I welcome other enhancements of the attraction, as long as they keep to the design aesthetic of Mary Blair and the other folks who did the original designs. I think it is important that the first Small World honors that. Many people, even Disney fan friends of mine, diss Small World, the attraction and the song. I've told my close friends that if I ever get to a place where I'm too "sophisticated" or jaded to enjoy Small World, to slap me silly. In the times that we live in today, the childlike innocence and charm, and the simple, but profound message of the song, are comforting reminders that no matter how ugly things get in the world, there is still beauty to be found. If Walt were looking down upon all of this, he would surely be shedding tears of heartbreak at the shortsighted vision of some of the keepers of his kingdom.

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