So this afternoon, the Disney management announced a long-term relationship with James Cameron, the guy behind Avatar, to put Avatar in the Disney parks. They didn’t really announce any specifics except to say that there will be a themed ‘Avatar Land’ coming to Animal Kingdom. Note that they say that AK is “the site of the first” Avatar Land. Disney tends to put the same attractions in different parks, so it’ll probably end up other places as well.
They’re estimating construction will start by 2013, and apparently Cameron’s making 2 sequels to the film as well, which I guess should keep up interest in the franchise and the parks.
UGH. The whole “Avatar” craze is over, Disney. No one cares anymore, as I believe the comments above indicate. Its like trying to make a Twilight themed park. Seriously? The buzz is over. The only attention it really gets anymore is making jokes about it.
I don’t see how they could have any rides centered around it, and what, just because of the giant tree? Also, isn’t Animal Kingdom supposed to be a relatively educational park?
To your right are the mandrils, a rather fascinating creature. The males have extended fangs and multicolored rounds in order to attract females during the mating season…
To your left are the Navi.
Whoa, I disappear for one crazy day of reality and alas, people!
I totally agree, Rac. Avatar doesn’t have a fandom, like Potter or Star Wars. Everyone forgot about it. It came out almost two years ago, after all. I guess the sequels will help keep Avatar in the public eye, but it feels like something that’s going to be dated quickly and they’re going to have to spend lots of $ to update 15 years from now. And the fact that they’re talking about MULTIPLE parks means they might be making the same expensive mistake several times over. Hopefully they’ll see how well it does in Florida before they attempt anything else.
Animal Kingdom is a troubled park as it is. I’d love to see some NEW things from Imagineering, not something based on someone else’s creation. Or even Disney’s creation- Stitch and Ariel are cool and all, but the most popular and enduring rides are the ones that don’t tie into Disney franchises at all, like Space Mountain and Haunted Mansion. And Chuckles, I agree on the rides- that park needs rides, stat. People have been suggesting a Soarin’ type ride, which could actually work well with Avatar. Hahaha I think the education part will probably tie in with environmentalism.
shrugs Incredigirl, there are plenty of people that aren’t upset at all by this and are really looking forward to it. I get that too- Disney will do an awesome job, as they always do, and I’m sure it’ll be visually stunning. I just wish they were investing in original projects instead of what is a tired franchise, IMO.
^^Apparently it’s anyone’s world if he or she has enough money to throw at Disney.
There’s an interesting article from an Orlando newspaper about this in comparison to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, if anyone’s interested: thesent.nl/phYypT
That is a terrible article. I see what she is getting at, but that is not fair. I can personally name almost all of the Avatar characters, all of the major ones. This is all perception. Shoot me, but I love Avatar much more then Princess and the Frog or Bambi. I think that article is entirely biased. could understand and sympathize with that person if they said “Disney should stick to Disney products.” That would make sense. But it sounds to me like they are just saying this because they weren’t crazy for Avatar.
They call Avatar unimaginative. Well, obviously. Thank you, sherlock. Thank you gracious lord of hipocracy and self-righteousness. What Disney film is imaginative? Almost every single one is based on a book or story, tweaked slightly enough for children. Even the “first original Disney feature”, The Lion King, is straight from hamlet. And some say it is a rewashed Kimba the White Lion.
Now, I love Disney. More than such is healthy. And I love the Disney company much more than avatar, with the exception of about 7-8 movies. But that person is not being fair. And to me, it’s ridiculous.
Are you freaking kidding me? Am I the only person in the world who actually saw this movie? It was a great film! All the sets and creatures were some of the most imaginative creations I’ve seen in years. Why do you think it was even nominated for Best Picture? Because it made the Academy feel nostalgic for Dances with Wolves and Titanic?
Sure Avatar is not Disney, but neither is Star Wars, Indiana Jones, or The Muppets (back in the Jim Henson era obviously). I still don’t know what rides the park could have, but for the atmosphere of being on Pandora? Holy crap! I know I’m going to be first in line when the section of the park is revealed.
Whoa, didn’t mean to link to something that you found so offensive. When I read it I just focused on the Harry Potter comparison because that’s how my brain works. Don’t pass go, head straight for Potter. My apologies for upsetting you.
I think some of the bias and negativity in it comes from the fact that he’s directly comparing it to Potter. He compares it for a good reason- this is Disney’s big counteraction to the Wizarding World of HP, and several HP fansites have even posted about this move in relation to that. Knowing that this is their reaction doesn’t put the Avatar decision in as good of a light than if you looked at it just on its own. Disney’s hoping to create something that’ll rake in the merch revenue just as much as Potter, and I don’t think they’ve found it. In that sense, Avatar’s not equal to Potter- most people won’t suffer a breakdown in Avatar Land and buy everything in sight just because they’re in Pandora. (Not that this happened to me and my friends while in Hogsmeade…) That said, I don’t think there’s any untapped franchise out there at the moment with a fandom that rivals the size and rabidness of Potter, so Disney didn’t have much of a selection. If they wanted to go for a film they didn’t yet have rights to, Avatar was probably the best bet. Can’t really think of anything else that’s been that popular in the last 5 years, apart from Twilight, Dark Knight, or Justin Bieber.
People’s opinions of this move seem to depend on how they felt about Avatar. I thought it was a good film, but it didn’t live up to the hype surrounding it. But it wasn’t at all a heap of dung, like the author of that column implied. Avatar does have an awesome atmosphere, and that’s what Disney and AK excel at. You guys loved it, so you’re really looking forward to the park. Difference of opinion.
You make an excellent point about Disney stealing all of its stories! Then again, they never pretended it was otherwise. They threw in some dancing and singing and we were too distracted by the shiny fluffiness for reason to enter the picture
I think we can all agree on something- yay for Disney actually investing in Animal Kingdom! The poor park needs it. Avatar Land will surely be far superior to dinosaur carnival games
I couldn’t get into Avatar. I never saw it in the theater, and when I finally got around to watching it on HBO I turned it off after the first hour. It was predictable, and it even made me say to myself “What? This is what people were so hyped up about? This is nothing special to write home about in the first place!”. It wasn’t my cup of tea, I was just glad that I made the right choice and saw Princess and the frog over this. Avatar is just the scripts of Pocahontas and Ferngully mashed together with Sci-fi material. I think I’d like Avatar if it didn’t have a crazy fanbase as well as ripping off stuff we’ve seen before.
Dont even get me started on the fanbase on Avarar. The fanbase is crazy, I should know because I got yelled at by 5 people who were extreme fanboys of Avatar who snapped at me for saying that I didnt like the movie. And I thought the fanbases of Harry Potter, Twlight, Sonic The Hedgehog, and Final Fantasy were crazier than these guys. Instead Avatar joins in with how crazy the fanbases can be. If you guys like this, I’m not stopping you. The thing that I dislike about avatar is that people went to see a live-action film over a hand-drawn animated feature(which looked better than Avatar. But that’s my opinion). I can think of a million ideas that can be way better than an Avatar themed park for the Animal Kingdom.
Aside from Disney stealing Kimba, they also stole Richard William’s Thief and the cobbler for Aladdin. There was an article online somewhere that had the comparison between the two.
Oh, no, Now Has Guilt! You didn’t make me mad personally at all. I quite like you actually. I just think the person who wrote the article was being unfair and basing everything on their own preference. I’m sorry if I sounded mean, I really wasn’t mad at you.
I’m pretty sure Disney didn’t “steal” Aladdin from The Thief and the Cobbler. I was under the impression that many of the animators Thief and the Cobbler went to disney to work on Aladdin instead, after Warner Bros. cut out half of the movie.
Incredigirl, I know you’re not mad at me but thanks. I felt bad because I don’t like to cause inflammatory nonsense on the Internets. I come on here for a nice discussion, not to make other people mad or upset. I know you were upset at the article, not at me, but I still felt bad for linking to something that made you guys so angry.
Ignore me. I tend to experience unnecessary guilt. Hence the name
Dont give them ideas!!!
but thanks. I felt bad because I don’t like to cause inflammatory nonsense on the Internets. I come on here for a nice discussion, not to make other people mad or upset. I know you were upset at the article, not at me, but I still felt bad for linking to something that made you guys so angry.