Flashback with us to 2011… Rihanna, Lady Gaga, and Adele top the music charts; the final film in the Harry Potter series is released; Oprah broadcasts her last television talk show episode; Marvel makes an unexpected box office hit out of the unassuming Thor…
Another thing that’s happening here in 2011? The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is celebrating its first anniversary at Universal’s Islands of Adventure in Orlando. This immersive, cinematic land is literally unlike anything that’s come before. Faithfully recreating the “real” Scottish village of Hogsmeade with photorealistic accuracy, the Wizarding World seems to be flooded with guests… and they aren’t just queuing up for the land’s anchor E-Ticket dark ride through Hogwarts Castle. No. They’re queuing for hours to get into gift shops and restaurants – waiting in line to spend money.
Image: Universal / Warner Bros.
Most industry enthusiasts quickly surmised that the Wizarding World of Harry Potter had changed the industry forever. It hadn’t just created a ride; it recreated a world that guests wanted to step into. They wanted to live the lives of their favorite heroes by eating where they ate; shopping where they shopped; and the Wizarding World made that possible. By the way, in 2011, attendance of Universal’s Islands of Adventure jumped an unprecedented and inconcievable 29%, adding 2 million guests to the park’s count.
…Oh, and completely coincidentally, in 2011 Disney announced that it had acquired the global, exclusive rights to build theme park attractions based on the film Avatar, and will start with an immersive new land at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
Fighting back
Image: 20th Century Fox
It goes without saying that rebuttals to Disney’s Avatar announcement were swift, passionate, and plentiful. From the moment it was announced, fans railed and rallied against the idea, proclaiming that the 2009 PG-13, 20th Century Fox, CGI action film (from Titanic director James Cameron) had no place at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and just didn’t deserve a permanent land at a Disney Park.
After all, the film’s (largely forgotten) plot revolves around a human-led miltary assault on the moon of Pandora to mine it out of existence for its priceless resource, Unobtanium (sigh). It’s true that along the way, a member of the militia attempting to infiltrate the native, naturalist Na’vi people by way of a false Na’vi-look-a-like “avatar” learns a valuable Pocahontas-esque lesson about conservation, but this was to be the basis for a permanent land at Disney World?
Image: 20th Century Fox
Fans (perhaps rightly) attributed the announcement to Disney’s knee-jerk reaction to grab something – maybe, anything – “Potter-sized” in the wake of evidence that the Wizarding World would hold its own in Orlando. And admittedly, in 2011, Avatar looked like something Potter-sized. The 2009 film had broken all box office records, earning $2 billion globally (in part due to its position as the first major, modern 3D release, and its cutting edge use of CGI and motion capture), seemingly positioning the film as a Harry Potter contender.
What Disney couldn’t have known is that Avatar would go on to leave practically no footprints in pop culture; no oft-repeated quotes; no beloved characters; no chart-topping songs. When Cameron revealed that no less than three sequels to the film are in-production, it was met by a collective shrug, as documented in a stinging article by Slate called “Why People Don’t Care About Avatar.”
Image: 20th Century Fox
As evidence of its fly-by-night nature, Disney fans are often known to ask detractors to name a single character from the film. Can you? So in the long, laborious six years that followed, nearly all coverage of the expansion – including ours – contained the careful caveat that most expected Pandora to be met with the ire of fans and to feel distinctly out-of-place at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
How wrong we all were.
Pandora – The World of AVATAR
Image: Disney / Lightstorm
When Pandora – The World of AVATAR opened in May 2017, fans quickly retconned their earlier frustrations about the land. How could they not? Pandora is perhaps one of the most spectacular environments ever created by Disney Imagineers. The land whisks guests away to the alien moon inhabited by the giant, blue, feline Na’vi people – a moon comprised of floating mountains, alien wildlife, and stunning, bioluminescent jungles humming with light and sound.
Pandora is massive – one of the largest lands ever created by Disney – and contains two stellar attractions: Na’vi River Journey (a fan-favorite boat ride through the glowing, rhythmic jungle) and AVATAR Flight of Passage (the undisputed E-Ticket; a flying simulator placing guests on the back of the film’s dragon-like Banshees).
Image: Disney / Lightstorm
The most brilliant thing about Pandora for fans of Imagineering, though, isn’t its ride line-up or its Wizarding-World-style attempts at creating “in-universe” retail and dining opportunities. In fact, its greatest strength is what most of us expected to be Pandora’s downfall: its relatability and story.
Apparently, designers took note of the qualms the public had about incorporating Avatar into Disney World and the film’s unfortunate lack of staying power in the public consciousness. Brilliantly, they severed the land entirely from the film (and presumably, its upcoming sequels). When we step into Pandora, its years – maybe generations – after the military assault in the film; decades and decades after humans tried to overtake the moon and its pacifist feline residents. That gives you and I a much more friendly role: eco-tourists, visiting the moon to gaze in awe at its flora and fauna, and to laugh at some anonymous ancestors of ours who tried in vain to kill this verdant planet.
Image: Disney
To enjoy Pandora – The World of AVATAR, one need know absolutely nothing about the 2009 film it’s based on or the characters, settings, or stories from that now-forgotten film; a truly genius solution.
And as a result, Pandora has quickly gained international acclaim, and earned Animal Kingdom its own boost in attendance of 15% from 2017 to 2018. In other words, Disney pulled off Pandora to a degree that few people expected. Overnight, the legions of fans who protested the land instead found themselves smitten with the bioluminscent alien world and how its message melds into Animal Kingdom’s. But for just a moment, let’s rewind to 2011… Amid the fury that surrounded the announcement of Pandora, we asked a very simple question…
What If?
Image: Disney / Lightstorm
What if?
Whenever Disney begins the process of designing new rides, they do so in a stage they call “Blue Sky.” During the Blue Sky phase, Imagineers are tasked with thinking outside the box, and thinking big. At least for a while, forget budgets; forget the constraints of technology; forget space limitations. Dream as big as you can. In this invaluable phase, Imagineers let their imaginations run free. Of course, the ideas they come up with will later be pared down to what’s feasible and technically possible, but the Blue Sky phase is extra-important for getting the creative juices flowing.
So we decided to have our own Blue Sky moment surrounding the plot of land now home to Pandora. On the next page, we’ll throw out seven ideas for what could have been built on the land now occupied by a moon. It’s not that we hate Pandora, or wish it would disappear; just that we decided to have a little fun of our own and imagine seven themed lands that would make just as much sense (or more) as Avatar in beefing up Animal Kingdom’s line-up. Continue to page two to see what we’ve cooked up…
1. Middle Earth (Lord of the Rings)
© New Line Cinema
Folks aren’t usually too jazzed about the idea of Disney bringing outside intellectual properties into its parks. There are exceptions (especially in retrospect, where we can see that Indiana Jones, Star Wars, and The Twilight Zone fit just fine) but for the most part, fans prefer attractions with original stories and characters, will accept attractions based on Disney stories, and absolutely disapprove of attractions based on outside influences. Peter Jackson’s take on J.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series seems to be one of the exceptions.
The three Lord of the Rings films (and to a lesser extent, the follow-up Hobbit films) inspired a new generation to crack open Tolkien’s stories and make the literary pilgrimage from the quiet and docile Shire, through the glittering mythical forest of Lothlorien to the fiery slopes of Mount Doom. Practically set up to be a theme park land, the stories are of exploration, bravery, and adventure. If there’s any book-turned-film series that stands a chance of rivaling Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings would be it, and it’s definitely suited for Disney’s storytelling abilities.
© New Line Cinema
Throughout the stories, the characters encounter some of Middle Earth’s creatures (dragons, Elven-birds, Great Spiders, Giant Eagles, and the dragon Smaug) that would give Animal Kingdom the “fantasy” animals it promised and so much more. Honestly, it might’ve been just perfect. Replace Avatar’s boat ride with a similar trip through the Elven forest of Lothlorien (top) and replace the Banshee simulator with a trip over Middle Earth on the wings of a Giant Eagle. Done!
By the way, Middle Earth is not entirely unlikely to show up at Walt Disney World one day. Allegedly, when Avatar’s James Cameron started to get a little too bossy and threw what insiders called “child-like tantrums” with Disney executives, Disney flew in the rights-holders to Lord of the Rings and gave them a personalized tour of Cars Land at Disney California Adventure – a veritable height of modern Imagineering… Insiders say it was all a power play to send a message to Cameron that if he didn’t cooperate, Disney could and would take their business elsewhere. Still, it’s an interesting thought…
2. Star Wars: Rebel Outpost
Image: 20th Century Fox / Lucasfilm
Disney’s acquisition of LucasFilm and its iconic Star Wars series seemed like something of a rebirth for Disney. Since that 2012 takeover, Disney has rebooted Star Wars with a new triology of films, an army of merchandise, and ceaseless spin-offs and side stories (so many that Bob Iger admitted he might’ve made a mistake in releasing “a little too much, too fast,” promising “some slowdown”).
But the undisputed pinnacle of the new era of Star Wars must be Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge – the new 14-acre lands coming to Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Summer and Fall of 2019, respectively. No doubt, these “Star Wars lands” are the next evolution of the Wizarding World concept, and Disney’s next attempts to create lands with that formula. Moreso than either Pandora, Cars Land, or any of the other “Wizarding World”-style lands Disney’s done since, Galaxy’s Edge will present opportunities to eat, drink, and shop like characters from the films well beyond mere rides.
Image: Disney / Lucasfilm
Imagine… What if Disney’s Hollywood Studios had “Galaxy’s Edge” in the form of the remote outpost planet Batuu, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom hosted the forested Endor or Kashyyyk? The two could even be connected together a la Universal’s Hogswarts Express connecting the two Wizarding Worlds. Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and Star Wars: Endor!
The Star Wars film series has an exhausting cast of animals and alien creatures that make up its ranks, and plenty that specifically live on the forested Endor. First and foremost is the beloved Ewok – Teddy bear style creatures who live in massive connected treehouse cities. Built at Animal Kingdom, just imagine the awe that those treehouse cities would inspire.The forest moon Endor is also home to Bordoks (horse-like alien creatures used as transportation for the Ewoks) and Maramou (ram-kangaroo hybrids) that would be perfect for an animatronic “petting zoo.”
Image: 20th Century Fox / Lucasfilm
Like with Middle Earth, the switch from Pandora to Endor doesn’t take much work. While Pandora has its Flight of Passage on the back of banshees soaring through the planet’s mountains, the Star Wars mythos says that massive Condor Dragons live on Endor. Each, with its 10-foot wingspan, glides through the planet’s forests and caves each night, eating massive spiders. In other words, Pandora was never the only cinematic, forested alien planet with zany extraterrestrial creatures Disney could’ve chosen…
3. Lost Coast (South America)
Image: tdrfan.com
Despite its coded slogan – Nãtazū – Disney’s Animal Kingdom does share one element commonly found in zoos: it’s divided by continent. The park already has the tremendously detailed lands of Africa and Asia. What’s missing? Well, for one, Central and South America. With stories of the Aztec, Inca, and Maya civilizations, a South America land at Animal Kingdom could be filled with ancient temple adventures and even be a land dedicated to (can you hear the fanfare?) Indiana Jones.
The original Disneyland in California originally planned for a massive Indiana Jones land that remains one of the most incredible lands that were planned but never built at a Disney Park. It never materialized, but a stunning E-ticket and a 1930s, jazzy overlay to the park’s Adventureland did, and it’s been the resort’s headlining attraction ever since.
Think about it: with Mayan temples, cities of gold, Peru’s Machu Picchu, and the ornate European towns constructed by the arriving Spanish, South America is practically begging for a spot on Animal Kingdom’s roster… a perfect blend of fantasy and the park’s signature hyper-realism, especially if Indy is the thematic basis for the land (Temple of the Golden Python, anyone?). Obviously the list of animals native to South America is practically endless, with many missing from the park’s current Eastern Hemisphere-centered collection.
Image: tdrfan.com
In terms of rides, Disney’s already done the heavy lifting. We don’t always encourage cloning and certainly original ideas are much preferred, but if Disney wanted to save a buck, it’s easy…
Tokyo DisneySea’s Raging Spirits roller coaster is likewise set among South American ruins and begging for an Indiana Jones overlay, while an EMV ride next door is a version of Disneyland’s off-roading Modern Marvel: Indiana Jones Adventure, but set in South America and in search of the mystical fountain of youth. Another great headlining ride would be a rusted South American seaplane hangar leading to a Soarin’-style simulator over the Wonders of the Ancient World.
4. Narnia
Image: Walden Media / Fox
Disney abandoned the Chronicles of Narnia film series after the second movie, handing 20th Century Fox the distribution rights for any thereafter (and then, ironically, winning them back with Disney’s 2018 purchase of Fox). Still, there’s no denying that the epic fantasy series written by philosopher C. S. Lewis is massively popular (as children’s novels first, and films second). Lewis crafted a very full, visceral world on par with George Lucas’ Star Wars universe. His realm of satyrs, witches, sea serpants, and minotaurs is explained in exhaustive detail and feels like a real, physical place, even when presented only in words.
Image: Walden Media / Fox
Of course, the magical land is presided over by the immortal lion Aslan (who is just perfect for a “Turtle Talk” style interactive encounter, if you think an audience with the embodiment of God is appropriate for a theme park attraction). The world is also populated by talking bears, badgers, deer, cats, and centaurs who could realistically guide a dark ride through Narnia as it freezes over in an attempt to reach to the icy fortress of the White Witch from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Altogether, Disney probably wouldn’t buy into Narnia land since it lost interest in the film series. Almost certainly, Disney hoped Narnia would gather Potter-style appeal (and box office receipts), and when it didn’t reach that frenzied level, they bailed. Still, Narnia would make for an incredible park land. Just imagine the magic Disney could muster in having guests enter it through a wardrobe…
5. Gravity Falls
Image: Disney
If you haven’t seen Gravity Falls on the Disney Channel, then hopefully you’ve at least heard about it – probably from friends who beg you to give it a try. The 2012 animated show is critically acclaimed and seemingly loved by all. It follows twin brother-and-sister duo Dipper and Mabel Pines who travel to the mysterious town of Gravity Falls, Oregon to live with their Grunkle (that’s great uncle) Stan, who runs a tourist trap “museum” called the Mystery Shack.
Dipper and Mabel find themselves inexplicably drawn into one of Gravity Falls’ urban legends or creature stories in each episode. Somewhat like Cartoon Network’s Courage the Cowardly Dog, every half-hour installment sees the two face off against a new mysterious creature like the Loch-Ness-style Gobblewonker that lives in the local lake, “Manotaurs” who hide in the “Man Cave” outside of town, and even living gnomes.
Image: Disney
While it’s obviously impractical to base an entire themed land around a Disney Channel cartoon series, it’s fun to dream of the possibilities that could arise if Gravity Falls were given its own area (and to be fair, it would read easily as an “original story” for folks who don’t know the series it would be based on). Imagine a short trail through the Redwood forests of “Oregon” leading to the Mystery Shack, which, at least, could be a walkthrough or a restaurant. At best, the Mystery Shack could have a Mystic Manor style ride through the pages of the creature journal from the show.
Of course, a diverging path into the forest might lead to Lake Gravity Falls, where a boat ride based on the Mystery of the Gobblewonker would be a must. We don’t often recommend “interactive” dark rides, but if done in a Men In Black: Alien Attack style of realism and humor, a zapping ride through Gravity Falls mysteries (including lots of gnomes) might be a great thing, and a perfect ride for Animal Kingdom. If the Flight of Passage were to be kept from the Pandora plans, Gravity Falls’ Giant Vampire Bats would serve as a perfect vehicle.
6. Mysterious Island
Image: Disney
It’s unlikely that Mysterious Island would ever come to Orlando (or any Disney resort) in as grand a form as its present in Tokyo DisneySea. The land is actually contained within the collapsed caldera of the 189-foot tall Mount Prometheus, an “active” volcano that serves as the park’s icon.
Mysterious Island in Tokyo is home to two attractions, each based on novels by Jules Verne and – by extension – his Captain Nemo antihero. What’s ironic is that both are focused on animals. In particular, they feature mythical or fantastic animals that would meet and exceed Animal Kingdom’s commitment to showcasing such creatures.
© Disney
The first attraction, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, is a spectacular suspended family dark ride through the ocean’s depths, where riders in 6-person “subs” encounter fish, dolphins, sharks, and an angry giant squid before discovering an otherworldly alien species deep beneath the waves – it’s a sort of “sea life” shout-out that goes beyond what The Seas at Epcot can provide by giving guests their own “submarines” rather than viewing fish through a glass window. What’s more, bringing the ride to life in a Mysterious Island at Animal Kingdom would be a unique way to memorialize the really-underwater, submarine-based Lost Legend: 20,000 Leagues – Submarine Voyage that graced Magic Kingdom’s Fantasyland for two decades.
The second attraction – which would no doubt become one of Walt Disney World’s defining E-tickets – is itself a Modern Marvel: Journey to the Center of the Earth. Using Test Track style technology, this ride sends riders through a convoluted dark ride course to the planet’s core, passing underground oceans and subterranean, bioluminescent forests teeming with alien life. The finale is an encounter with the massive Lava Monster – easily one of the most advanced animatronic creatures in the world – as it protects its slimy egg-sacks.
Mysterious Island, surprisingly, fits Animal Kingdom really, really well. It’s a highly detailed environment based on the literary works of Jules Verne, and while its focus is adventure and exploration, it’s truly about encountering unknown creatures in fantastic settings – a totally perfect fit for Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
7. Beastly Kingdom
Image: Disney
The most obvious choice for the land currently being formed into Pandora – The World of Avatar might just be Beastly Kingdom. Obvious because Beastly Kingdom was specially designed for that exact space. Disney Imagineers famously released concept art from this never-built land, announcing it as Phase II of Animal Kingdom’s opening. It’s not uncommon for modern parks to be built in “phases” with a few years separating massive investments. Animal Kingdom’s price tag was in the billions as it is, so holding off and recouping some before “finishing” the park was a grand idea. Problem is, it never happened.
Image: Disney
We dove deep into the land that should’ve been and how some of its core concepts came to life just a few miles up the road in its own feature, Possibilityland: Beastly Kingdom – just for Imagineerings fans… But in short, guests entering this mythical land would’ve faced a fork in the road: to the left, dark lantern-lit woods would lead to a cold Medieval village where a dragon (and his associated E-ticket dark ride / roller coaster combo) would create a dark and sinister story.
Image: Disney
Meanwhile, the right fork would’ve led to fanciful and bright Grecian gardens with a family boat ride based on Fantasia and an interactive Quest for the Unicorn maze experience where guests would’ve had to awaken bronze statues to unlock a secret grotto.
Dragons, unicorns, sea serpents… Great, simple, classic creatures of myth and legend that were designed to fit perfectly into Animal Kingdom’s stories and settings. Obviously Beastly Kingdom never came to be, and at this point, it won’t.
Pandora – For Better or Worse
Despite years of carrying pitchforks and signs, ultimately Disney fans (us included) should’ve known that Imagineers would take the idea of Avatar and create a spectacular, compelling, and timeless world even out of source material that’s… well… less than desirable.
Ultimately, Pandora shines. It’s brilliant not only for its quantifiable components – its mountains, its rides, its food, its ambition, its scale – but for its smarts. Somehow, Disney transformed a forgettable film (that, even insiders would admit, they probably regretted jumping on in the wake of the Wizarding World) into a gorgeous realm that exceeds most any project at Walt Disney World since the opening of Animal Kingdom itself, and until Galaxy’s Edge debuts.
Image: Disney / Lightstorm
That doesn’t mean that fans can’t have a little fun imagining what could’ve been… Even separate from the fire and fury that consumed armchair Imagineers back in 2011, it stands the reason that there probably were better ways to use the old Camp Minnie-Mickey parcel than as Pandora. But even still, it’s hard to imagine a more spectacular final product inhabiting that space.
Now we have to know your thoughts… let us know what you think of our seven Blue Sky replacements for the World of Avatar. Which – if any – would you like to see? Or is the final Avatar product the best of the bunch?
