This is an interesting thread. I couldn't help thinking that Disney's creative decline reminds me of the decline of the Star Trek franchise (I'm a huge Star Trek fan). After the folks originally involved with Star Trek either passed away or moved on to other things, the guy who inherited control of the franchise was very much an Eisner/Iger type: lots of "business sense" but ZERO creative talent. As a result, Star Trek ceased to be innovative and basically ended up copying itself again and again until it ceased to be profitable and the studio killed it.
Unfortunately, Disney IS the studio in this case, and one of their biggest target audiences is little kids, who are famous for not recognizing creative bankruptcy. (heck, when I was a little kid I thought the Go-Bots were cool) So they can go right on copying themselves ad infinitum, and their target audience will never realize it. If you're a pointy-haired MBA it's a good place to be, but if Walt was still around he'd probably sue to have his name taken off the company.
Wherefore art art?
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The Star Trek analogy is interesting, because there was also a fundamental shift that casual fans wouldn't notice. When they went from the largely one-off episodes, each with a specific take on some aspect of human history, and converted the franchise into a soap opera with long arcs, it ceased being interesting in the same way as the original show.
It went from being thought-provoking in the general sense to "OMG! I hope Worf doesn't get a divorce!". Its whole reason to exist changed.
As for that airport restaurant...
The lighting is pretty nice, though.
Anyway, I don't mean to insult the current Imagineers (well, maybe a little), I just can't believe that any true artists and free-thinkers would be anything but repelled by Disney these days.
It went from being thought-provoking in the general sense to "OMG! I hope Worf doesn't get a divorce!". Its whole reason to exist changed.
As for that airport restaurant...
That was the coolest part!...the building itself was completed in August 1961.
The lighting is pretty nice, though.
Anyway, I don't mean to insult the current Imagineers (well, maybe a little), I just can't believe that any true artists and free-thinkers would be anything but repelled by Disney these days.