A Long Awaited Rumor?

DisBeamer · Post by **DisBeamer** » Jun Fri 06, 2008 8:57 pm

Cheshire Cat wrote:Yeah, like many of you have said, I don't think they'd try to replicate the original again, but I hope they are, at the least, getting rid of the institute overlay. If the logo is changing back, that could be a sign that the institute may be going, along with the rumors that Jhn Lassester wants a new 3-D film in the pavilion.

Am I the only one who finds that a bit terrifying? I mean ... I'm not a fan of Honey I Shrunk the Audience (at least, not anymore; the first few times it's not bad but it's a pretty stale nowadays. The audio is also not great anymore). I know Lasseter is a big fan of 3-D things, which has promise, but all I can think of is Honey I Shrunk the Cars... Honey I Shrunk Buzz Lightyear... I Can't Find Nemo Because I Shrunk Him. You get the idea.

Seeing the old logo pop up is promising, at least. I'm going to reserve getting excited until we hear something about actually rehabbing the attraction itself, though.

Cheshire Cat · Post by **Cheshire Cat** » Jun Fri 06, 2008 10:25 pm

DisBeamer, that Lassester rumor was from JimHill, so don't get too concerned about taht part. It entailed him wanting to unify the pavilion by having a 3-D show involving figment and dreamfinder to coincide with an updated version of the original ride.

The 3-D theater has always seemed isolated from the rest of the pavilion, bith physically and thematically. I like the idea of somehow connecting the theater to the rest of the pavilion but, I don't know what to think about a 3-D figment and dreamfinder... I guess if it was done right, but I can't seem to picture what the "right" way to do it actually is.

Captain Schnemo · Post by **Captain Schnemo** » Jun Sat 07, 2008 12:11 am

I'd like to see something out there like Magic Journeys again. I don't think every attraction in a pavilion needs to be completely connected. It's nice when there are a variety of attractions, like in The Land or Wonders of Life.

And as much I like Figment, personifying imagination itself with a discrete entity kinda spoils the sense of infinite possibility. I'd be happy to see him in a new attraction, but I don't need him everywhere. A little goes a long way, and if he's not written properly, he goes from a wide-eyed, playful innocent to kind of a jerky pest. They need a real writer with a delicate touch.

I assume they'd go with CGI for the 3D movie, since even Indy is CGI these days, but it would be nice if they did something really wild. When I first saw The Matrix, I was disappointed that when Neo really cut loose all he could think to do was some John Woo action hero moves I'd already seen before. Not that that's not extremely cool, but with the ability to tear holes in time and space...I was hoping for a bit more.

They could do some crazy stuff with fractals or tricks of perspective or light, maybe even the sort of things in that movie Disney worked on with Dali. I found the trippy, kinda fun, kinda creepy weirdness of Magic Journeys to be a real delight, just because it was so unexpected.

Lasseter makes great movies, but he's also got a formula that is...less than imaginative. I'd like to see them work with some really creative artists and make a real WTF movie that people will really talk about.

It just doesn't seem right for a pavilion that celebrates the infinite imagination to give us exactly what we expect or something we've already seen before.

Croaker · Post by **Croaker** » Jun Sat 07, 2008 1:05 pm

Journey has become a waste of space.

DisBeamer · Post by **DisBeamer** » Jun Sun 08, 2008 2:16 am

Cheshire Cat wrote:DisBeamer, that Lassester rumor was from JimHill, so don't get too concerned about taht part. It entailed him wanting to unify the pavilion by having a 3-D show involving figment and dreamfinder to coincide with an updated version of the original ride.

Oooh, okay. Phew.

The 3-D theater has always seemed isolated from the rest of the pavilion, bith physically and thematically. I like the idea of somehow connecting the theater to the rest of the pavilion but, I don't know what to think about a 3-D figment and dreamfinder... I guess if it was done right, but I can't seem to picture what the "right" way to do it actually is.

I don't know if I mind it being detached ... as long as it's related, if that makes sense. Like, I never understood what Captain EO was doing in there. (Granted, I'm a -hair- too young to have been really into MJ fever in the early/mid 80s, so that may be partly why; he was kind of the Nemo of his day ... er ... the fish, not the submarine cap'n). I think putting Figment in the movie as well might be, as Schnemo suggests, Figment overload. Especially without Billy Barty's voice, as he had a way of sounding excited without being grating, which the new Figment kinda lacks, imo.

I guess right now it's kind of connected because they have the whole 'inventor of the year' awards thing going on. One of the problems of making that tie in, though (in my mind, at least) is they picked a movie that's not really a classic to tie into. Snow White never goes out of style, Honey I Shrunk the Kids doesn't stand up quite as well.

Captain Schnemo wrote:They could do some crazy stuff with fractals or tricks of perspective or light, maybe even the sort of things in that movie Disney worked on with Dali. I found the trippy, kinda fun, kinda creepy weirdness of Magic Journeys to be a real delight, just because it was so unexpected.

It'd be kind of neat if they went down a similar path that Walt wanted for Fantasia; setting images to famous music. If they had shorter vignettes there'd be more opportunity to swap different pieces in and out, too. And no reason they couldn't make that 3-D. Seems like that'd be a hefty undertaking for the current crew, though... although they did make a stab at it in Ratatouille, I guess, if very briefly.

I'm sorry I never got to see Magic Journeys; the music gives me the strangest mental images of what must have been going on in that...

keneka · Post by **keneka** » Jun Sun 08, 2008 4:34 am

I think they should at least bring back imageworks, the new version downstairs just feels like a selling pitch from kodak about their products

skull · Post by **skull** » Jun Sun 08, 2008 7:54 am

I don't remember the originall pavalion much.. about the only thing I do remember is the rainbow tunnel, and the 3d movie...

Hopefully this re-re-redo of the pavilion will be far better then the last, and bring it back to it's former glory (from what I hear it was, anyway)

Admiral01 · Post by **Admiral01** » Jun Sun 08, 2008 11:44 pm

From what I understand from my contacts at Disney, they took the time long ago to digitize all their audio and video (unlike my friends at NASA) from every ride and therefore they could potentially rebuild any previous attraction with the original video and audio tracks. No need to throw away digital tracks. Storing them was easy.

I love seeing the original EPCOT ride and park logos. Brings back memories and gives me hope for the future of this one-of-a-kind park.

rmorton50 · Post by **rmorton50** » Jun Mon 09, 2008 12:00 am

This is very exciting to me. I remember when I took my children to EPCOT in the mid '80s, they were 9 and 11 and found the imagination pavilion their favorite place in EPCOT. Now, they are adults and can't bear to go there because they remember how much fun it used to be. I don't care whether they recreate the old experience. I just would like to see them turn their imaginations on overdrive and produce an experience that really stimulates everyone's imagination again - whatever combination of media is used.

Captain Schnemo · Post by **Captain Schnemo** » Jun Mon 09, 2008 2:23 am

Admiral01 wrote:From what I understand from my contacts at Disney, they took the time long ago to digitize all their audio and video (unlike my friends at NASA) from every ride and therefore they could potentially rebuild any previous attraction with the original video and audio tracks.

While it's possible they've done this with the stuff that's actually media (music, stuff on "screens", etc.), I know they haven't done this with actual 3D stuff they've destroyed.

That's why these fan sites and DVD collections are so important...Disney doesn't respect their own art, and anything that isn't sold to scavengers to auction on eBay ends up in the dumpster. Pretty sad.

DisBeamer · Post by **DisBeamer** » Jun Thu 12, 2008 2:57 am

Based on that other (old) Imagination thread that came up, I was looking at JII wiki tonight and came up with this Jim Hill article. Cheshire; is that the one you were referring to? Or has he had a new rumor since then? ('Cause that was in 2006).

Stuff like this...

I'm serious, folks. The powers-that-be at Pixar reportedly want to drop the WDI name and then go back to the name that Disney's theme park design division used to have back in the 1960s & 1970s. Which was WED. As in Walt Elias Disney's initials.

... doesn't quite seem to have panned out thus far. (I know, I know... JH stuff not panning out? Color me shocked.

Still curious if he's come out with something more recent I didn't see, though. )

metsofny · Post by **metsofny** » Jun Thu 12, 2008 3:20 am

Imagination! I don't think I ever Imagined smells. Blew my mind the first time I saw the refab. Imagination, the new ride really made me think. made me think can you Imagination a car. or even maybe a flower.

BRING BACK THE OLD RIDE!!!!!!

Cheshire Cat · Post by **Cheshire Cat** » Jun Thu 12, 2008 10:08 am

Yeah, I think that's the article. It doesn't sound like it could be a completely dead idea. Although even if it were true, there's lots of other places the imagineers and PIXAR are concentratin on right now.

I'm starting let my hopes down, maybe the imageworks is only moving upstairs so they have more room for merchandise at the ride exit...

DisBeamer · Post by **DisBeamer** » Jun Thu 12, 2008 2:30 pm

Ahh, gotcha. I agree, especially considering the little changes to the outside, and the idea they're even considering moving the ImageWorks instead of leaving all that dead space upstairs, it seems like they could be headed for an update.

Here's a question: When they 'upgraded' away from the original, did they change the track layout of the ride? I know the original was about twice as long as the current (and previous) versions, but I can't remember if that's because they cut down the track, or because you're no longer moving slowly and continuously through, rather than scooting forward and stopping all the time.

Jacca5660 · Post by **Jacca5660** » Jun Thu 12, 2008 4:20 pm

After reading all of this and then finding JimHill's name in the middle of it. Let's just say I'll wait and see. Since JimHill got neutered by Eisner at the Philly stock holders meating a few years ago, he's been a Disney sounding board. If they want to start something just for a reaction they give it to him. For a few years I had his board book marked on top of my browser, but now he's become a Disney (add bad word here).