Changes coming to Norway Pavillion

[cy1229]

File this under "Really?! Seriously?!"

From the AllEars.net newsletter today:

The Disney Parks Blog announced that Frozen (in theaters November 27, 2013) will have a presence at both Walt Disney World and the Disneyland Resort. Anna and her sister Elsa will appear in the Norway pavilion at Epcot for meet and greets. Also in Norway, the current exhibit in the Stave Church will be transformed to show how Norway inspired the filmmakers to create Frozen. At Disneyland, you will find Olaf the snowman in Fantasyland. As previously announced, Olaf will also host the new World of Color version called "World of Color - Winter Dreams" in Disney California Adventure.

[Wizzard419]

You sound surprised that Disney would use cross-platform marketing.

[Zillerzap]

File this under "Really?! Seriously?!"

From the AllEars.net newsletter today:

The Disney Parks Blog announced that Frozen (in theaters November 27, 2013) will have a presence at both Walt Disney World and the Disneyland Resort. Anna and her sister Elsa will appear in the Norway pavilion at Epcot for meet and greets. Also in Norway, the current exhibit in the Stave Church will be transformed to show how Norway inspired the filmmakers to create Frozen. At Disneyland, you will find Olaf the snowman in Fantasyland. As previously announced, Olaf will also host the new World of Color version called "World of Color - Winter Dreams" in Disney California Adventure.

Any word on how soon they will appear? We will be down there in early November.

[cy1229]

You sound surprised that Disney would use cross-platform marketing.

Not surprised. Just disappointed that they're taking out something that truly reflects Norway (or any other country under any other similar circumstances, for that matter) and dumping in a "story" of how the movie came to be. It will be irrelevant in a year, as has been most of the new "princess" movies that Disney has made in the last few years. Key exception is "Brave," which is a Pixar movie, not just a Disney movie.

[Wizzard419]

Brave is also the (paraphrasing here) turning point for when princesses went from Victoria's secret models to Sears models.

It is kind of a dead exhibit (it always looks closed), so foot traffic may also pump more money into the exhibit for future updates.

It is a little odd that they already offer lessons on how to draw Olaf so far in advance of the movie, since children have no idea who it is they even have to add the movie title in on the schedule slot at DCA.

[Cardinals314]

There will also be a small change to Celebrate the Magic to include the film. The dates of the meet and greet are Nov 27th through Jan 4th. At least Disney isn't implementing Frozen into Malestrom.

Based on the trailer and clip, I fear that Olaf is going to ruin the film. But hey it's still too early to tell for certain.

[Wizzard419]

They might as well since it hasn't had a content update since it opened... that video (like most of the movies in world showcase) is borderline offensive considering how dated they are.

[Cardinals314]

They might as well since it hasn't had a content update since it opened... that video (like most of the movies in world showcase) is borderline offensive considering how dated they are.

I was talking a bit more of the ride itself but Disney does need to update the movie afterwards. Disney could shoot new scenes and have narration by the main actors and actresses from the movie. I think that wouldn't be bad. I didn't mind the implementation of the Planes characters in the city name scroll in Soarin before the safety video. At least that's not in the actual Soarin attraction itself.

[Wizzard419]

The ride itself needs a content update as well, Norway isn't huge on that content either and it ignores their massive influence on the mobile world.

They already try to distance themselves from the troll and fairy stuff, since that is just stuff that tourists and whatever they call their version of Laplanders enjoy.

[Cardinals314]

It's funny that Disney originally was going to have the ride entirely centered around trolls, but the Norwegian sponsors wanted to show other aspects.

[Wizzard419]

Pretty much all of the pavilions suffer from the same "tour bus" viewpoint, they don't show life or even modern culture. Just old crap that people saw in movies 70 years ago and expect to be true.

[cy1229]

Pretty much all of the pavilions suffer from the same "tour bus" viewpoint, they don't show life or even modern culture. Just old crap that people saw in movies 70 years ago and expect to be true.

Well wait a second... it's true that the pavilions are pretty cliche in a lot of respects, but Disney also did a lot to try to be as authentic as possible. The Morocco pavilion was supervised by the architect for the king (prince? something royal) of Morocco himself to ensure its authenticity. It is called the World Showcase, so they're going to showcase the things about their countries that most people enjoy. I, personally, wouldn't go to Kyoto so I could hang in a modern apartment and just do what people like me do. I would want to experience the history and cultural differences, and see the traditional architecture. So that the pavilions are a little cheesy is ok - even expected. My daughter didn't go to London, Paris, and Madrid to go to McDonald's and play video games in another language. She went to "see the sites" and experience aspects of another culture somewhat different from our own. Having the pavilions highlight the differences rather than modern culture that is, truth be told, just the same as our own with minor differences, just makes sense.

[Wizzard419]

Period authentic/approval of a cultural minister is not the same as being a reflection of what life is like in said countries. The main reason that Morocco had a supervisor was due to religious rules over how buildings and design (apparently the Koran was the first HOA). When the pavilions note how they reflect the culture of whatever country they represent, they really don't. It would be like saying colonial Williamsburg is a modern representation of the US.

[cy1229]

Period authentic/approval of a cultural minister is not the same as being a reflection of what life is like in said countries. The main reason that Morocco had a supervisor was due to religious rules over how buildings and design (apparently the Koran was the first HOA). When the pavilions note how they reflect the culture of whatever country they represent, they really don't. It would be like saying colonial Williamsburg is a modern representation of the US.

But Williamsburg is an important representation of our culture. Understanding how Colonial America was helps understand why we fought for independence and why we are so dead set against having a monarch or any ruler (Senators seem to be excluded here) that is in charge for longer than 8 years. To say Williamsburg does not represent American culture is to ignore from whence we came.

[Wizzard419]

Actually it is just a tourist trap that whitewashes history. It is the same with most landmarks, they do not convey any aspect of the culture beyond that the enjoyed tourists coming to see things.

If I recall, the people of the US were not so dead set against a monarch, considering they did want it to be King Washington, rather than president. Also, you should see the youtube channel his former slave put out (well, an actress who was a slave at Mt Vernon) Google "Ask a slave".