After the Haunted Mansion film failure, it seemed that Disney was taking a break from theme park inspired movies (other than the POTC). Recently though, this niche genre that only The Walt Disney Company can provide has seen a resurgence. Word of Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, Matterhorn, Magic Kingdom, Jungle Cruise and (new) Haunted Mansion films being worked on have all been mentioned in the past year. Tomorrowland was just confirmed this week, though no other info has been announced, bringing the genre even more current. Yesterday we received word of another huge addition to the niche, with the reported Big Thunder TV Show getting a pilot order over at ABC.
The logline? “When a brilliant, late 19th century New York doctor and his family are given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to relocate to a frontier mining town run by a powerful, but mysterious tycoon, they quickly realize that not everything in Big Thunder is as it seems.” This sounds very similar to the back story we know, that the mining town was put on top of Native American sacred ground. I have heard some rumblings of “supernatural” elements, but it could still go along with the sacred plot line.
For me, this sounds very intriguing. A weekly TV show set in the classic 1800’s “Mythic West” mining area all about one of my favorite attractions with a cool back story…sign me up! I am ready to jump aboard this train! (Pun intended) Also, it couldn’t have come at a better time, since period pieces are all the rage right now (The Americans on FX in the 1980’s, Mad Men on AMC in the 1950’s, and the quintessential…Downton Abbey). If it gets picked up, be sure to come back to The Disney Blog for the latest.
Do you enjoy this trend of Disney attractions as TV shows and Movies? Is there one attraction you want to see put in this form? (I want Maelstrom…just saying) Who doesn’t love a good Western? Let me know in the comments below! Until next time…Have a Magical Day!
(Photo courtesy of laughingplace.com!)
Not super interested in the tv series.
As to the Big Thunder backstory, I’d be interest in evidence from the 70’s or early 80’s about the now “official” backstory. I began studying and collecting Disneyland historical and general interest materials in the mid-80’s (prior to Disneyland: Inside Story, which makes me feel old) and I’ve yet to see anything with more than a passing hint to today’s “official” story until about the last decade. Moreover, other than the somewhat-native-sounding “Big Thunder”, there are no references of any kind to a sacred burial ground or any native poeples in the attraction that I know of.
(Admittedly, of course, I’m no expert and may not have looked in the right places.)
(A similar thing happened with Haunted Mansion–the minimal backstory elements that made it into the final product (which, taken together, did not amount to any kind of full story) strangely morphed into a more extensive “official” backstory over several decades, all for no apparent purpose other than to be able to tell that later-invented backstory. Then the redo with Constance actually developed a bit of a story and imposed it.)
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