Although the volleys from both sides have decreased, this thing with “it’s a small world” is not over. It’s just the thin shell of a much larger egg. It has nothing to do with the personalities involved, their creative ability, nor their passion for the Disney product. No one is doubting any of that.
No. It has to do with a choice made by someone (or someones) in Disney parks management. A deliberate choice that has many of us worried.
John Nadleberg, who has recently set out with his own blog, summarizes excellently:
Disney is over cartooning their parks, they have been doing it for a while, and although it has been tolerated for one reason or another, it is often not appreciated at all. They are wrecking what were once theme parks with all kinds of entertainments by changing them to ones that have one single type of entertainment.
Movie people originally constructed Disneyland, and in a way, going to a Disney park is very much like going to a multiplex theater to see different types of movies, with each area within the park representing another type of film. This theater has a western, that theater has a horror film, the other theater has a drama or a comedy, and yet another has an animated feature. What they have been doing, and are continuing to do, is turn every single theater in that multiplex into being about animation, and they are doing so with very little artistic integrity. The shows they produce with this mindset are often very poor and poorly received. Shows, such as Soarin’ and Expedition Everest don’t follow this mindset and are their great recent successes.
Read More »What’s wrong with Disney? Synergy gone wild.