How I would improve Disneyland, part two

In my last post, I began to talk about the first of many updates I would do for Disneyland if given the chance. My first post was obviously on Main Street USA, but now, I will be moving into other sections of the park.

As you enter Adventureland, even before passing below the entrance sign, if you look directly to your left, you will see the waiting area for the Enchanted Tiki Room. This will be among the first of the many attractions to receive some improvements. Much of it will be just for show than for anything technical.

The preshow area with the Enchanted Tiki Garden will receive some new lighting, which lights up on each of the Tiki gods as they each take their turns speaking. This will be mostly the case at night, so you can see the Tikis better. Also, all the drum beats heard between each of the Tiki gods' monologues will be taken out, save for the long drumming at the very end as you enter the show building. Before entering the show building, part, but not all, of the safety spiel, which had been recently removed, is restored (the part on not carrying food and drink into the show is dropped), so that now it will be like this:

"Wahine makune mana, ladies and gentlemen, a small reminder before entering the Tiki Room: we ask you to refrain from smoking inside, and no flashbulbs, please. Our performers are temperamental and easily upset. Thank you for your cooperation. And now, ladies and gentlemen, come with us, to a world of joyous song and wondrous miracles: Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room."

And then you go into the show itself. It will remain the same, but with improved effects and more up-to-date technology. This means a new 3D sound system and new LED lighting arrangements will be implemented alongside tune-ups and complete remodels for every single animatronic to make them fluid, more realistic (while keeping their magical charm), and to rid of that clacking sound they make while singing. The windows are now redone to resemble the windows recently added to the Tiki Room in Florida with a brilliant thunderstorm effect to boot:

But the Disneyland show goes the WDW version one better with a new effect: from outside the window, the storm that happens at the end of the Hawaiian War Chant can be seen from outside the windows, gathering and intensifying (lightning and all) as the War Chant intensifies. As the music reaches its crescendo, the clouds finally obscure the sky outside and then the crash from the storm is heard. Then, as Michael says, "But, me buckos, every cloud has a silver line," the sky clears up. This effect should add a new dimension to the classic show and should be a new surprise to those who grew up on the old show.


The Jungle Cruise will be left alone, but the Indiana Jones Adventure (now sponsored by Siemens) will receive some slight modifications, even though it got some a while ago. In the Hall of Promise, all three doors leading into it will be reduced to one, and all three rewards - riches, eternal youth and knowledge - are merged into one.


A new screen effect in the Rat Room is used to better show off the ugly rodents. And in the tunnel with skeletons that spit darts at your troop transport, if at all possible, will be updated to be more like the scene in the Tokyo DisneySea version of the ride, with the skulls all sculpted.

Anyway, that's the end of Adventureland. Next time, it's on to New Orleans Square. Stay tuned.

How I would improve Disneyland, part one

This is the first in a series of posts of something so near and dear to me...

I love Disneyland. I love it a lot. I go there all the time, in spite of the constant hikes in prices that will probably price me away from it someday.

However, I have also contributed to several forums on Disney that involve things that ordinary people would have done to improve and Imagineer the Disney theme park experience, especially Disneyland. I've done many, many threads on that one subject, all with varying degrees of success. With that, in mind, this is the first in a series of posts on the subject of the Imagineering of Disneyland that I would do, if only I could.

We begin on Main Street USA. First and most obvious, the Disneyland attraction posters in the tunnels leading into the park are updated to reflect what I would do. The train around the park will receive a new script, which I will get to later.

Main Street itself will receive the least amount of updates, but it will have some updates nevertheless. Everything will be generally cleaned up and freshened up, and the merchandise will now again reflect only the names of the store establishments rather than just have everything in the same shops. The one exception is the Emporium, obviously.

In the Opera House where Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln is shown, the short film on Disneyland with Steve Martin and Donald Duck is replaced by another film about Disney parks in general, with an emphasis on Disneyland, of course. This film will be added to Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, too.

Meanwhile, the Main Street Cinema will now have a brand-new set of Disney cartoons. The only one left intact will be Steamboat Willie. The rest of the cartoons, like Steamboat Willie, will all have something in common: the debut cartoons of classic Disney characters or series in question. Steamboat Willie obviously is the premier debut of Mickey and Minnie Mouse. The other five cartoons therefore will be Mickey's Revue (first appearance of Goofy), The Chain Gang (first appearance of Pluto), The Wise Little Hen (first appearance of Donald Duck), Don Donald (first appearance of Daisy Duck) and The Skeleton Dance (the first Silly Symphony cartoon). As in the past, these cartoons will all be black and white and deprived of sound. The ragtime music will be the same as usual:

By retaining Steamboat Willie, the main marquee seen from the street bearing the title will be the same. Also, Steamboat Willie itself will be changed. The version seen today continues to be an edited version which removes Mickey playing with a mother pig's nipples to make her squeal so he can make music. But now, that scene will be restored.

Other than that, though, Main Street will be pretty much as it is right now.

Stay tuned for when I start moving on around the park, beginning with Adventureland...

Thoughts on "Goofy and Wilbur"

Regarding the first solo Goofy cartoon, Goofy and Wilbur, I thought that considering much of Goofy's work was formulaic, this was kind of a sharp contrast from that.

Released in 1939, this cartoon is a good example of what could have been. It is set in the beautiful but costly storybook style so prevalent at the Disney Studios at the time. It shows that what Goofy can do without Mickey and/or Donald there with him. On his otherwise lazy fishing day with his pet grasshopper, Wilbur, Goofy runs the gamut of emotions from grief to absolute joy.

Unfortunately, the outbreak of war in Europe, which dealt a cruel blow to Disney's finances and the performances of Pinocchio and Fantasia, also impacted the beautiful storybook style of the Disney shorts. Pinto Colvig had already left the Disney Studio, and someone else was called in to do Goofy's voice. As well, the other studios, particularly Warner Bros. and MGM, were breaking out of the shadow of Disney by placing less emphasis on personality and more on wild comedy and formula (i.e., MGM's Tom forever chasing Jerry or Warner Bros.'s Bugs Bunny forever outwitting Elmer Fudd). That was partially why Goofy's cartoons of the 1940s, the "how-to" sports films, were as formulaic as any of them.

But getting back to Goofy and Wilbur, it provides an example of what might have been. Goofy is quite devoted to his pet grasshopper. Even though he puts his life on the line to catch a fish, Goofy is quite nice to him and does all he can to keep Wilbur from actually getting eaten. Even when Wilbur ends up actually getting eaten by a frog, which in turn gets eaten by a stork, Goofy remains determined. But when the stork flies away, Goofy breaks down crying over the loss of his friend. Fortunately, almost inexplicably, Wilbur hatches out of an egg in the stork's nest, very much alive and very much to the relief of Goofy.

If not for the onset of war and subsequent financial pressures and competition from the other studios, Goofy would have probably continued to be in shorts such as these. As it was, though most of his films revolved around the "how-to" series, many of them with little dialog on his part, if any at all, he did make the occasional appearance in a "regular" short such as Foul Hunting or The Big Wash. However, without the outbreak of war, Goofy would probably have appeared in more of the same kinds of shorts that were as varied as any that Donald Duck might have done.

Years later, on Sesame Street, there was one skit with Bert and Ernie that I think paid homage to this cartoon. In this skit, the inseparable duo are on a fishing trip. Ernie gets fish to leap into the boat by calling, "Heeeere fishy fishy fishy!" Bert eventually tries this technique, too, raising his voice louder and louder, until a shark jumps in and says, "You called?" In Goofy and Wilbur, Goofy called, "Here fishy fishy fishy! Come and get it!" and bangs on a horseshoe to goad a fish into chasing Wilbur so they can catch the fish.

Anyway, I feel as though Goofy and Wilbur has left a mark in more ways than one, and if not for certain circumstances beyond one's control, Goofy (indeed all the Disney characters) might have appeared in more of the same kinds of cartoons that emerged from the Golden Age of Animation.

Disney's Mad Tea Party - different designs

For a brief time, from 1992 to 1998, every single one of the Disney parks' teacup rides have had different designs. Like so...

Here's the design of Disneyland's ride (after 1983):

Here's the design of WDW's ride:

Here's the design of Tokyo Disneyland's ride (until 1998):

And here's the design of Disneyland Paris' ride:

However, in 1998, Tokyo Disneyland's version was overhauled and given a new theme to match that of the ride in France:

And the Hong Kong Disneyland version also echoed that design:

Today, that's three designs, one for all of the international parks and one each for the domestic parks. It can only be hoped that if the same ride opens at Shanghai Disneyland, it will have a different design. Here's hoping!

Sally and Susie - separated at birth?

Just a quick one right now (because I just lost a loved one - so sad)...

Here's something to chew on: were Sally Carrera of Cars fame and Susie the Little Blue Coupe separated at birth? Or in their case, being cars, at completion?

Here's Sally...

...and here's Susie.

Just look at the two, and you tell me if they don't somehow look alike! In another life, they might very well have been sisters!

Them bones, them bones...

Disneyland is reputed as a place for families, but it has a dark side as well: namely, the number of attractions with skeletons in the rides!

One of the most prominent attractions to feature bony figures is Pirates of the Caribbean. There are at least six segments all with pirate skeletons and skulls in the ride, all early on in Dead Man's Cove! First, there is the talking skull above the first waterfall:

Next, there are a bunch of skeletons on the beach, all in some way, shape or form dead, followed by other skeletons steering a ship through the storm:

Finally, and longest, there are the Crew's and Captain's Quarters and the Treasure Cave scenes:

There are other attractions at Disneyland full of bones, too, mostly human skeletons, like in Snow White's Scary Adventures (including several skulls in the queue alone)...

...in the Haunted Mansion (surprisingly there aren't too many skeletons here)...

...in the Indiana Jones Adventure...

...and on the Jungle Cruise, the native's so-called "arts and crafts" (the one on the top of the boat is Art, I'm told).

And then there are dinosaur skeletons, like those at Big Thunder Mountain...

...and at the Primeval World diorama of the Disneyland Railroad.

That is seven attractions altogether, many of them pretty popular! So the next time you're at Disneyland, these depictions of skeletons just might make you think of how not-entirely family-friendly the place can really be!

Thanks to FilmicLight for the images from the Snow White ride. Also thanks to Davelandweb.com for the images from the Haunted Mansion and Indiana Jones ride.

Observations on Goofy in the new Mickey Mouse show

I'm very sorry for neglecting this blog for so long, but I've just been so busy. Anyway, I thought I'd like to talk about something about the new "Mickey Mouse" short show they're showing on the Disney Channel lately: namely, Goofy. On the show, he looks something like this, a rather unkempt version of his early Dippy Dawg self (the original is first, the new version seen in the new show is second):

I'm sure you'll agree that those two designs are not at all dissimilar.

Anyway, I also thought I would mention that just as, through this new show, they are trying to recapture some of Mickey's old pluck believed to have been abandoned long ago, so, too, is Goofy given a lot of different roles, some of them opposite Mickey, which is akin to his given the treatment of being given whatever role he is needed for, similar to how he was treated in his George Geef persona in the 1950s, which in turn would turn Goofy's reputation as bumbling but lovable on its ear. As a result, such roles display him as not nearly as nice to Mickey as you would have been lead to believe. In some cases, in fact, he is a real jerk.

Take, for example, one of the first cartoons in the series, No Service. Here, Mickey and Donald Duck go to a diner, owned by Goofy, for some chow, but like many establishments, this one follows a "no shirt, no shoes, no service" policy. And when Goofy notices that Mickey isn't wearing a shirt and Donald isn't wearing shoes, he chastises them for not following that policy and unceremoniously throws them out. Now, I would expect this kind of behavior from Peg-Leg Pete, not from Goofy! Goofy has not acted like this big a jerk since he took on a split personality after getting behind the wheel in his cartoon Motor Mania! Ironically, in spite of his insistence of running a classy establishment, he swats a bug with a spatula and then uses that same spatula to flip burgers, and he also picks his belly button while on the job.

In other cartoons later on, Goofy would revert back to the bumbling but lovable friend of Mickey he is purported to be, but No Service was a real out-of-character moment for him. There have also been a few other cartoons where his attitude and friendship with Mickey were, to be perfectly kind, questionable.

In Ghoul Friend, for example, Mickey's car breaks down in the middle of some spooky woods. And would you not know, those woods are haunted! And who is haunting these woods? None other than the titular ghoul, a zombie version of Goofy himself! Mickey runs for his life and Goofy chases him everywhere. But when it seems as though Goofy is going to kill the mouse by clocking him with one of his removable arm bones, it turns out that he removed his arm bone to help him fix his car! The end of the bone is used as a crude wrench. So while Goofy is not so bad after all, it again seems to be the George Geef treatment of being given whatever role Goofy is offered.

In Tapped Out, in response to Pulchritudinous (AKA Peg-Leg) Pete's handily crushing a smaller, weaker opponent, Mickey makes the mistake of making like Bugs Bunny and heckling him, calling him a bully and that he could beat him if given the chance. When Pete calls out for another challenger to take him on, Goofy again questions his friendship with Mickey by placing him right in the ring in front of Pete. And when Mickey (with help from Donald and Goofy) somehow manages to defeat Pete at the end, Goofy again has Mickey wrestling once again!

One more example: in Third Wheel, Mickey and Minnie go out on a romantic dinner date, just the two of them, but Goofy keeps interrupting, not realizing when he is not wanted. Goofy keeps eating large quantities of the food in the restaurant with no table manners at all. Furthermore, at one point, even though Goofy chides Mickey for shouting at him in the fancy restaurant, he then puts his feet inside a champagne bucket full of ice. On top of that, every word of Mickey's Goofy always takes literally. When, at the end, Mickey insists that he and Minnie just want to be left alone, the ever-eating Goofy finally does give them time alone - after he eats the two mice! Somehow Goofy's stomach is big enough for a table with a candlelight on it, as well as for the mice.

Yes, Goofy in the new Mickey Mouse show is often cast in roles that are are more questionable of Mickey's relationship to him than you would have heretofore been led to believe. Of course, these observations are all just one blogger's opinion, and it's not like Goofy has never attained that role before, if his everyman shorts of the 1950s and '60s (like Motor Mania and the two educational cartoons on driving on the freeway) are any indication.