Interesting Disney Rumors for August 2021
At Disney theme parks, robots are the future. As fans, we must accept our cybernetic overlords, as they play heavily into Disney’s upcoming plans.
We’ll talk about how Disney intends to integrate killbots robots to entertain guests in the latest Disney rumors.
The Ultimate Character Meeting
At Disney theme parks, you can currently meet many of your favorites like Mickey & Minnie Mouse and Winnie the Pooh.
These characters are anthropomorphic enough that a human can comfortably walk around a park in a costume.
Kids will never notice the difference. Even adults often buy into the illusion, forgetting that they’re hugging felt.
Here’s the thing, though. Not every Disney character looks human and is plausible as a costume.
As we move forward, Disney may want to bring characters who look like Groot or The Thing or The Hulk to the parks.
For that matter, a realistic Oogie Boogie roaming Haunted Mansion Holiday would delight guests, right?
So, Disney needs some new technology to bring this idea to life. And Imagineers are on it!
Roughly two years ago, Disney started Project Exo as an attempt to build full-sized exoskeletons for some of the most curious creatures you know.
Photos have already indicated that The Hulk and a Star Wars Wampa are in development.
Think of these characters as in-park examples of the properly scaled menu items at Pym Test Kitchen.
Apparently, someone at Disney watched Smart Hulk hand two tacos to Scott Lang and thought, “We need that at the parks!”
Remarkably, they’re doing it, too! Disney has already shown several examples of larger-than-life body parts that are capable of individual movement.
The in-park applications of such creatures frankly blow my mind. Imagine if you entered Avengers Campus, only to notice Thanos walking toward you?
At Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor, Sully could hold court as the giant arbiter of what’s funny.
The Wampas at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge seem like a given. Could they appear at Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser as well? The possibilities are endless!
Androids at the Parks
With the Project Exo campaign, what we’re really discussing is a series of individual parts that eventually comprise a whole, oversized Disney character.
However, Disney loves the smaller crew as well. For a while now, we’ve known that a robotic Baby Groot was in development.
In practice, the situation mirrors the flying Spider-Man we have tracked for years. A while ago, Disney showed an android performing tumbling tricks in mid-air.
When Avengers Campus opened, the same android wore a Spidey costume and went Webslinging across skyscrapers.
With Groot, a recent New York Times headline suggested that we should all prepare for “Sentient Disney Robots.” So, the robot rebellion is coming soon.
Anyway, Baby Groot represents the first of these new creations. The beloved Guardians of the Galaxy character can recognize people and wave hello.
That’s only the tiniest description of the robot’s overall capabilities, though. Groot’s behavior changes based on interactions with people.
When you tell a joke, he’ll laugh. It’ll mirror your gesture if you look sad by acting like the most depressed tree in the forest.
A Disney Imagineer bragged that the new trend in robotics is that they’re “More believable. More outrageous.”
Disney’s goal here is again to bring characters to life in unprecedented ways.
When you see Groot walking through the park, you should approach it as you would Stitch or Marie or a Disney Princess.
The difference is that humans reside inside those other costumes and act like the characters.
Disney has programmed a VERY real robotic Groot that will act like the character does in the movies. It’s a groundbreaking advance in innovation.
You can read more about both Imagineering advances at the New York Times and CNBC. It’s fascinating…and terrifying.
Splash Mountain and Jungle Cruise and…
By the time you read this, Jungle Cruise will have completed its reconstruction on the fly at Magic Kingdom.
Disneyland’s version stayed offline long enough to modernize the attraction, removing some of the outdated elements.
Magic Kingdom didn’t have that same luxury. So, park officials worked around the clock (literally) to bring Jungle Cruise up to speed.
Meanwhile, we’ve tracked a mystery regarding Splash Mountain for a while now. Scaffolding sometimes appears in the ride area, and nobody’s saying why.
This circumstance led to some debate about whether the re-theme is already underway.
However, park officials recently clarified several points from…an earlier clarification.
The first time, Disney indicated that it has prioritized the re-theming of Splash Mountain to The Princess and the Frog.
Analysts wondered at the timing of this announcement. After all, Walt Disney World’s 50th-anniversary seems like a terrible time to close a popular ride.
Well, Disney apparently agrees. The company must have wanted to make a declarative statement about Splash Mountain’s future.
Those comments worked as an implicit denouncing of Song of the South’s connection to the ride.
So, Disney has effectively disavowed the unsavory elements of the ride. The re-theme will take a while, though.
Park officials recently posted some details regarding The Princess and the Frog re-theming. Apparently, it’ll take place directly after the film.
In fact, true love’s kiss is the jumping-off point for this froggish tale. Tiana and Naveen (and Louis) will experience their first Mardi Gras together.
You can imagine how magical that should look once Imagineers finish the project. But, unfortunately, the re-theme appears to be at least two years away.
What’s Next
The logical speculation centers on what Disney will modify/re-theme next.
I would expect some announcements at Destination D23 this November. Specifically, an attraction like Peter Pan’s Flight is probably ready for an update.
The native Americans on display in this attraction seem a bit cartoonish and outdated. For that matter, the mermaids are pretty sexist as well.
I realize that some people may not like these opinions. However, any of our personal philosophies here are irrelevant.
What matters is that Disney must follow its fifth Key, Inclusion. Any attraction that fails to do so will eventually receive an update.
We’ve watched the process play out with Jungle Cruise, and we know that it will with Splash Mountain.
So, the smart question to ask is, “What’s next?” Disney apparently decided to kick the can down the road with the unexpectedly divisive Hall of Presidents.
Other attractions aren’t as easy to ignore. Modern Imagineers think more about the message they’re sending to kids who visit the parks. That’s the crux here.
From now on, Imagineers will place every stage element of every attraction in the crucible, examining whether it sends the right message.
Thankfully, Disney storytellers are creative enough to do that while still delivering wholesome entertainment to children of all ages.