Will ‘Inside Out’ Gain a Bigger Park Presence?
Recently, Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed the obvious.
Due to the popularity of Moana, the franchise will gain a heightened presence at Disney theme parks.
NBC News
We already knew that thanks to Journey of Water | Inspired by Moana at EPCOT. Still, Disney has merely scratched the surface.
Similarly, we’ve witnessed other popular Disney brands ascend in popularity and quickly gain more theme park prominence.
Photo: Disney
Now, in a matter of weeks, Inside Out 2 will debut in theaters.
While we never really know for sure, especially with Disney animation, early box office tracking is exceptional.
Photo: Pixar
So, let’s presume that the Pixar sequel performs well. At that point, will Inside Out gain a bigger theme park presence?
Let’s evaluate Disney’s decision tree here.
About the Inside Out Franchise
Photo: Disney
In 2015, Pixar finally did something fans had begged for the studio to do for years. It created a female-centric story.
For whatever reason, those absolutely terrify Hollywood bean counters, who believe that there aren’t enough successful precedents.
Photo: IMDB
That’s a self-fulfilling prophecy in that we cannot have popular female-centric films when studios release so few of them.
There’s a common sense element here, as four billion people are female, but Hollywood has a scarcity issue with common sense.
Credit: Disney
To Pixar’s credit, it picked the perfect storytelling opportunity to prove conventional wisdom wrong.
Inside Out debuted and immediately became a beloved story, earning $858.8 million against a budget of $175 million.
Inside Out
There’s a fancy industry term for that. It’s called “wildly profitable.”
As I type this, Inside Out is currently 98 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, with 375 critics outweighing seven absolute fools.
Getty
The Audience Score is similarly stellar at 89 percent, albeit with the obvious interference from those weirdos who score-bomb Disney titles.
Inside Out also earned an A CinemaScore (the second-highest rating) and holds an IMDb score of 8.1 out of 10 after nearly 800,000 grades.
Credit: Disney
We’re talking about a masterpiece that virtually everyone with some combination of heart/soul either likes or loves.
Even better, Inside Out features several memorable characters, including Joy and Sadness, both of whom took up a semi-permanent residence at EPCOT.
Photo: Disney
Disney recently switched Joy to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, which is part of the inspiration for this article.
Obviously, park officials envision the summer of Inside Out as the sequel enters and presumably dominates movie theaters.
A Quick Evaluation of Inside Out at the Parks
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At this point, Inside Out is nine years old, giving Disney a strong idea of the brand’s appeal.
Thus far, Disney has only introduced one theme park attraction based on the franchise. It’s Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind.
Photo: Disney
Those of you who don’t visit the West Coast should lower your expectations as I show you a ride video.
While the name is clever, you can tell from this clip how low-energy this attraction is. Frankly, it might be Disney’s worst.
Disney
Park officials knew they had a dud when the Maliboomer first opened in 2001, but that was true of many rides then.
Disney later added the Inside Out theme in 2019 to make the attraction a bit more palatable. It’s still weak sauce, though.
After four years of Inside Out, that’s all that Disney proved willing to commit to the brand other than character greetings.
Then again, the encounters with Joy and Sadness are sometimes some of the most emotional at the park.
Photo: Disney
One left me sobbing as I watched a Make-A-Wish child and her sister hug Joy.
That’s the secret sauce of this particular brand. We’re dealing with emotions, which sometimes makes Inside Out more impactful.
Disney
Frankly, the only other season at Disney that can pack this much of a wallop is the Fairy Godmother.
And if you don’t know about that one, please don’t ask. It’s often sad.
Photo: Disney
The point is that Disney may have mixed feelings about adding Inside Out at the parks, which is totally fair.
Why Disney May Wait to Decide
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I wouldn’t be surprised if Disney waited another few years before making any decisions regarding Inside Out.
I say this for a couple of reasons. The first is that the box office success of the sequel isn’t a given.
(Photo by VALERIE MACON / AFP) (Photo by VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images)
You’re acutely aware of how much Disney has underachieved with some of its recent box office releases.
Titles like Strange World, Wish, and Lightyear all failed dramatically.
Inside Out 2 appears different in that the early box office tracking for the other three titles was terrible. This one’s a potential blockbuster.
Even so, some of those titles, animated and live-action, have failed as well.
Those struggles cost the sequels a theme park presence for the brands.
Mary Poppins Returns was a minimal box office hit, but it wasn’t successful enough to justify the proposed EPCOT flat ride.
Mary Poppins Photo-Op at EPCOT International Festival of the Arts
Similarly, had Ralph Breaks the Internet proven popular, Disney was rumored to add a Wreck-It Ralph-themed ride at Magic Kingdom.
That attraction would have replaced Stitch’s Great Escape. Instead, that building remains unoccupied to this day.
Disney
Disney needs to know something is a blockbuster akin to the Frozen franchise before proceeding.
Other factors play into that calculus as well. Merchandising sales for Inside Out 2 will factor into the decision as well.
Photo: Regal
Then, we have the newly emerging factor of streaming popularity.
The very reason why Disney is adding more Moana is because it was the most streamed movie of 2023.
Photo: Pixar
So, Disney may wait to verify whether Inside Out 2 proves rewatchable on Disney+ as well.
Recently, company executives have prioritized this emerging kind of information in identifying growth opportunities.
Will Inside Out Gain a Bigger Park Presence?
Photo: Pixar
Short answer: Yes.
Disney will spend tens of billions of dollars expanding theme parks around the world.
Photo: Pixar
As Imagineers and executives throw out the names of worthy brands, Inside Out should stand high on the list.
Park officials already loved the characters enough to give them a permanent presence at Disney California Adventure.
Photo: Pixar
Once Inside Out 2 excels – and it really should – the brand will enjoy renewed popularity.
Disney can and should capitalize on that momentum by building an Inside Out attraction of some sort.
Photo: Disneywiki
This idea has been rumored before as a replacement for Journey into Imagination with Figment.
However, I think we all agree that Figment belongs at the Imagination! pavilion.
Photo: Pixar
Also, Inside Out is good enough to justify its own thing, whether that’s a dark ride or something more involved.
Simply shut your eyes and imagine what Disney could do with characters like Anger and Disgust. And Bing Bong could return as well!
Photo: Pixar
There’s so much to love with this concept already, and we’ll meet new emotions in a matter of weeks.
Inside Out 2 feels like one of the most fertile ride concepts in Disney’s massive media library.
A story and characters as important as these deserve a significant park presence. Don’t you agree?
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