Were we lied to?

[dl_appurtenant]

On April 4th, 2008, Marty Sklar put out a letter titled "A Magic Kingdom for all the World's Children.

"Now the rumors are swirling that we are 'ruining Walt’s creation.' I’ve heard that we are planning to remove the rainforest, add Mickey and Minnie Mouse, create an “Up with America” tribute, to effectively “marginalize” the Mary Blair style and Walt’s classic (all not true)."

He goes onto say...

"To make “It’s A Small World” even more relevant to our guests, Tony Baxter...and I arrived at the same place eight years ago. To accomplish our objective, we decided to seamlessly integrate Disney characters into appropriate thematic scenes in the attraction, and do it completely in the distinctive “Mary Blair style.”

(You can read the whole letter HERE.)

So he does confirm, while they may not be adding Mickey and Minnie, that they are, in fact, adding Disney characters. But what about the Rainforest turning into an America scene? He says that the removal of the Rainforest was "not true" and further says that it wouldn't be replaced by an America scene.

Fast forward to today...Al Lutz tells us all about the small world changes in his article. He includes not only characters but a replaced Rainforest/Papua New Guinea scene...replaced by and America scene.

IMO, we were partly lied to but also decieved. He really works his words in this letter and I find that disgusting.

What do you all think? Were we lied to? Or did he just really mangle his words and tell the truth? Your thoughts??

[SCUBAbe]

IDK...where were you lied to?

[dl_appurtenant]

^ Thanks.

I fixed it.

[Datameister]

I just posted this in another thread regarding "Marty Sklar's cleverly-worded and retrospectively deceptive statement":

"Very, very interesting. Plans change, of course. It's entirely possible that at the time, they were not "planning" to remove the rainforest, which would make his statement technically true. It's not like he said they wouldn't...they just weren't planning on it at the time. It's disappointing to see things turn out this way simply because it makes it that much harder for me to believe Disney when they say...anything."

So no, we weren't lied to, unless he actually knew that at the time, they were planning on removing the rainforest. What he did was cleverly select words that would strongly indicate that the rainforest wasn't anywhere without actually making any promise that its removal wouldn't happen. It's possible that at that time, they truly had zero intention of doing that. But it's still bad form to tell the fans that an unpopular move is not in the works and then execute it without letting them know.

[Jiminy Crickett]

I don't know if we were lied to, but one thing I do know.. this thread will hit 1,000 before the day is out. Talk about a HOT topic....

[Mac Daddy]

My answer to the above question is...yes. Marty doesn't get to make a statement emphatically DENYING that the rainforest would be removed only to have imagineering make the change anyway. The official line could have been "We're still working on it" , but that's not what was said.

This was an extremely poor decision by Disney which was made worse by the fact that they tried to mollify the public by assuring them that the change would not be made.

This stinks.

[sir clinksalot]

Am I the only one willing to wait and see the changes before I complain too much???

[aznshrek88]

Why doesn't everyone just trust the Imagineers on what they do best... their job!

Baxter and Sklar hail from the glory days and I for one fully trust their calls on what's going on with IASW.

Maybe this is rumors, maybe it isn't, but wouldn't your life be a bit better if you just stopped worrying and waited to see what happens?

[briansp]

Yes, we were lied to.

But what do you expect? Disney is no longer about the "ideals, the dreams, and the hard facts that have created America". They are now about corporate profit and pleasing the shareholders.

What is even more amazing is how these people who never even visit a park are the ones making the decisions. It seems that whenever they do something right, they take it away from us. ex: Main Street Electrical Parade, Disney Gallery, Adventurers Club, etc...

Why should we expect anything else from Disney at this point? Actions speak louder than words. These actions have proved that the Disney company no longer has a soul.

It is indeed a very sad time. I love Disneyland. For the first time in over 10 years, I am without an annual pass. I'm sure I will eventually renew it, but I need some time away, as the magic has been replaced with anger. And, unlike those "other" passholders that think they own the park... I don't yell and complain. I just spend my money elsewhere.

--Brian

[mickeyandme67]

Sklar is a company man. He always stands firmly with the corporation, often using his ties with Walt and the old WED as his mantra, yet never straying from current company spin. Disney uses him as their shill whenever they have a nostalgic problem that they need a face for. Sklar has made it through every regime, both good and bad, and has created quite a career at the Disney Company. This should be no surprise to anyone.

[aashee]

Sure we were lied to, but that's how business runs. You think a company would come out with the statement "We're changing it regardless of what the foaming fans think!"? It's so much easier to say one thing and apologize later. I have no problem with what Sklar did because I would have done the same thing.

[SiRocket]

aashee is right.

[mycroft16]

Why doesn't everyone just trust the Imagineers on what they do best... their job!

The main problem is that putting an American scene in a ride which is about the world, that is located in America, is totally pointless. We know what America looks like. Having an American scene in the versions in Europe, Tokyo and Hong Kong is great, but we don't need that here since we kind of know what America is like. We needed the rainforest as it is a part of the world that we don't really have here. Ironic that as the worlds rainforest's shrink, so too does Disneyland's.

[SCUBAbe]

Am I the only one willing to wait and see the changes before I complain too much???

no there's at least two of us...

[dl_appurtenant]

This may be "how business runs" but, (IMO) that doesn't mean it's the right thing to do.