More of What Needs to Be Done to Main Street, U.S.A. as Part of the D.C.A. Remodeling

[Pressler69]

And let's imagine one of the 0.5% of Disneyland visitors who did happen to notice the cleverly placed playbill near the Opera House entrance.

Disneyland should never cater to the lowest common denominator and they don't have to to attract guests. Disneyland became a world famous landmark due to its attention to detail. And that attention to detail was never a result of marketing research. It was that way because Walt personally wanted this stuff in his theme park.

And that's the problem with Disneyland today. Nobody in charge really cares about Disneyland the park, they care about Disneyland the business. I am reminded of this story by Ray Bradbury.

I came back from Paris one time about ten years ago, went to Disneyland, and I looked at the side of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle, and I called John Hench over at Imagineering, and I said, ‘I noticed something about Sleeping Beauty’s Castle: there’s a spire there that I saw last on top of Notre Dame in Paris! I said, ‘How long’s that been there, on Sleeping Beauty’s Castle?’ He said, ‘20 years.’ I said, ‘Who put it there?’ He said, ‘Walt did.’ And I said, ‘Why?’ ‘Because he loved it.’

I said, ‘Ah! That’s why I love Walt Disney.’ It cost $100,000 to build a spire you didn’t need! That’s the secret of Disney, is doing things you don’t need and doing them well, and then you realize you needed ‘em all along.”

There is no one at Disney who really has that kind of personal investment in the park anymore, unless passion can be measured by shares of stock I guess.

[composerboy]

I beg to differ. Bob Baranick and Tony Baxter are definite exceptions. Bob had a nervous breakdown over Tarzan's Treehouse and the PC-ification of Pirates, trying to get the reticent 90's management to butt out and let him do his job - protecting the creative and historical integrity of the Park.

Tony is a well known champion of the Park, and is a Senior Vice President, and Senior Creative Executive for the Disneyland Resort. I'd say that makes him in charge.

[Pressler69]

I beg to differ. Bob Baranick and Tony Baxter are definite exceptions. Bob had a nervous breakdown over Tarzan's Treehouse and the PC-ification of Pirates, trying to get the reticent 90's management to butt out and let him do his job - protecting the creative and historical integrity of the Park.

Tony is a well known champion of the Park, and is a Senior Vice President, and Senior Creative Executive for the Disneyland Resort. I'd say that makes him in charge.

Neither are, or were, in a position to quash a bad project. If they are, they haven't done it.

That's my point, no one with the power to make change is like Baranick or Baxter or any of the other diehard Imagineers. John Lasseter was one big hope for me, but he's only interested in Pixar movie rides. He's no Disney savior to me.

[composerboy]

I think it's a gross mischaracterization to say that Lasseter is "only interested in Pixar movie rides." I think it only appears as such because the best films that Disney has released in the past 10 years or so have been Pixar films. And besides, now with the merger, there is no longer a disctinction between Pixar and Disney.

[CaliforniaAdventurer]

I think it's a gross mischaracterization to say that Lasseter is "only interested in Pixar movie rides." I think it only appears as such because the best films that Disney has released in the past 10 years or so have been Pixar films. And besides, now with the merger, there is no longer a disctinction between Pixar and Disney.

Et voila.