Monday MouseWatch : WDI hopes that its "Living Character Initiative" will make up for losing "Harry Potter" as well as Kuka's robotic arm technology
It's been a bruising couple of months for the Imagineers. What with Universal Studios acquiring the theme park rights to J.K. Rowling's characters as well as gaining exclusive use of a technology that the guys in Glendale already had plans for. But Jim Hill details how WDI hopes to bounce back with a little help from Pixar
By now, you've probably heard that Nikki Finke has confirmed what I wrote back back on February 5th (Though — to be fair here — I guess I should acknowledge that it was actually Arthur Levine of About.com & Lance Hart of Screamscape who first reported this story). That Universal Studios has in fact scored the theme park rights to J.K. Rowling's characters. More importantly, that Universal will shortly be announcing its plans to add a whole "Harry Potter" -themed land to the line-up of attractions that the company currently has at its "Islands of Adventure" theme park.
Mind you, Universal can't be all that happy about Ms. Finke (Or me, Mr. Levine & Mr. Hart, for that matter) letting Crookshanks out of the bag. Given the elaborate security precautions that the company had put in place in order to keep "Project Strongarm" under wraps. With a 24-hour guard being placed on the Universal Studios Hollywood soundstage where that mock-up of the flying Ford Anglia had been built. Where only key members of the creative team and/or senior General Electric / NBC / Universal officials were actually allowed in to view and then ride the prototype.
Copyright 2002 Warner Bros.
Now you'd think — given the enormous amount of time, money & effort that the Walt Disney Company had wasted over the past few years in trying to woo Ms. Rowling, so that the Mouse could then score the exclusive theme park rights to "Harry Potter" — that the Imagineers would be rather upset to see Universal Studios wind up with those rights instead. But that's honestly not the story that I've been hearing coming out of Glendale.
If anything, the guys at WDI are breathing a sigh of relief that it's Universal — rather than Disney — that will now have to deal with J.K. on a daily basis. Based on the tales that I've been told about Mickey's protracted negotiations with Ms. Rowling … Well, let's just say that the author of the "Harry Potter" series is said to be somewhat difficult to deal with.
Wait a minute. It's probably not all that fair of me to characterize J.K. in this fashion. So how's about instead that I say that Ms. Rowling was reported to be very protective of her characters. More to the point, that she supposedly had some very definite ideas about what a theme park version of Harry Potter's world should look like.
How so? Well, according to the folks that I've spoken with who worked on the Disney version of this project … J.K. allegedly wanted each & every guest who was experiencing the theme park version of Harry Potter's world to do so by first entering the Leaky Cauldron pub. Where — by tapping on just the right brick ("Three up and two across … ") — they'd then gain access to Diagon Alley, that odd collection of Wizards-only shops & restaurants that's hidden away in the heart of London.
From this area (Which was — at least in the stand-alone version of the proposed "Harry Potter" theme park — supposed to have been the equivalent of Main Street U.S.A. at Disneyland. As in: That area that established the style & the tone of the theme park to follow. More importantly, Diagon Alley would have been where most of the guests purchased their souvenirs before exiting the park that night), these folks were then supposed to have made their way to Platform 9 & 3/4 at King's Cross Station. Where — after magically piercing the barrier that separates the Muggle world from the Wizard world — guests would have then been able to board a full-sized version of the Hogwarts Express for a trip to Harry's alma mater.
Which admittedly (on paper, anyway) sounds wonderful. But to the folks who actually run the Parks & Resorts side of things at the Walt Disney Company, what Rowling was reportedly asking for sounded unfeasible. Never mind the costs involved in building such an elaborate recreation of Harry Potter's world, just the guest-flow issues (EX: In order to give each & every guest the experience of entering Diagon Alley through the Leaky Cauldron … Well, that meant that the Mouse would have had to have built multiple versions of this seedy pub and then staffed each of these) were enough to give these Ops experts agita.
Copyright 2001 Anheuser-Busch, Inc.
Even though this "Harry Potter" project was once viewed as Disney's possible answer to Anheuser-Busch's Discovery Cove (Where every day, 1000 guests each pay nearly $300 for the opportunity to swim with dolphins at this ultra-exclusive theme park) … In the end, given everything that Ms. Rowling was allegedly insisting upon, Mouse House executives thought that it would take a decade or more to finally get a return on their initial investment. And given that no one within the company could actually guarantee that the public's interest in "Harry" wouldn't wane after the seventh book was published and the last "Potter" motion picture had been released … Well, it was then thought that it might be best if the Mouse took a pass on this particular project.
Plus (to be blunt here) given that — just about this same time — the Walt Disney Company was wrapping up its deal to acquire Pixar Animation Studios … Well, it was felt that the characters that John Lasseter & Co. had already created (Not to mention all of the animated features that this talented group of film-makers would be making for the Mouse in the future) would more than off-set the loss of the theme park rights to "Harry Potter."
As one Imagineering insider told me last week:
"Given how difficult Rowling had been to deal with, losing "Harry Potter" wasn't really that much of a loss. But Universal scoring an exclusive on Kuka's robotic arm technology … That was a real heartbreaker."
You see, to date, that's been the under-reported part of this story. That it wasn't just that Universal Studios had scored the theme park rights to the "Harry Potter" characters. But that Kuka had also awarded Universal a 10-year exclusive on using its amazing technology in a theme park setting.
It was this news (and not that the Walt Disney Company & J.K. Rowling had failed to come to terms) that really upset the guys in Glendale. Mind you, before Kuka & Universal were able to hammer out their new deal, WDI did manage to score seven of these robotic arms. One of which is now being used in the angler fish sequence of Epcot's new "The Seas with Nemo & Friends" introductory ride. While the other six will then be used to create a similar sequence in Disneyland's soon-to-be-opening "Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage." With three of these robotic arms being used to move angler fish around on each side of the sub.
Copyright 2005 Disney Enterprises, Inc.
But after that … The Mouse reportedly can't get its hands on any additional Kuka arms for theme park use 'til at least 2017. Which definitely puts the kibosh on that "Incredibles" -themed "E" Ticket that the Imagineers were hoping to build. Which was to have gotten underway in a suitably incredible fashion. In that guests were first to board this free-standing ride vehicle that wasn't attached to anything. Then this enormous robotic arm was to have reached down from above and attached itself to the top of this vehicle. Then that robotic arm was to have lifted that ride vehicle that was now full of guests up (in front of everyone who was still waiting in this attraction's queue, mind you) and then carried it up out of sight into that show building.
Talk about your dramatic ways to start a ride ! So why didn't Disney ever go forward with construction of this particular attraction? As one Disney official who was familiar with this project recently explained to me:
"(This proposed ride system) required the vehicle to connect and disconnect from the arm and no Kuka arm (to date) was capable of handling the capacity of a loaded concept vehicle. A more viable Kuka system had been under development by a more credible Imagineering group. With at least a couple of years co-development with Kuka on a custom-built, heavy-duty arm that could hold over 6 passengers. A mock-up, using the off-the-shelf arm, was presented to all sorts of Disney executives, including Eisner, Iger and Rasulo – and a lot of others from different parks. That mock-up supposedly had a 'Harry Potter' element.
'The Incredibles' version was a blue sky concept that, while looking like a out-of-the-box breakthrough, just wasn't feasible."
That's perhaps the most ironic part of this entire tale. I mean, here was the Mouse — almost five years ago now — trying to use Kuka arm technology to create a "Harry Potter" -themed attraction. So what happens? Not only does Disney lose the theme park rights to J.K. Rowling's characters to Universal, but then Universal goes on to lock up the theme park rights to Kuka's robotic arm technology for the next 10 years.
Which you think would be a bruising loss for the folks at 1401 Flower Street. But — truth be told — the Imagineers that I've talked with are fairly philosophical about this whole situation. Okay, so Universal now has the theme park rights to the "Harry Potter" characters as well as Kuka's amazing robotic arm technology. That just means that Disney will now have come up with some other way to wow its customer base.
And these days, the secret word at WDI seems to be interaction. Take — for example — that "Team Possible" interactive game that was play-tested at Epcot last summer? According to company insiders that I've spoken with, a much more elaborate version of this in-park-adventure is now due to debut in the parks in 2009.
Or — better yet — how about the Muppet Mobile Lab? Most Disneyana enthusiasts already known about the field test that was done for this "Living Character Initiative" project at DCA back in late February / early March. But how many of you know about what became of that Imagineering prototype after all of those tests in Anaheim were complete?
Well, as it happens, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew & Beaker were then sent up to Emeryville. Where they delighted dozens of Pixar employees & their family members by rolling around that animation studio's lobby and then trying to order lunch at the Cafe Luxo.
Which is pretty cool all by itself. But the Imagineers were also servicing their own agenda by bringing that Muppet Mobile Lab unit up to Emeryville. You see, what they were really trying to do was convince the powers-that-be at Pixar to allow them to create "Living Character Initiative" versions of the robots from "WALL * E." So that — in the Summer of 2008 — just as this new Andrew Stanton film would be rolling into theaters … Well, seeming autonomous versions of WALL * E would then begin rolling through Disney theme parks around the world. With this cute little Waste Allocation Load Lifter units actually picking up & then disposing of various pieces of trash that they find on the ground as well as interacting with guests.
Copyright 2007 Pixar / Disney Enterprises, Inc.
Which (admittedly) may not be as much fun as going for a trip in the Weasley family's flying car. But it does suggest a way that Disney can then make its theme parks seem that much distinctive & appealing than the Universal parks. By giving its guests one-of-a-kind, state-of-the-art interaction with Disney / Pixar's library of characters.
But what do you folks think? Is Disney going full force into the development of interactive theme park attractions as well as ramping up its "Living Character Initiative" program enough to make up for the loss of both the theme park rights to the "Harry Potter" characters & Kuka's robotic arm technology?
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