The Laugh Floor. One Step Closer to Pixar-Land
Earlier this month, the folks at WDW released some information about the upcoming addition to Tomorrowland called “Monsters, Inc. The Laugh Floor Comedy Club” which is slated to open January 2007. Here’s the description from Disney…
Help Mike Wazowski, your “Monster of Ceremonies,” and his wild and crazy pals power the city of Monstropolis — with laughter! Mike and his buddies have transformed the Laugh Floor at Monsters, Inc. into a comedy club for visiting humans. You won’t have the exact same experience twice as Mike invites his furry
and funny friends to the digital stage to trade jokes with audience members like you. And don’t miss the wise-cracking Roz, who isn’t sure Mike is up to the task!
It seems this attraction is going to be an improvement on the too-popular-for–its-own-good Turtle Talk with Crush platform. It sounds like a fun, interactive addition to an area that had been going through a seemingly endless transition over the past few years. So why are the complainers out in full force over this one? Well, it’s hardly a shock that there are scores of different complaints and protests circling around the Laugh Floor. The thing is; I don’t have any.
It seems this attraction is going to be an improvement on the too-popular-for–its-own-good Turtle Talk with Crush platform. It sounds like a fun, interactive addition to an area that had been going through a seemingly endless transition over the past few years. So why are the complainers out in full force over this one? Well, it’s hardly a shock that there are scores of different complaints and protests circling around the Laugh Floor. The thing is; I don’t have any.
There is the “why do we need this if we already have Turtle Talk” redundancy complaint. This makes no sense even on the surface. Why did we need the Rock n’ Rollercoaster if we already had Space Mountain? Why did we need Spaceship Earth when we already had the Haunted Mansion? We did we need Pirates of the Caribbean if we already had It’s a Small World? Why did we need Festival of the Lion King when we already had numerous stage shows? Am I making my point? Assuming an attraction will be redundant simply because it uses a similar ride platform is silly. Besides the fact that these two attractions are in different parks, we can only assume from the descriptions and all the rumors floating around the internet that the experiences will be as different as the ones I mention above.
Next we have the more nuanced “how does it fit the Tomorrowland theme” argument. This is a good one, and one that I can only answer that it means little to me. The original Disneyland concept of Tomorrowland has been lost for years. It was a concept that even Walt struggled with as the future quickly became the present. When they switched to this new fantasy-heavy concept, most of what causes folks to lodge this complaint went out the door. This area is supposed to be an old school sci-fi type fantasy area. How does an annoying blue alien or a talking toy fit into an old school sci-fi type fantasy area concept anymore than monsters owning a comedy club? Having said that, how do really slow race cars fit there either? The fact is the backgrounds and settings in Monsters Inc. have just as much “sci-fi” to them as anything else there, and certainly more than a bedroom, Hawaii or a racetrack.
My point is, the Tomorrowland we once knew is long gone, and this fits in well with the current surroundings. I know that I am lowering the bar for Imagineering a bit here when it comes to the theme, but then the argument is with the concept at large and not with this particular attraction. So perhaps the complaint is misguided, if not incorrect.
Finally we get to the one that I think is the root of the purist’s whining; the “stop turning this into Pixar-land” protest. Come on purists, admit it. This is what you really don’t want to see, Walt’s original ideas replaced essentially by John Lasseter’s. That has to be a purist’s nightmare. Well, I have no good news for you, because that is the way it is and that is the way it will be. And honestly, I can’t argue with the logic. The children in my family like the Fab Five and some older hand-drawn films, but they LOVE Woody, Buzz, Nemo, and the rest. They have the same dedication to Pixar’s creations that many of us had for Walt Disney’s. Why would Disney ignore that? So when the areas that struggle for attention or are need of an update, like Future World, the soundstage at MGM and Tomorrowland, Imagineering will turn to Pixar. When all is said and done, the parks should be filled with one-part classic attraction, one-part classic film inspired attractions, and one-part current film inspired attractions. Considering this will bring the Magic Kindom’s Pixar ride total to all of 2, I think there is still little for the purists to whine about.
Soon each park will have a handful of Pixar inspired attractions, and the people who grew up with those characters will be lining up for them. Then, in the years that follow, as those attractions are replaced with something inspired by whatever Disney is producing at that time, those people who were young in 2006 will complain and whine about how Imagineering could ever even think of replacing their beloved Buzz Lightyear ride and ask why kids don’t watch Finding Nemo anymore.
by Dave