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5. The finally-fulfilled promise

The dedication for the Animal Kingdom from 1998 actually promised something that will only be fully delivered with Pandora: The World of Avatar

Welcome to a kingdom of animals... real, ancient and imagined: a kingdom ruled by lions, dinosaurs and dragons; a kingdom of balance, harmony and survival; a kingdom we enter to share in the wonder, gaze at the beauty, thrill at the drama, and learn.

—Michael D. Eisner, April 22, 1998

Save for Expedition: Everest and a few other small additions to the park, we haven’t gotten the kingdom of imagined animals Michael D. Eisner promised us over 15 years ago. The Disney Imagineers had plans for it in the form of a Beastly Kingdom, but that never came to pass. With Pandora: The World of Avatar, however, Disney is finally giving us what we’ve been asking for. Maybe not in the form we wanted, but it still might be something to celebrate.

6. The people involved

Image: Disney

The Avatar project is headed up by Joe Rohde, a veteran executive at Walt Disney Imagineering. He is the lead designer of the Animal Kingdom, and widely respected by theme park fans and professionals alike. He’s also a bit of a character. His trademark is a large collection of earrings he wears in his left ear, which he’s collected over decades of travel to remote corners of the world. That love of nature is definitely good trait for someone in charge of a theme park like Disney’s Animal Kingdom. 

Rohde was actually the creator of the proposal for the Beastly Kingdom, mentioned above, and will now be the one in charge of fulfilling that promise of legendary animals, now decreed to be in the form of Pandora: The World of Avatar. His role as well as the role of other Imagineers has to inspire some confidence that, even if it’s not what you necessarily wanted, this new area will be spectacular.

7. The continued focus on the Animal Kingdom’s core values

Theme park fan site BigFatPanda.com was lucky enough to catch an event exclusively for Disney cast members held at The Theatre of the Wild in which both Joe Rohde and and film producer Jon Landau (but mainly Rohde) explained to employees at Walt Disney World what Avatar is and why they decided to move forward with what seems like many to be an unusual choice. The presentation didn’t reveal much new information in regards to rides/attractions, but Joe Rohde did say some wonderful words that helped convince me personally that Pandora: The World of Avatar will be good for the Animal Kingdom. I encourage you to watch the whole video here. To summarize, Joe Rohde first outlines the themes of the Animal Kingdom. Read them below

An intrinsic and supreme value of nature: Nature is of more value than anything you can hold against it

Transformation through adventure: Unlike the repeated motions of many theme park attractions, at the Animal Kingdom something new happens every single day. 

The sense of a personal call to action: Most of the stories in the Animal Kingdom are about you and what’s happening to you, not third-party characters.

Rhode believes the 2009 movie Avatar aligns near-perfectly with those all-important values, which is why Pandora: The World of Avata will be good for the Animal Kingdom and the Walt Disney World Resort. I’m starting to believe that, too. What do you think? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page or in the comments below.

 
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