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Frankie say relax, Disney say good-bye

Image: 20th Century FOX

 So why didn't Castle Young Frankenstein had become a reality? Finances and egos, mostly.

Brooks worked hand in hand with Disney Imagineers to build a viable blueprint for this attraction. All parties agreed that it would stand out visually within the park, similar to other castles at the various Disney gates. This castle would have a moat that guests could only cross thanks to a drawbridge. A Bavarian village would reside nearby. Here, the villagers would warn guests of the impending danger at the castle. Simultaneously, they would sell snacks and theme park merchandise. Hey, if someone’s about to go to their doom, why not clean out their wallets first? They won’t need money where they’re going.

Eisner adored the idea of a functional imaginary village residing at Disney-MGM Studios. That’s the type of splashy headline he sought throughout his career as corporate CEO. He only had one well-founded reservation. He just wasn’t sure Young Frankenstein resonated enough as an intellectual property. He may have underestimated the film in this regard. It earned $86.3 million in 1974, when the average movie ticket cost $1.89 (and audiences presumably had to walk 10 miles uphill in the snow to see it). That’s the equivalent of $385 million today. Yes, Young Frankenstein sold more tickets in 1974 than The Secret Life of Pets or The Jungle Book sold in 2016.

Eisner feared something beyond the lasting popularity of Young Frankenstein, though. He also worried about having to pay for the rights to this project. Had Young Frankenstein been a Disney project, Peter Boyle would have become a Disneybounding icon, I’m sure.

Call Marge re: horror

Image: Warner Bros. 

Instead, Eisner chose to evolve the premise beyond gothic satire. He wanted something truly scary, a premise that hasn’t always worked out well for the company. There’s a reason why Mickey explicitly states that his party is not so scary. Ever since the opening day of Disneyland, the plaintive cries of children had bothered company executives. Snow White’s Scary Adventures pushed those boundaries too far for some. That’s why the attraction proved so controversial in its early years.

From Disney’s perspective, consumers had grown smarter and more jaded over those 35 years. They felt a horror ride wouldn’t prove quite as problematic as the 1990s began. To wit, they explored building an entire attraction around the works of Stephen King. Please take a moment to spin that thought around in your head. Is there anyone in the world LESS Disney than Stephen King? His version of It’s a Small World would include the dolls coming to life, climbing onto the boat, and Chucky-ing everyone onboard.

While details of the King version of the Tower of Terror are largely lost to time, a belief persists that the infamous Stanley Hotel from The Shining could have come into play. That would fit with the other early blueprints for the attraction, all of which featured a hotel in some way. Somehow, I just don’t see a recreation of The Shining fitting well at the Most Magical Place on Earth, so they probably performed the correct determination in ditching the concept. Still, the thought of Pennywise, Randall Flagg, and Annie Wilkes hanging out at Walt Disney World is intriguing.

A wondrous land of imagination

The Twilight Zone

Image: CBS

As you know, The Twilight Zone became the synergistic partner once ideas involving Young Frankenstein and Stephen King fell by the wayside. They saw many more positives to the intellectual property than negatives, at least at the time. The primary con was that Disney didn’t own The Twilight Zone. In exchange for using the title and the undead services of Rod Serling, who was 15 years dead by this point, Disney agreed to pay a hefty licensing fee. Remember this later. It’s critical to the conversation.

What did Disney get for their money? The pro of The Twilight Zone was that they could construct their own eerie story of gothic horror under the umbrella of a proven television series. Disney Imagineers would have complete control over the storyline, and they’d face no meddling from powerful celebrities who were currently alive. For this reason, Mel Brooks dropped out of the project while Stephen King never received an official offer. What had once been known in blueprints as Mel Brooks’ Hollywood Horror Hotel was now merely a scary building of undefined backstory.

Disney warmed to the idea of The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, a giant building with a sadistic history. Once the favored resort of Hollywood celebrities, it fell victim to a weather event that had supernatural consequences. Five people traveling on the same elevator wound up trapped in an eternal void. The underlying implication is that anyone who takes an elevator ride could fall victim to the same fate.

The grim tale Disney Imagineers constructed was an extension of that binge watching television session. They dutifully took notes about all the clever aspects of The Twilight Zone. From that voluminous list, they culled a few ideas that became the backbone of the attraction. What they emphasized was not any specific story from the series but instead the underlying tone.

The conceit of the show was that Rod Serling’s narration placed the pieces on the board for a puzzle of the mind’s eye. The story that followed would challenge viewers to guess the mystery while appreciating the paranormal elements as allegories for modern living. Disney wanted to honor the legacy of The Twilight Zone by crafting a supernatural thrill ride that felt stolen from one of the hidden dimensions Serling referenced in his introduction.

 
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Comments

I think they should leave all towers to Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. It is a classic series that is timeless, and the ride is SO awesome in part due to it being more of a thrilling and older audiences oriented. I also love Alien Encounter and the Great Movie Ride, the removal of both rides being the worst Disney park decision in my own opinion. I don't think Guardians of the Galaxy (as the recent movie) will be nearly as popular 10 or 15 years down the road. Especially the movie version, since it will be rebooted eventually with all new cast and characters most likely, and within less then 2 decades from now. If they made the rides based more on the comic book (not movie) versions of Guardians of the Galaxy, it will probably fare better as it would not be so dated, and be seen as more original/timeless. At any case I hope they LEAVE the WDW version of Tower of Terror ALONE!

Amazing read !! Was hooked but really bugged me check and cheque.

Thank you for the insight. Although it was a little surprising to hear, it does actually make sense. And I'm glad that they will likely keep the original in HS at Disney World. I feel much better about that. As for a new Guardians of the Galaxy attraction replacing Ellen in Epcot, I'm all for it! I do hope that they keep the original essence of Future World alive, but for YEARS Future World has been barely a shell of what it once was and I'm glad to hear that they're finally doing something about it. There is so much potential for Epcot's Future World, especially with so many areas not even being used. I love Ellen, but I'd much rather see some of those older attractions getting upgrades to something new.

Loved the effort put into this article. Well written and a joy to read

As far as the grave rolling comment, It's not like Walt envisioned EPCOT in the form it was created in anyways.

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