Toon Invasion at Tokyo Disneyland's Tomorrowland

The Oriental Land Company has just announced that Stitch Encounter will replace Michael Jackson's Captain Eo in 2015. This move continues a trend of toons invading the streets of Tomorrowland. In the not so distant past, Monsters Hide and Go Seek arrived and before that Buzz Lightyear. It seems that even the stunningly maintained Tokyo Disney Resort is not immune to a lack of imagination.

(Art copyright The Walt Disney Company.)

Ariel's Risky Undersea Adventure

Just as it was in 1989 when this movie debuted to (thankfully) critical acclaim, The Little Mermaid plays a very significant and potentially fortune changing role for today's Walt Disney Company. This time, it's not the animation division needing some punch, it is a couple of the theme parks.

Between Ariel's attraction being the centerpiece of the new Fantasy Forest in Florida's Magic Kingdom and being the star of the first real new attraction at California Adventure since the billion dollar overhaul was announced, there's a lot riding on her poor little tail!

You wouldn't have to read the Disney blogworld for long to discover that many in Disney fandom believe the days of impressive "E" Tickets like the ones of the Golden Age of Imagineering are behind us. Disney's artists struggle to prove otherwise. Yet, to date, what has been produced that compares to the Marc Davis era? Not much, I say. Finally, here is their chance.

Certainly, the accounting folks at the Company are banking on the Little Mermaid to turn around the fortunes of California Adventure as well as fend off Harry Potter. It's a tall order.

Will it work or does it really matter in Florida? At Walt Disney World, tourists flock to second hand tripe like the Stitch disasters since they are placed in the Magic Kingdom alongside the true must-sees.

Not so at California Adventure. Without first rate attractions beyond Soarin' Over California, more is at risk. Will the first Audio-Animatronic extravaganza in Anaheim's second gate become a must see headliner? I hope so, but any way you view it, this is quite the task to accomplish. Disney put all their chips on the line for the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror to turn around the park. Unfortunately, a half-baked version of the terrific Florida original resulted in disappointment for fan and company alike. The same mistake cannot be made twice.

California theme park fans are giving the Walt Disney Company another chance to impress us. We'll be a forgiving bunch one more time as we not so patiently wait through a revamped Sun Wheel and Orange Stinger. But you cannot fool us twice. This time the company had better deliver the real deal or lose us for good. There's more fish in the sea beyond another pretty little mermaid.

(Art copyright The Walt Disney Company.)

Bird Brained at Tokyo Disneyland

In the ongoing insertion of characters into the Disney parks, the really annoying but must be popular Stitch has invaded now Disneyland's It's A Small World and Tokyo Disneyland's Enchanted Tiki Room.

In the concept art above, one unused idea was pitched to have penguins entertain guests once inside the classic tropical bungalow. I cannot decide which choice was worse! What is going on at the Walt Disney Company and the Oriental Land Company? This pairing used to produce incredible attractions. Will Monsters Inc Ride and Go Seek reverse the trend? Here 's hoping.

However awful the ideas, these wonderful renderings are found in the latest edition of Tales from the Laughing Place, a fan magazine that ranks with the best of the Disney company's official publications of the past. You really should subscribe. If you're an obsessed Disney fan, to not do so would be... bird brained.

(Concept art The Walt Disney Company)