Here's proof that even the ugliest of Disney theme parks can have terrific looking concept art. This time, it's not the Walt Disney Studios Paris - still winner of the title- but Disney's California Adventure 1.0 and the much aligned Paradise Pier.
Given a continually slashed budget and a less than great idea for a theme, Imagineer Tim Delaney did the best he could to portray the Bargain Basement Imagineered park in a positive light. Using dashes of color and plenty of swirling shapes, Tim created a very attractive painting. It's too bad the area of Paradise Pier was more realistically a sign of trying to fool Disney fans into thinking this park was cutting edge work.
After a solid but not thorough reworking in 2012, this seaside diversion did have much more charm than the original incarnation. Will the transition to Pixar Pier kill that? We'll have to see.
(Art copyright The Walt Disney Company.)
