Monday, March 3, 2008

Pixarification Nation...


Yet more ammo for those of you that don't like the "Pixarification" of the parks. While I don't want everything in DCA to be from Pixar, I will tell you that this parade is a great deal of fun and will actually help turn this park into a real "Disney" theme park.



These pics come courtesy of the LA Times Daily Travel and Deal Blog.

Hat Tip: Brady MacDonald

8 comments:

t said...

What I think people greatly fail to realize is that there is a reason why the Pixar gang is getting their own parade in DCA...and why BPB was their own parade in DCA.

It stems from what was said by Steven and DCE back from the 50th...that they want diversity in the entertainment offerings between the two parks.

POD showcases all the classic Disney family of characters.
Well, that leaves out the Pixar gang who also happen to be some of the most popular contemporary characters for the company right now. People want to see them too...it makes perfect sense to give them their own exclusive parade.
Thus, why BPB and now Pixar Play is there...to showcase the Disney*Pixar family of characters. This was a very smart idea from Steven, Marilyn, DCE, and the DLR ent. team.

It has nothing to do with the "Pixar-fication" of the parks.

Spokker said...

The Pixar parade actually looks pretty cool, and I'm generally not into parades.

While I would have preferred more of the makeover to be in the spirit of the 1920s Los Angeles entryway, as long as the Pixar attractions are high quality I will enjoy them. Rumors are flying that Radiator Springs Racers is hitting a 300 million dollar budget. They are sparing no expense it seems.

Disneyland on the other hand...

Justin said...

My general complaint about Pixar in California Adventure is that it doesn't match the theming of the place. I know that Pixar sells and that by adding all of these attractions to DCA it is boosting attendance. Hopefully the remake of DCA will help to retheme everything so that it all works together.

Spokker said...

"Hopefully the remake of DCA will help to retheme everything so that it all works together."

Actually, based on the concept art and plans, it won't.

DCA 2.0 will still be a hodgepodge of California and Pixar/Disney theming. There will be areas inspired by California right next to areas inspired by Disney characters.

It'll still be a mess of conflicting themes that have nothing to do with each other, but it'll be a higher quality mess of conflicting themes that have nothing to do with each other.

I mean, if you look at DisneySea, every attraction has its own identity while contributing to the overall theme of exploration and adventure inspired by, uhm, seas.

DCA still won't actually gel together quite like that.

t said...

Does the animated worlds of the disney films in POD and the various other parades over the years match the exact theming of a turn of the century street with a medieval castle at the end?

Parades are moving theatrical entertainment that come in, then go right out. They are not permanent fixtures like attractions...the nature of them is very different.

It's a bit of balancing act really...I think Disney does a phenomenal job at placing the appropriate parades in the right parks that fit the vibe, feel, spirit, and over-arching theming of each particular park, while still keeping the platform open wide enough for lots and lots of various creative ideas to be able to be fostered for a given park. When it comes to the parades, if it were being themed so strictly to the surrounding environment, it would greatly tighten the range of creative ideas that could come to light.
For the most part, Disney knows what they are doing with the placement of parades...sans a couple misses (which are bound to happen at some time).

Pixar Play fits the current vibe and feel of DCA...think about it, if you switched POD and PPP...wouldn't quite work would it?

Anonymous said...

Let's hope Disney drops the whole flawed California theme and the word from the name. The sister park to Disneyland deserves nothing less.

The previous regime's idea that creating a theme park about California in California was one of the dumbest ideas ever. Did they really think that creating a fake experience of CA would keep folks who traveled halfway around the country or the world from wanting to see the real deal while they were here? The only way they could have been more blatant about wanting to keep all the tourist dollars at the Resort would have been to make all the gates one way. Just like the famous hotel in the Eagles' song, "you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave."

The other benefit of dropping California from the name is that the whiners might allow the Disney creative juices to run wild instead of whining about Disney not cramming every new idea into a broken theme.

Anonymous said...

But why do they have to squirt everyone? What's the deal with all theme parks getting everyone more wet? Is Disney trying to keep up with Universal and Sea World with the soaking?

Good comments from t.

Spokker said...

I'm sure that the splash zones will be marked. They'd be stupid not to.