20,000 Leagues Under The Influence...

When you think of some of the marvelous creations that Disney has come up with in its theme parks and on silver screens over the decades there seems to be common thread among many of them that most people don't think about...


Verne. Wells. Burroughs.

As in, Jules Verne, H. G. Wells and Edgar Rice Burroughs have played a great part in many past, present and yes, future creations at the Mouse. In film or parks these classic adventure/sci-fi novelist have added more to the creation of Disney myth than most anyone but Walt Disney himself.

Go all the way back to Walt's early forays into live-action. While he was building his personal pet project, Disneyland he was also filming a large, action adventure based on one of Jules Verne's classic "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea." A project which, if it had failed would have spelled out disaster for Disneyland btw.

The wonderful designs that were used in that film were a throwback to the Victorian Era but through a forward looking perspective. What Walt's designer of that film, Harper Goff actually wound up creating is what's called in modern times "Steampunk"(check out the WED Enterprises Blog for an interesting article on the subject). The worlds that these authors created have inspired many of the things we take for grated when we ride an attraction, go to a movie theater or watch an old film on DVD.



So I got to thinking about all the things in Disney's world that are affected by these men...

Of the three, Verne plays the most prominence and Burroughs the least... but that sense of Victorian wonder created in their writing has been translated into so many things by Disney that it might as well be called Disney.



Let's start with some of the films...

"20,000 Leagues Under the Sea"

An adventure for a mythical monster that has been attacking naval ships in the blue Pacific. French Prof. Pierre M. Aronnax, and his assistant, Conseil travel on an expedition in search of the creature. On board an American warship they encounter a rebellious sailor named Ned Land and a friendship between Conseil and Land begins. Once the monster destroys their ship the three become castaways floating in watery graveyard where they stumble into the mysterious world of Captain Nemo, the captain of the Nautilus, a submersible ship that is a forerunner to what we know as submarines today. The Nautilus actually monster that has been destroying the ships in the Pacific. Their journey leads them across the globe as Nemo shows his visitors a world beneath the waves that mankind has only dreamed of. The travels lead them to Vucania, the secret island atoll that Nemo calls his port.

"In Search of the Castaways"

A tale of a brother and sister, whose father is the long-lost Captain Grant, beg Lord Glenarvan to begin a search for their lost father. Initially wary of the journey, Lord Glenarvan's son John and a geologist who discovered a note from Captain Grant in the belly of a shark convince him to search for the missing captain. They set sail aboard Glenarvan's yacht the Persevero II on a journey of danger and intrigue... essentially a children's tale, but a far better one than "Island at the Top of the World".

"The Island at the Top of the World"

The story of a Professor who travels with uptight, Sir Ross and French balloonist Captain Brieux in a Victorian airship, "the Hyperion"(named after the street on which Disney's first studio in Los Angeles resided) on an arctic expedition to find Ross' lost son, Donald. They discover a lost world above the Arctic circle where a volcanic oasis holds the remnants of ancient Vikings living there for over a millennium. Sounds cool, huh? It's not. The effects are bad and the script is worse... but the idea and feeling are pure Disney-Verne. I've always hated it when a studio remakes a classic, but a film like this has a great idea that was poorly executed... remake this with some talented writers, directors and special effects artists.

"Tarzan"

Based on the classic story by Edgar Rice Burroughs, this tale of an English baby boy adopted by a group of apes has been adapted many times. It was thought when Disney did its version that there was nothing it could add. Not true. In typical Disney fashion they've created a wonderful story with great animation that works for the most part. The villain seems to be a little weak and the story in the last act seems rushed but overall a great film about the Lord of the Jungle.

"Atlantis: The Lost Empire"

The ambitious and beautifully drawn, but flawed 40th animated feature from Walt Disney Pictures was an entertaining story set a little after the turn of the century(1914) in an America emerging from the birth of the Industrial Revolution. Milo Thatch, a cartographer works in the basement of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. and dreams of finding the mythical city of Atlantis. One day he gets a cryptic invitation to visit a mysterious old Robber Barron geezer who tells him he's decided to fund an expedition in search of just that very lost city. The film has a lot going for it... and truly wants to be another "Raiders of the Lost Ark..." but it ultimately falls short. Milo and a group of mercenaries plunge beneath the ocean in a gigantic Versian submarine known as the Ulysses. One look at this craft and you know that it had to be inspired by Harper Goff's designs of the Nautilus. But an example of one of the mistakes the filmmakers made(mainly due to major Suit interference) was to destroy this beautiful creation in less that seven or eight minutes. Huh? Can you imagine if the Nautilus was destroyed in the first five minutes of "Leagues?" What they didn't realize is that the Ulysses should have been a character unto itself. Not an afterthought. Also the "New Age" aspects of the story are not nearly as interesting as the crew that is pursuing it. My opinion would have been to find an Atlantis that was truly lost. Lost and dead. The focus should have been on the characters on this expedition and when they found Atlantis it should have been an archeological dig. It would then be possible to have them find out how and why the Atlantians died... instead of the living hippie survivors that we found. I found them the least interesting part of the film. The film is still a fun ride, but it leaves you feeling the loss of what might have been...

"Treasure Planet"

A Vernsian twists on Robert Louis Stevenson's classic "Treasure Island" novel. Great animation. A Plody story that doesn't quite come off as believable and the main character seems to be too old of a representation of the character from the book. The ships and designs are right out of something H.G. Wells or Jules Vern would have dreamed up though...

Now what about the parks...

The Disney theme parks have also carried the theme of these writers into the physical world as well with the Magic Kingdom's original submarine ride which had guest riding replicas of Nemo's Nautilus. Before it was filled in, the lagoon at Walt Disney World was a wonderful way for families to experience the thrill of actually being part of that classic film.



A much larger tribute to Verne and Wells is Euro Disneyland's Tomorrowland... or "Discoveryland" as the land in Paris is called.



Paris' version is basically Tomorrowland seen through Jules Verne's eyes according to Disney. When Michael Eisner began planning the park that we know today as Disneyland Paris, he gave Tony Baxter and a band of Imagineers the chance to build a land that he wanted to create originally for Disneyland in Anaheim. A land called Discovery Bay, which Baxter wanted to build as a new land at the Mother Park in the late 70's. It didn't happen and when Disney planned on building a European Gate for the Disney Empire, WDI's new park gave this plan new life.



It's Space Mountain is designed as if it was built in a Victorian time and evokes impressions of Georges Méliès' early silent film "A Trip to the Moon". Originally Paris' Space Mountain began life as an even larger creation than a period clone of its sisters across the world. Known as Discovery Mountain, it was an amazing textbook example of a Disney attraction themed to Versian/Wellsian worlds. "Les Mysteres Du Nautilus" or as it's known in English: "The Mystery of the Nautilus" featuring Nemo's sub floating in the Discoveryland Lagoon is themed heavily to in the vision of Jules Verne. The Orbitron(The original Disneyland has an Orbitron as well that was part of the abortive, Tomorrowland 98 project, which we'll cover in a future post) which inhabits Discoveryland is a ride that appears to have been designed by H.G. Wells creator of the Time Machine, himself. Then there was Videopolis, an attraction at Euro Disneyland featuring the Verne inspired Hyperion airship from The Island at the Top of the World.



A proposed new land for Disneyland in the late 70's. Discovery Bay was a Victorian place, a village or small town that was supposed to have cropped up in the north west around the turn of the nineteenth century. Imagine if Captain Nemo had escaped the disaster at the end of Leagues and had came across a mining town nestled in a bay in northern California in the middle of the Gold Rush. He and other reclusive inventors would have used the place as a base for experimenting and developing their ideas for a brighter future. The kind of place that Verne or Wells would have inhabited. An area where airships could be flown in seclusion(much like the Videopolis in Paris) or one could have dinner inside a luxury restaurant aboard the Nautilus(again, part of the original proposal for Discoveryland in Paris). Or you could have a Journey to the Center of the Earth ride... sounds familiar, don't it? Many of the concepts of "Discovery Bay" have made it into parks in Paris, Orlando or Anaheim.



But Tokyo has got the most detailed representation of what Imagineers were dreaming of...



Essentially the world of Jules Verne in Tokyo DisneySEA. It could be named "Verneland" and it would be quite accurate. Imagine that you are in the island base of Captain Nemo from the film, but you are there before the island atoll is destroyed by the outside world. You've been invited as a special guest of the Captain. Able to go on an undersea journey in his personal sub or use one of the devices he's built that will burrow into the ground toward the center of the earth. There are several places you can eat including a restaurant Built into the side of Mount Prometheus. The area is very dangerous because of all the volcanic activity and there are geysers all about the caldera shooting up around you. Pretty neat, huh? My favorite land in the park.







The park's Port Discovery is like an aquatic Tomorrowland with these strong influences as well and is built around the classical representation that Vern or Wells would have put into their manuscripts and stories. It is filled with a Victorian Industrial fantasy theme that evokes a challenging time when explorers thought that anything was possible and anyplace was reachable... much like the attitude of Disney himself.

The worlds that these Imagineers and filmmakers have created for Disney are a magical experience for almost everyone... and we will no doublably have more in the future. Several projects that WDI has designed have yet to be built and nothing is left around for long. Sooner or later a model or blueprint will be pulled out for some new land or new Disney park... that's simply the nature of this narrative. And as for films, in a three or four years we'll have "The Princess of Mars" based on the series of books by Edgar Rice Burroughs that Andrew Stanton is directing. More will follow. After all, these themes are created about the past but they're built for the future...

The future is what this is all about.

Building A Better Mousetrap...

Forbes Online has an article interviewing Iger about his franchise strategy for the Walt Disney Company and it also reveals a few jewels I'm surprised he let out of the bag:

The franchise that Iger thinks has the most potential: "Cars". He also states: "a relatively good bet that ultimately they'll be a sequel". Talking about the " Cars" mechandise that the company is selling: "We've clearly struck a nerve".

He goes on to talk about several other franchises, but doesn't mention any other upcoming animated movies. A nice read. Give it a looksie.

A Christmas Carl...

As we come close to Christmas I thought it would be nice to also celebrate the creation of one of Walt Disney Comics most famous creations...

Uncle Scrooge.

A half a century old, the grumpy duck is! Fifty years ago. All the way back in 1947 Carl Barks wrote and drew a story called "Christmas on Bear Mountain" in Donald Duck comics. Dell Comics actually published it in "Donald Duck #178". It marked the first appearance of Scrooge McDuck of the Scottish clan of McDucks. He didn't have all the familiar personality quirks that we would come to love, but the core idea was there.

The story follows Donald, broke and unable to buy any gifts for his family. He gets a surprise invitation to his Uncle Scrooge's mansion way up on Bear Mountain. Scrooge has sent for his nephew so that he can test his character. He plans on scaring Donald by dressing up as a bear. But nothing in life happens as planned and a baby bear wanders into the living room while they're out and falls asleep beside the warm hearth of the fire place. Hilarity ensues and through a series of unintended consequences Scrooge believes that Donald has past his test and comes the next day to have Christmas with them.

Carl Barks never intended on using the character for other than that one issue, but he soon realized the fun he could have with ole' Scrooge McDuck and the rest is history.

Scrooge is my favorite Walt Disney comic book character. I remember as a child having my Pappaw take us out to a late dinner at a diner in my small, home town. When we would get up to pay the bill at the front counter there was a comic book rack across from the register. You know the kind, whole batches of comics placed in clear bags with three per bag. He'd always have me pick out a collection and I always picked a few Uncle Scrooge comics. I'd tear open the plastic wrapper as he drove us home and scan through them giggling. It's some fond memories I have of my Pappaw and that McDuck...

If you get a chance to find a copy of Donald Duck # 178, don't hesitate. It's a great story with wonderfully rendered Barks artwork. If you've ever read any of Don Rosa's work you'll notice he pays tribute to Barks tales, particularly "Bear Mountain" in his enormously entertaining stories.

So as you gather round to celebrate the holidays this week, remember that another thing we have to be thankful for is that rich, old Scrooge McDuck and the three cubic acres of wealth in his Money Bin. He looks pretty good for fifty, doesn't he?

The Illegitimate Son Of Carl Barks...

Now if you're a true Disney fan then you know who Carl Barks is. And if you've been reading this blog for very long you should definitely know who he is since I've posted a few things about him over the past year.

For those new to this world of Disney Geekdom, Carl Barks is the most famous Disney comic book artist... he started work at Walt Disney Productions in the animation department, but then started drawing Disney Comics and made some of the best stories concerning Donald Duck. He essentially created a lot of the mythology that revolves around Donald... from his home town of Duckburg to his foul relatives. One of these relatives is his greatest creation: Scrooge McDuck... one of the most popular Disney Comics characters and later in the late 80's/early 90's the star of his very own show "Ducktales", which was based on Carl Barks stories.

Whew... that was a long set-up for something that is not about Carl Barks. Anyway, Carl was irreplaceable... no one could take his place and certainly, no one could equal him. Now for the longest time Disney fans held this as one of the self-evident truths of Disney lore. Back in the 80's along came an artist by the name Don Rosa. Don not only drew great, highly detailed art for his stories, he actually wrote the stories as well. And they were not good stories... they were great stories. Barks himself would have been proud. It seems no one was as much of a Carl Barks fan as Don Rosa was... he could quote you from specific issues and had every story, every character down pat. Over the last decade his stories have earned him a very loyal following amongst Disney Comic Book fans(his largest following is in Europe). It's widely felt that the successor to Carl that never could exist actually did!

So who is Don Rosa?

Gioachino "Keno" Don Hugo Rosa was born in Louisville, Kentucky on June 29, 1951. An extremely talented comic book writer and illustrator known mainly for his stories featuring Scrooge McDuck, Donald Duck and other Disney characters. Don started working for Gladstone Publishing in the mid 80's after editor Byron Erickson received a phone call from Rosa asking to draw comics for them. Erickson told him send a story and he'd see if it was good enough for publication. Not thinking much else about it, Erickson went about his work until the day the story arrived that Don had written and drawn featuring Uncle Scrooge. The skeptical editor opened up the envelope and read the story Rosa had sent. It was a tale called "Son of the Sun" and the editor was amazed. Elated even at reading this fresh, smart and entertaining story from someone out of nowhere. Needless to say, he published it. The story became a huge success and was nominated for a Harvey Award.
Eventually Don stopped working for Gladstone because of creative differences, but as luck would have it he found work writing and drawing stories for the Dutch publisher Oberon, the publishers of an American Disney children's magazine called DuckTales (based on of the animated series) . He didn't work for them for very long and left soon after over financial disagreements.

Eventually, Rosa was contacted by Danish publisher Egmont, who had been publishing reprints of his stories. They wanted more of his stories. Thankfully for them, Don wanted to write and draw more of his stories as well. He joined Egmont in 1990 as a freelance writer/artist and has had a successful relationship with them ever-since. It was just after joining Egmont that he started work on what was to be his most famous work: "The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck", a twelve chapter story featuring his favorite character, Uncle Scrooge. The series was extremely successful and won an Eisner Award(the Oscar of comics) for best continuing series in 1995. If you've never read this series and are a Disney Geek or fan... shame on you. Go out and purchase a copy right away.

Eventually the success of this series spawned a sequel known as "The Life and times of Scrooge McDuck Companion". Unfortunately, Egmont didn't want any additional chapters so the French publisher Picsou picked up the initial run and Rosa started freelancing for Picsou as well as Egmont.

Don Rosa still writes and draws stories for Egmont to this day. Fans of his work look forward to each and every new issue that comes out. Although he is mildly popular in America, he is highly regarded in Europe by Disney fans across the continent. Slowly, he is achieving more notoriety here in the States and his stories and artwork are prized possessions for Disney Geeks everywhere.

Take a break from your normal routine tomorrow and go into a comic-book shop. Ask the large man with the long hair and goatee behind the counter if they have any issues of Don Rosa there. If he's worth his salt in terms of having knowledge of Disney Comics, then he'll direct you to the Disney section and let you fall in love with with Uncle Scrooge all over again.

Just like we did with Carl Barks so many, many years ago...