The Tragic Legacy of Beastly Kingdom Part III
The turn of the 21st Century was a period of stagnation for the two juggernauts of the theme park wars. Disney’s critical and commercial renaissance seemed to end following 1999’s Tarzan, and the confusing botched marketing campaign for Universal Studios Escape hadn’t brought in new crowds and cost the resort millions more to retheme as Universal Orlando Resort.
Already weakened, Disney, Universal, the tourism industry and America at-large were rocked by the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
As the country and tourism struggled to recover, the theme park rivals jockeyed for advantages in offerings and intellectual property, especially given the lack of quality products coming out of each parent company’s studios.
The most exciting story to hit page or screen in the first few years of the new millennium was the tale of Harry Potter, a schoolboy wizard whose life — and forehead — were marked by tragedy from the very beginning. By 2005, the four Warner Bros. films based on J.K. Rowling’s novels had grossed more than $3.5 billion worldwide, and there were three more films yet to come.
WDI had long partnered with other studios to bring exciting adventures to life inside the Disney theme parks dating back to 1987’s Star Tours attraction, and Universal Creative had also begun to experiment with IP licensing with Marvel Superhero Island and Seuss Landing at the new Islands of Adventure theme park. Both desperately needed a jolt of new life added into their storied yet increasingly stale lineup of resort attractions. The competition for Ms. Rowling’s rose was on.
Disney stepped up to the plate first; bolstered by their historic and iconic portfolio, they went in confident. The line between confident and cocky is thin as a razor’s edge, and, from what the grapevine tells us, the Imagineers stomped right over that line. Disney negotiated as if Rowling needed them, telling her how WDI would single-handedly craft Potter attractions, create synergistic tie-ins and hold meet and greets with actors playing the Golden Trio.
Strike one: Rowling would not have any sort of non-Wizarding World items present in a Potter theme park — no Coca Cola, no Mickey bars and no sort of nonsense like Hagrid and Voldemort facing off in a breakdance battle.
Strike two: She wanted her World to have an immersive, lived in, as large as life environment — no lightly themed, off-the-shelf flat rides placed in the unused space next to Small World.
Strike three: Rowling would not allow anything to go forward without her approval. She wanted to keep creative control over every aspect and phase and expansion of whatever Potter-land the Mouse House planned to create.
But, Disney wasn’t out yet. Rowling and Imagineers negotiated for over three years, each haughtily assuming the other would cave the next time they sidled up to the table. Meanwhile, Universal Creative was biding their time. They knew Rowling wasn’t yet ready to be propositioned by the “little brother” of the theme park industry. Universal knew when she would be, though, after their own standoff with another steadfast gatekeeper of a fanciful imagined world: Audrey Geisel.
Dr. Seuss’ widow and director of Dr. Seuss Enterprises was notoriously hard to please. Plans, rides and even color schemes for Seuss Landing were changed at Geisel’s mere whim. However, please her Universal did, with the utmost respect and devotion to her and the wacky world she represented. So it was Geisel whom Universal Creative suggested Rowling speak with after her first few meetings with UC left her not quite convinced.
Geisel talked with Rowling about the care and respect with which the good Doctor’s world was tendered and rendered by Universal, and how her concerns were addressed quickly and carefully down to the tiniest jot and tittle. Rowling, her worries melting away like wax from the tip of a candle, saw that Universal would treat her world with the reverence which WDI’s hunger for synergy would never allow. On May 31, 2007, Rowling announced she would bring the Wizarding World’s talents to Universal City.
Three years later, as the titanic film series was beginning its end, Islands of Adventure held a red carpet affair for the grand opening of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, a Hollywood premier-style event featuring the films’ biggest stars, including Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson, and Rowling herself.
On June 18, 2010, the Wizarding World opened to the public, who lined up all the way from Hogsmeade’s gates back through Islands of Adventure, Universal CityWalk and to the parking garages. For the first time, Disney felt they had to regard Universal as a true theme park rival.
As everything about Universal’s new Wizarding World began to mint gold, dominoes began to fall everywhere. Needing a world-dominating IP of their own, Disney jumped to pay the GDP of a medium-sized country for the theme park rights to the current box office king, James Cameron’s Avatar. Back at UOR, Jaws: The Ride, Universal Studios Florida’s opening day marquee attraction, was slated to be closed to make way for a Wizarding World expansion.
Ironically, as Avatar proved not to inspire the same devotion among large swaths of humanity the way Potter does, Universal’s Wizarding World may have, in part, also factored into Disney’s decision to buy Lucasfilm and infuse their parks with a franchise whose fans rivaled Potterheads in number and devotion.
You may be wondering what this story has to do with the tragically un-built Beastly Kingdom. Well, let’s bring this full circle, shall we?
Back in the late ’90s, when Michael Eisner decided he would open Animal Kingdom with Dinoland U.S.A. first and open Beastly Kingdom at a later date, the area set aside for the un-built land was given a placeholder, Camp Minnie-Mickey. As time went by, Camp Minnie-Mickey became a longstanding attraction while Beastly Kingdom never materialized. Disney Parks fans who knew the legend of Beastly Kingdom held tightly to the adage, “A good idea never dies at Disney,” as the cheap façade of Camp Minnie-Mickey lingered, hoping someday the placeholder land would step aside for the area’s original occupant to take the stage.
With much of the land’s theming and even design elements already being incorporated into a different company’s park, Beastly Kingdom’s arrival already seemed unlikely, but even the most optimistic of fans had to admit the final nail in BK’s coffin came with the announcement that Pandora: The World of Avatar would replace Camp Minnie-Mickey in Animal Kingdom.
So, the tragedy comes to an end with parts of Beastly Kingdom used to create a rival theme park and the Kingdom’s rightful land given over to another studio’s IP. While Beastly Kingdom likely will never come to be, it has left behind quite a rich legacy to which we owe Islands of Adventure, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Pandora: The World of Avatar and even Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
Indeed, some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall.
Austin Vaughn is a Columnist for the Boardwalk Times
