A Friday Visit with Jim Korkis: The Beastly Kingdom
By Dave Shute
Welcome back to Fridays with Jim Korkis! Jim, the dean of Disney historians and author of Jim’s Gems in The easy Guide, writes about Walt Disney World history every Friday on yourfirstvisit.net.
BEFORE PANDORA: THE BEASTLY KINGDOM
By Jim Korkis
The original concept for Disney’s Animal Kingdom was based on animals: real, imaginary and extinct. Extinct animals would be represented in a section devoted to dinosaurs. Real animals would be represented throughout the park including attractions showcasing them.
Imaginary and mythical creatures, like unicorns, dragons, sea monsters and more, were to be housed in a land known as the Beastly Kingdom (and in some planning documents: “Beastlie Kingdomme”).
The marketing material crafted for this land stated: “Beastly Kingdom is the realm of make believe animals, animals that don’t really exist, out of legends, out of fairy tales, out of storybooks. Like our legends and fair tales about imaginary animals, this land is divided into realms of good and realms of evil.”
The silhouette of a winged dragon appears in the center the DAK’s logo that also features real and extinct animals.
Unfortunately time and budget constraints did not allow the development of the land in time for park open.
Instead, Camp Minnie-Mickey was quickly built as a temporary placeholder, until Spring 2003 when the Beastly Kingdom would be finally built, so that young guests could interact with the traditional Disney animated characters.
After the opening of DAK, while guest surveys showed that guests were enthusiastically supportive of a Beastly Kingdom, financial reports indicated that attendance would not grow enough to justify the expense of its construction. In fact, the opening of DAK dropped the attendance nearly ten percent on average at the other three WDW parks
In 2000, Imagineer Joe Rohde, who was responsible for the concept of a Beastly Kingdom, publicly admitted that he was doubtful such an area would ever be built now. In September 2011, Disney announced it was partnering with filmmaker James Cameron to build a land themed to his Avatar film series in that same location.
Remnants of the concept besides the logo remain in DAK today including a parking lot named “unicorn”, a dragon head atop the entrance ticket booth, and for a while, a cave along Discovery River that housed the roar of a fire breathing dragon and a brief burst of a propane flame. For the opening of the park, McDonalds included in one of its Happy Meals, a purple winged dragon to represent that uncompleted area.
The entrance to Beastly Kingdom would be over a bridge guarded by a troll. The legendary realm would have been divided into two sections: one celebrating good creatures and another showcasing evil, dangerous creatures.
The evil side would have been dominated by the Dragon Tower, a charred and ruined castle home to a fire-breathing, jewel-encrusted dragon (the largest audio-animatronics figure to have been built at that time) who guarded a massive treasure. Bats who lived there as well planned to steal these riches and enlisted the help of the guests in their robbery plans.
Guests would be aboard a suspended inverted roller coaster to create the feeling of flying along with the bats on the heist. A climatic confrontation with the dragon would have left the guests feeling the heat as its fiery breath came much too close.
Also in this section would be a waterfront eatery called the Loch Ness Terrace with periodic visits from the fabled sea serpent-like creature.
The good side would include the Quest of the Unicorn, an adventure through a maze of medieval mythological creatures to find the unicorn’s hidden grotto in the center. In addition, a musical boat ride entitled Fantasia Gardens based on the mythological scenes in the Disney animated feature film Fantasia (1940) would be included.
With the opening of Expedition Everest, DAK introduced its first mythological presence into the park, the legendary Yeti who terrorizes riders at the peak of the roller coaster attraction.
* * * * *
Thanks, Jim! And come back next Friday for more from Jim Korkis!
In the meantime, check out his books, including his latest, Gremlin Trouble! The Cursed Roald Dahl Film Disney Never Made, Secret Stories of Walt Disney World: Things You Never You Never Knew
, which reprints much material first written for this site, and his contributions to The easy Guide to Your Walt Disney World Visit, all published by Theme Park Press.
Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook or Google+ or Twitter or Pinterest!!
0 comments
Comment by typing in the form below.
Leave a Comment | Ask a Question | Note a Problem