Reuse, reduce, recycle is good advice for Earth Day, but some fans are complaining of a a lack of creativity. So far there have been five Pirates of the Carribbean movies, two Haunted Mansion movies, a Country Bear movie, and Jungle Cruise (2020)
Since 1955, Disney theme parks have used their movies as inspiration for their rides. Since 2003, they’ve reversed the process, using their rides as inspiration for their movies.
Now Disney, is again going to use a popular attraction as the inspiration for a new movie, and this time it will be a live-action movie based on the popular Space Mountain ride, the star attraction at five of the seven Disney Parks world-wide.
When Disneyland still used ticket books, it would have been considered an E ticket ride. Pregnant women and people with heart or back conditions are advised not to ride. I remember when it first opened at Disneyland in 1977: two -hour waits to get on the ride were not uncommon. Even now, it still has a long line.
Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec of the popular Cowboy Bebop cartoon have been hired to write the script for the new movie. Nemec and Appelbaum also worked on the spy show Citadel. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011), and two of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies. There’s no questioning their experience.
However, I and other Disney fans are questioning whether Space Mountain, a fun and exciting ride, has enough meat on its bones to inspire a full-length movie. As Gertrude Stein famously said of Oakland, California, “The trouble with Oakland is there’s no there there.” Does Space Mountain have enough there there for a two-hour movie?
Jonathan Eirich from Rideback, the banner that is behind Netflix’s hit live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender series, is producing the feature, which has been in development for several years, along with Joby Harold and Tory Tunnell of Safehouse Pictures. Harold was the project’s previous writer. Rideback’s Ryan Halprin is exec producing.
Our beloved Unca Walt used to say “Imagation is limitless.” Why then are most of his company’s recent movies reboots, remakes, sequels, and based on intellectual property Disney already owns? Price is an obvious reason. Studio executives at Walt Disney Productions don’t need to pay for ideas they already own.
Also, advertising. A movie about Space Mountain may encourage viewers to go to Disneyland in Anaheim, CA, or Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL to try the ride that inspired the movie. Or Disney parks in Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Paris, France.
There are plenty of hungry scriptwriters in Hollywood and around the world who would love to sell a script to Disney. There are millions of books they could adapt. Instead of reusing the ubiquitous Jack Sparrow, Disney could negotiate with the late Andre Norton’s heirs and buy the rights to adapt Scarface. Instead of taking the Danish story of The Little Mermaid and trying to make a weird live action/CGI mashup movie starring a Black actress shoehorned into the role as the mermaid princess, Disney could adapt the Caldecott winning Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters by John Steptoe, which celebrates Black narratives, culture, family and legend into a new animated musical feature.
Are you looking forward to the Space Mountain movie? Will you go see it when it comes out? What do you think? We want to hear from you. Follow us on Twitter (X) @SCIFI4wifi or on Facebook.
As soon as we know more, we’ll share the news with you.
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Susan Macdonald is the author of the children’s book “R is for Renaissance Faire”, as well as 26 short stories, mostly fantasy in “Alternative Truths”, “Swords and Sorceress #30”, Swords &Sorceries Vols. 1, 2, & 5, “Cat Tails” “Under Western Stars”, and “Knee-High Drummond and the Durango Kid”. Her articles have appeared on SCIFI.radio’s web site, in The Inquisitr, and in The Millington Star. She enjoys Renaissance Faires (see book above), science fiction conventions, Highland Games, and Native American pow-wows.
