TWO LOST EPISODES OF SCARY DISNEYLAND ATTRACTIONS
From the show "Disneyland", I'm reviewing an episode that you can find on the 2nd Disc of "The Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl" DVD called...
Your host is a traveling Disneyland Ambassador Marcia Miner and she'll take you to different parts of the program. The episode starts out with the behind the scenes of the making of the ride as well as showing you footage of them creating the plans for "Tomorrowland" and "New Orlean Square". For any die hard fan of the ride, this footage of the making of the ride you'll find quiet amazing,interesting and really cool. There's even footage of Walt showing his plans for the ride that were taken from "The Wonderful World Of Color" episode "Disneyland 10th Anniversary". This whole montage is a cool privilege and is very insightful.
After seeing the opening of New Orleans square, we see the grand opening of the ride itself and let me tell you this is no ordinary grand opening. Reporters are put on a ship and a group of Pirates attack the ship and start killing off the crew, making them walk the plank, capture the woman, get hold of the ships rum supply and celebrate their accomplishment of taking over the ship. This whole sequence is just awesome and shows all the great things about being a Pirate. The Pirates then head to the attraction, kill off the stupid guards guarding it and burst open the doors. Again, this whole opening is just awesome.
Now for those of you who wanted to see the ride in it's originality, well here you go. You actually get to watch the full experience of the original ride. You go from a bayou, to a cave of dead pirates talking, a Pirate ship firing cannons, the Pirates dunking the mayor into the well, the Pirates auctioning off the town beauties, the Pirates chasing after woman, the pirates singing and burning the town, the pirates in jail trying to get the key from the dog and finally seeing drunk pirates shooting each other in a room full of explosives. This is the ultimate ride for Pirate fans and seeing it in it's originality just makes me miss the original ride. As a matter of fact, the Pirates in this episode actually look realistic. As for the song "Yo Ho, A Pirates Life For Me" it's thee best Pirate song I ever heard. Why did they have to update the ride, it's like a sacred ride that can't be touched or altered. Even the films Director of the film didn't want it to be altered but I guess he must have really needed the money or Disney just did it themselves.
I might as well add, watching this ride again is actually a lot darker then I remembered it and had a lot of things you probably wouldn't get away with in a theme park. It's violent, it's scary, it's suggestive, it has drunk Pirates, it's not really all that kid friendly if you think about it. In fact. the scene with the Pirates chasing after woman and the fat Pirate giving up on the chase but holding a dress while saying suggestive lines as a woman is hiding in a barrel behind him was actually changed even before the Depp version was added. Who can also forget the infamous woman auction,while not some woman are forced but some are actually going for the kill. I mean just like Disney's "Hunchback Of Notre Dame" with Frollo's lust for Esmeralda, I couldn't believe this is Disney related but you know what, all this is what makes the ride cool and appealing, in fact I'm actually more convinced that this ride was more meant for the older crowd then the younger crowd like the ride "Terminator 2 3-D" at Universal. Yes the suggestive themes are their, but just like "Hunchback Of Notre Dame" for example, I didn't really think they took it that far, I mean it's not like "Hocus Pocus" where they go all far out and make the sexual innuendos be completely obvious. Personally as a kid, I just thought the Pirates were just stealing their dresses. I guess when you're attraction is all Pirate themed and has no heroes, chances are you know it's not going to be all that kid friendly. With that aside, I love the attraction and watching the footage of it keeps getting better and better.
Now here's my review on the stuff you won't find on the DVD.
Next is the grand opening of "Tomorrowland". Is the opening as great as the opening for the ride "The Pirates Of The Caribbean", well actually yes. We see Mickey Mouse in a Spacesuit; A Spaceman jet packs over the Park; our host cuts the red tape and fireworks explode. Maybe not as exciting as the opening for the Pirate ride, but it's still cool. What I love about this whole montage is seeing the rides that were once there, before they were enhanced, and are still operating now. You'll see attractions such as "The People Mover" (That tours through "Tomorrowland" and shows a fantastic and realistic model of a city in the future), "The Adventure Through Inner Space" (Where guests ride on Atom Mobiles and shrink),"Flight To The Moon" (Where guests are launched into Outer Space, simulating the feeling of being in a Rocket), "The Carousel Of Progress"(A indoor Carousel Show about life changing), A 9 Screen Film that form a circle and "Rocket Jets"(A giant rotating Rockets with little Rockets attached to it for the audience to ride in) with Pluto and Goofy riding it. Seeing these attractions are not only cool but really makes me wish that they were still around and if you're a fan of Disney Parks and love knowing the History about them, well here's something that you'll find out of this world.
The final part of the program is seeing "Disneyland" at night and even though it would be a lot cooler if we were actually there, it's still spectacular. We see whole the Park light up, we see a parade full various characters, we see different type shows that are going around at different parts of the park, we see epic fireworks and it all ends with Tinker-Bell closing the program. What a grand finale to this episode.
Overall, it's a really great episode and shows the greatness of the "Pirates Of The Caribbean" ride and the park "Tomorrowland", as well as giving some interesting history and now being a great time capsule of "Disneyland" in the late 60s.
RATING 5/5
Unlike the previous episode that's promoting new attractions to the park, this one has a story. The episode stars a young Kurt Russel, The Osmond Brothers and E.J. Peaker, if you don't any of them don't worry it's not a requirement, they introduce them well whether you know them or not. The youngest member of the group Donny goes missing and the gang must find him before their show. The plot is ok, nothing great or special but it's enough to make the whole episode watchable. There's a lot of songs in this episode and while the majority of them are fun and catchy, they're really just there for filler. Again, like I said in my previous review, seeing old Disneyland is a real treat and any Disneyland fan (Like me) will enjoy watching this. The acting from the main characters are cheesy but still fun to watch. The one who steals the show is their manager played by Peter Bruin who's pretty much the only actual funny character we get in this special.
Alright, lets now get to the horror stuff! After all the build up, we finally get to see "The Haunted Mansion". Just like the previous episode I reviewed, we go behind the scenes and then experience the ride. The behind the scenes stuff is extremely cool and for the fans of the attraction, you're going to love it. The ride experience is really awesome. Most of your favorite moments are there such as The Gallery, The Endless Hallway, The Coffin, a brief look at Madame Liota, The Ballroom and The Graveyard. Blink and you might miss your favorite ghost. With the all praise, I didn't feel like the special went full out with the ride but what we got is really good.
It's a enjoyable episode, it's not as great as the last one but it's still a lot of fun. However, if you just want to see the stuff involving the Haunted Mansion, then just skip to the last 10 or 12 minutes.
RATING 3/5
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