Written by Russell Meyer
Published: July 10, 2005 at 4:39 PM
As I had reported about a month ago, Michael Eisner presented the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of American History with some memorabilia from Disneyland in honor of its 50th Anniversary. Much to my surprise, the exhibit is actually not a huge Disneyland advertisement, and despite its rather prominent location in the museum, it’s actually smaller than I would have expected. The two main focal points of the exhibit are an elephant from the Dumbo attraction and teacup from the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party attraction. There is also a display case with a few Disneyland trinkets including: a souvenir book, scrapbook, serving tray, and a guide map. The display is nothing to go out of your way for, but is appropriate for the museum’s pop culture collection. I’m not sure how long the exhibit will continue to be on display, but there is word that the entire American History museum could be closing for up to two years to complete renovations. It had actually been quite a few years since I was in this museum, and it’s a real mess right now with exhibits all over the museum’s three massive floors. The Smithsonian is currently trying to decide whether renovations should be done while keeping the museum open, which would take significantly more time and money, or close the museum to complete the renovations faster and cheaper. At least for the time being, though, there’s a little piece of Disneyland in Washington, D.C. right now.
A Dumbo ride vehicle donated to the Smithsonian Institution
A Teacup ride vehicle donated to the Smithsonian Institution
A Disneyland serving tray
Disneyland memorabilia
The End of the World is Near
SaveDisney.com 7/8/05
In Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds, the human race comes incredibly close to extinction, and if my eyes aren’t deceiving me, we may be coming close. Roy E. Disney’s website has issued a statement that unofficially ends the feud between the Disney/Gold and the Walt Disney Company. On the surface, the reasoning behind this statement is clear – there was a pay-off. In exchange for ending the fight, Roy E. Disney will be named “Director Emeritus and consultant,” and Disney and Gold will acknowledge Michael Eisner’s contribution to the Walt Disney Company. Disney/Gold have agreed to drop all lawsuits against the Walt Disney Company, and will also refrain from running a rival board, while the company will agree to follow established company policy to rotate board members on a regular basis. This sounds like the fairy tale ending that no one ever thought was possible, and I’m not really sure where this came from, unless Roy was wondering whether he was ever going to get his invitation to the Disneyland 50th Anniversary Party next week. While I can sense a little grumbling from both sides in the statement (Disney has to be begrudgingly recognizing Eisner’s achievements as Disney’s CEO, and the company is definitely stretching to give Disney an official title in the Walt Disney Company), to finally have an end to this bitter feud could not come at a better time. The big question left is how long this “truce” will last. I know one thing for sure; Disney stock is going up big tomorrow morning.
Expansion
Pittburgh Post-Gazette 7/6/05
Yet another seemingly impossible development has occurred in western Pennsylvania. Kennywood Entertainment Company has purchased land adjacent to the theme park contingent upon the completion of a highway. The park is possibly one of the tightest parks in the country in terms of available space, and every square foot of extra space the park can find is as valuable as gold. Because of space limitations, the park has upgraded more attractions than it has built from scratch over the past five years. As it stands right now, Kennywood would have to remove a number or smaller attractions or one of its signature coasters in order to add a more modern roller coaster. Kennywood has not said how they intend to use the additional space if the terms of purchase are met, but some options may include a hotel or parking garage. The latter would allow the park to use all or part of the existing parking lot for park expansion. Immediate expansion plans are not evident, but this potential purchase could be quite beneficial for one of the best “old fashioned” theme parks in the world.
If you look at Washington DC like a theme park, it would be really unfortunate for a major attraction like this museum closed, but there are many many many more places to visit that can easily fill a week's time (Natural History, National Galery of Art, Air and Space, Hirshorn Sculpture Museum, National Museum of the Native Americans, Holocaust Museum, Corcoran Art Gallery, Spy Museum, White House, Capitol, WWII, Vietnam, Korea, Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument (looks awesome with the new lighting BTW), FDR, etc...), and that's just the basics or a DC vacation. What do you think people who planned trips to New Jersey will do when they find out Kingda Ka is closed, or the people (like me) who have ventured to Disneyland over the past two years wanting to ride Space Mountain? They'll ride the park's other coasters and rides instead. It is disappointing that the museum is in the condition that it is, and a complete redesign is the best way to fix the problem. American History, unlike many other museums, gets new artifacts daily. The museum struggles to keep up with the times. An exhibit that was just redesigned a few years ago to document the history of the computer is already out of date and closed. As the Smithsonian loves to boast, if you spend 10 seconds looking at every single artifact they have on display, you would spend a lifetime in their museums. There are other places the tourists can go, and I'm sure the Smithsonian will set up tempoary exhibitions in the Castle or the Building Museum to keep the public's appetite whetted. I even heard a crazy rumor that they would rent space in the Reagan Building (just across the street from American History) for the first lady's gowns exhibit.
It will be very sad to see the museum closed, if they do choose that route, but the museum will re-emerge a more organized, more technologically advanced, and all-around better museum for everyone.
(Note: this message drips with sarcasm. I promise my enduring scorn upon any Hollywood producer who even thinks about making such a flick.)
So Roy "Fredo" Disney caved, eh? Funny how he made the decision without first polling all those registered members at saveROYdisney.com.
This was never about the company, nor the quality about its product. Rather it was about Fredo feuding with Michael Eisner. Fredo felt like his influence was dissipating and so he had a hissy fit. Now that he realizes that his long shot lawsuit over the appointment of Robert Iger is his last chance to return to the company, he gladly accepts the honorary title (bone) being tossed to him.
Certainly there are those who believe the quality of the Disney product has decreased significantly. But as long as Roy is happy, why should we care?