A daily chronicle of creativity in film, TV, music, arts, and entertainment, produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from November 2014 – March 2020. Host John Horn leads the conversation, accompanied by the nation's most plugged-in cultural journalists.
This week, Bob Iger — head of the Walt Disney Company — revealed some of the key elements of Shanghai Disney Resort, the massive Chinese development that’s been 16 years and $5.5 billion in the making. It’s still not clear exactly when Shanghai Disneyland will open to the public next year, but Julie Makinen, Beijing Bureau Chief for the Los Angeles Times, was able to get some details on the development.
When Makinen joined us on The Frame, we asked her about how Disney will approach the branding of their new resort, the place of Disney characters in Chinese culture, and why "Tron" is the most anticipated attraction at Shanghai Disneyland.
Bob Iger came to China to unveil some specifics of the new $5.5 billion resort, and one of the things that struck us back here is that he wanted the park to be “authentically Disney and distinctly Chinese.” What does that actually mean?
There’s no big roller coaster or anything. You’re not going to see a Monkey King roller coaster that’s out of character for Disney. But they’re trying in subtle ways to bring out the Chinese flavor. They’ve ditched Main St., U.S.A. and instead put in something called Mickey Avenue, which will be an introduction to Disney characters. They built a big garden with a tea house restaurant. So you'll see little flourishes like that.
I’m curious about theme parks in general in China — what are the differences and how popular are they compared to what we are used to here in the states?
They're kind of the equivalent to a local American theme park that has generic rides, that after a couple of years it’s sort of a tired place to go. Disney is really going to be a notch above in terms of branding and service and scale, but they've got some domestic competitors that are spending lots of money and will be coming out with new parks in the next couple of years that will really challenge them.
I was struck by a couple of things. "Tron," a movie that fizzled here and didn’t even do well enough to have a sequel, is going to have a ride devoted to it as part of this new attraction. Is that right?
Yes. Actually, "Tron" is probably the most anticipated roller coaster at this new park. It’s going to be Disney’s fastest coaster with top speeds of about 60 mph, their designer said yesterday, and it's going to have a much more open feel because you’re sitting on a motorcycle-type device. So I think they’re going to surround that less-strong brand with some very strong brands including Star Wars and Marvel.
What's the opinion on Disney and their characters like?
I think the Disney brand here is actually quite familiar, as Disney’s history goes back a long way. In 1938, "Snow White" premiered in Shanghai and it was a big deal, and over the years, Disney cartoons have been among the few foreign cartoons that have been allowed to run on TV.
Films like "Frozen," "Avengers" and "Big Hero 6" were all quite big here, but there is some confusion about how extensive the Disney brand is. I think, for example, some people think "Transformers" is a Disney brand. And Disney’s universe has been growing over the last couple years, so maybe some of that confusion is understandable.