The Disney+ content machine continues chugging along, and the latest property they’ve set their sites on developing into a television universe is literally close to home for Disney: The Magic Kingdom. Ron Moore, best known to us nerds for his work on Battlestar Galactica and who recently created For All Mankind for Apple TV+, has signed on to create the first project in a planned Magic Kingdom universe, The Society of Adventurers and Explorers.
Now, what with there being four (or is it five?) Pirates of the Caribbean movies out there and also the Haunted Mansion movie we don’t talk about, one would be forgiven for thinking “isn’t there already a Magic Kingdom cinematic universe?” But this is different apparently and will kick start a multi-series franchise for Disney+, overseen by Moore.
The world of series will all take place in a world where the various iconic lands of the Magic Kingdom parks (aka Disneyland) all exist. It will tell stories based around some of the rides and attractions that don’t have movies or shows associated with themes already, like maybe the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad or the Matterhorn (these have not been confirmed). Moore will be working directly with Disney Imagineers to develop The Society of Adventurers and Explorers as well as other series under this banner, which is really promising.
“I decided to go there mostly because my childhood was built around a lot of things that were Disney. I am a huge fan and aficionado of the Disneyland park in Anaheim to the point where I would go there by myself periodically and ride the rides,” Moore explained to the Hollywood Reporter. “The opportunity for me to get to work on a lot of the classic IP that Disney has and things in their library that meant so much to me as a child growing up and that I have shared with my children ultimately was just something I couldn’t pass up.”
At first, it would seem that there’s a lot of material for Moore and Disney to mine here, but as I think through the park, especially the areas The Society of Adventurers and Explorers would touch, Adventureland and Frontierland, I can’t actually think of much in the Magic Kingdom that doesn’t have larger IP associated with it aside from The Matterhorn and Big Thunder, and I guess, the Enchanted Tiki Room (I would absolutely watch an enchanted Tiki Room series, and I’m not ashamed to admit that).
When Disneyland opened, a lot of the content was original and not tied to existing properties, as were many of the rides that were added over the years and have since become iconic. But many of those have already been made into movies since then (see: Pirates and the upcoming Jungle Cruise) and others have had Disney IP branding layered onto them, like how the Submarine voyage was rebranded to incorporate Finding Nemo. Even standalones like Space Mountain have been retrofitted to work with Star Wars theming. But maybe Moore and the Imagineers are going back in time and into the vault to tell stories about some of the forgotten or rebranded rides. That could be cool!
What do you think? What kind of Magic Kingdom TV Universe series would you like to see?
(via The Hollywood Reporter, Image: David Roark/Disney Resorts via Getty Images)
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Published: Feb 23, 2021 02:20 pm