Disney fans were a bit disappointed at D23 Expo last year by the Shanghaî Disneyland model and i have to admit that SDL Imagineers have been pretty smart in what looked like a brilliant "We're-happy-to show-you the-SDL-model-but-without-revealing-anything" demonstration. But you know what? They were right to do it this way. Sure, for Disney fans it was quite frustrating but when you watch the video below filmed one year ago at the Suzhou Amusement Land in China you'll get why the less concept details of Shanghaî Disneyland WDI reveal, the best it will be.
As you will see in a few seconds Suzhou Amusement Land did a perfect copy of It's a Small World. Well, perfect is not really the right word as almost none of the figures are audio-animatronics, but they didn't care about copying the ideas, design, etc...almost everything! And when i mean "everything" its really everything as they even took the It's a Small World song! No kidding. And in complete impunity. That said, let's be fair: all chinese don't spend their time to copy occidental concepts, but for those who do it, nothing is stopping them! As Shanghaî Disneyland is a joint venture between Disney and chinese officials the plagiarists may think twice before stealing SDL designs - may be they're not afraid of occidental corporations but they're probably more of their own officials...
So, i'm sure that after you've watched this video you will accept to wait two or three more years to discover the SDL concepts in details, that's the price to pay to have unique rides that won't be seen anywhere else before SDL opening day. And that's also the reason why i don't post any SDL renderings that were not disclosed officially - but i don't have any secret one anyway...
Go ahead and discover this infamous copy of IASW, just to be aware of how big the copycat problem can be.
Video: copyright Theme Park Review
OMG! It's really creepy!! I completely agree with Disney in their decision of keeping SDL's designs secret. Not only because anyone could make a fast bad copy of their ideas, but also to manage peoples expectations.
ReplyDeleteAnother Dreamland Bazar.
ReplyDeleteWhat amazes me is the copy cats´ complete lack of any sense that they are doing sth illegal and just plain wrong... I´m still not quite sure if they just pretend they don´t see a problem, or if they really feel they have a right to copy as long as there´s money to be made...
ReplyDeleteBy the way, if I´m not mistaken, the song "it´s a small world" was quite well known in Hongkong in the 70s, and I guess that some Chinese even thought that it was originally a Chinese song when HKD opened...
Best line from the commentator: "This is like a post-apocolyptic version of it's a Small World."
ReplyDeleteClassic.
it's a sad world fits better horrific
ReplyDeleteSmall World has been around for over half a century. So it would be easy for anyone to get enough information without taking Shanghai DL into account. Are they even going to have Small World in SDL?
ReplyDeleteAs they aren't providing any level of detail about what's actually in SDL, it would be hard for anyone to copy any of it. The ripoffs are probably taken from HKDL.
In China, there are pretty much NO copyright laws. Anything is fair game for the most part.
ReplyDeleteAnd if I remember correctly, the song "It's A Small World" is actually public domain (Because of the song's universal message, Walt Disney wanted to let anyone to be able use it without having to pay royalties), so these attractions using the song isn't "stealing it".
And besides the attraction featured in this post, there is a SECOND knockoff "Small World" ride at another park in China (at Jin Jiang Action Park in Shanghai), which is equally terrifying.