Imagineers Mellissa Berry, Scot Drake with others WDI Imagineers have designed the new Tomorrowland for Shanghai Disneyland, and in an interview to Shanghaî Daily they talk about their vision of the future for this new Tomorrowland:
“We didn’t want to refer to any existing architecture as we worked to create a whole new tomorrow world,” Berry, executive producer at Walt Disney Imagineering Shanghai, told Shanghai Daily.
A former TV and film producer, Berry, former TV and film producer, has been working on Shanghai Disneyland project for over five years. She and Scot Drake, executive creative director of the new Tomorrowland, have worked with a group of Imagineers from all over the world to brainstorm the concepts of a future world and turn them into physical structures.
It is a Disney tradition to set up a centerpiece themed land to showcase Walt Disney’s great vision for a big and beautiful tomorrow. The Walt Disney Imagineering Shanghai team aims for the Shanghai iteration to offer a new vision into the future. To achieve their “tomorrow” goals, Berry and Drake set off in 2009 with other Disney Imagineers to scour cities around the world looking for inspiration.
They went to the Eden Project in England where plants are collected from around world. They visited the famous gardens in neighboring Suzhou and experienced the West Lake show in Hangzhou. They also attended World Expo in Shanghai several times in 2010. “When we first set foot in Shanghai, we were amazed to find the city itself has been a world of the future,” Drake said. They invited scientists and environmentalists to become involved in their brainstorming to ensure the best thinking and designs were considered.
Berry and Drake also visited Yuyuan Garden, studying the architectural philosophy behind Chinese landscape design. “We analyzed the multi-level buildings, how the pathways unfolded, the moon gates and the shade areas in this historic city garden,” Berry said. “While there would be no direct reference, we wanted to interpret this ancient design philosophy in a modern way.”
A feature of Shanghai’s Tomorrowland will be the world’s first Tron Lightcycle Power Run, a roller-coaster-style attraction that involves patrons boarding two-wheeled lightcycles on a high-speed, indoor-outdoor track.
Visitors can also join the new target-shooting adventure called Buzz Lightyear Planet Rescue, break the bonds of gravity on Jet Packs, and celebrate the entire Star Wars saga. The Stargazer Grill restaurant will offer spectacular views of Shanghai Disney Resort as well as the stage below.
An architectural highlight of the complex, the Lightcycle track is covered by a massive, undulating canopy. The entire covert is edged with a dramatic, blue-green ribbon that changes color as it rolls across, “like the tail of a dragon,” said Berry.
“Guests waiting to board will have fun imagining a future world as they listen to the evocative soundtrack and watch the Lightcycle trains twist and turn all around them, all under a color-shifting canopy,” she said.
To create the canopy that Berry said “embodies harmony with nature” and will be like landing lightly on the earth, the team used many cutting-edge design tools."
There is more to read in the full Shanghaî Daily article so jump HERE.
