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View Full Version : The Dragon, Imagineers, and Why I Love Disney



MrPeetrie
12-09-2012, 10:16 AM
Main Street Jim posted a topic showing the Disney Dragon flying over Cinderella Castle to commerate New Fantasyland's Grand Opening and I was blown away by the effect. (Thank you, Main Street Jim.) I immediately texted my wife at work and asked her to look at it. She, too, was blown away, but when she asked why they did it, I had no answer. I said, "I guess they wanted to see if they could do it.

But then, knowing Disney NEVER just does something for no reason, I did some research. I found (from links on this site) a Disney "blog" dedicated to the build-up of this event. It was complete with fake research, staged archealogical finds, interviews with Disney characters, "home-made" videos catching glimpses of the dragon, even dragon footprints in the Magic Kingdom, all culminating in its re-appearance from its previous banishment to the Magic Kingdom. Now the illusion made sense.

So what's my point?
My point is: all this effort was done by creative Imagineers to make this great effect have meaning. They built an entire backstory, hired actors to portray "party-goers" at a birthday party, among other videos, catching glimpses of the creature, to build up the excitement of this sensational effect. And they did it without much promotion. They didn't advertise the dragon's return. They didn't have it posted on their Official Walt Disney World web site. They did all this backstory and it was done solely for those who wanted to know the story. If you did some research, you found all these great little things done without any hype just to make the illusion more real. And THAT'S what I love about Disney. It's the details. Now that great effect has so much more meaning!Well done, Imagineers! Well done!

KODABEAR
12-09-2012, 10:54 AM
:old::knit:
They imagine it , we smile, laugh and enjoy!:cloud9:

DizneyFreak2002
12-09-2012, 11:20 AM
Disney started a viral campaign for something no guest is ever going to see.. Marketing fail at its worst...

The dragon was designed and created by Imagineering... But there were no plans to ever use it... Marketing decided they could do something with it and lo and behold, they waste the opportunity on mommy bloggers and media...

This is why Disney is falling... Marketing is horrible and management is clueless...

Imagineering is still creative, but management kills it...

retiredfigment
12-09-2012, 04:33 PM
Grumpy Grumpy

disneymom15
12-10-2012, 10:06 AM
Grumpy Grumpy

Good response!

I liked the Dragon Effect. I wish they'd do it every night.

MickeysBestPal
12-10-2012, 03:06 PM
Good response!

I liked the Dragon Effect. I wish they'd do it every night.

Nobody was saying that the dragon, itself, was no good.
The "grumpy" post (and I concur with it) is a criticism of the promotion of the dragon event.

The point was that Disney promoted the heck out of the dragon to the general public...

Then, they only used the dragon for one night at MK, and on that one night, MK was closed to the public.

MrPeetrie
12-10-2012, 03:36 PM
The point was that Disney promoted the heck out of the dragon to the general public...

Then, they only used the dragon for one night at MK, and on that one night, MK was closed to the public.

MickeysBestPal, it is only my opinion, but I think there were so many possible pitfalls with the dragon, perhaps Disney wanted to minimize the risk by debuting the dragon to a closed audience. After first seeing the dragon fly, my first thought was: could you imagine if they lost control of it -- either from high winds or malfunction -- and it plummeted?

But my original point is this: how Disney puts so much effort into "backstory" of an event that will probably only happen once. They not only created an amazing looking audioanimatronic dragon that appeared to fly, but also they created an entire blog narrative leading up to the event, complete with fake news stories, staged videos, interviews with known villianous and heroic characters, and artificial dragon footprints throughout the Magic Kingdom all so this one-time event would have relevance.

MickeysBestPal
12-10-2012, 03:59 PM
If you like it, that's just fine.
But, we have a difference of opinion.

I hated the "fake news stories" for the reason that they were lies.

They were not commercials,
they were not press releases,
they were presented as real home videos from the public.
And, in that regard, they were lies.
From Disney.

That is a slippery slope.

BrerGnat
12-10-2012, 05:21 PM
They were not commercials,
they were not press releases,
they were presented as real home videos from the public.
And, in that regard, they were lies.
From Disney.

Real home videos from the public posted by You Tube users with usernames:

DisneyParks
BelieveinFantasy2012
NewFantasyland12

Seriously?

I saw all those videos. I saw them after clicking through links embedded in Disney Parks Blog. Hardly portrayed as "real home videos."

mom2morgan
12-10-2012, 07:40 PM
sometimes it just doesn't pay to over-analyze. It was cool. I liked it :cloud9:

Cinderelley
12-11-2012, 02:24 PM
Ok, after all the fuss about these videos, I had to go to youtube to see them. I typed in DisneyParks and it says "Discover the wonder of Disney Parks as you enjoy official Disney Parks videos . . ." They weren't lying.

Cinderelley
12-11-2012, 02:50 PM
I have to agree with you Mr Peetrie. That was very entertaining.

MickeysBestPal
12-11-2012, 05:44 PM
Ok, after all the fuss about these videos, I had to go to youtube to see them. I typed in DisneyParks and it says "Discover the wonder of Disney Parks as you enjoy official Disney Parks videos . . ." They weren't lying.

That may be how YOU located the clips.

That's not how they were presented to the public on other sites during the build-up.

They were imbedded in web pages as a demonstration that others had spontaneously, and by surprise happenstance, "sighted" the dragon.

Am I losing sleep over this?
Of course not, but as a producer of video content and an advertising and PR professional for decades, I think that this kind of deceptive promotion is beneath the reputation of Disney.

I have, for years, sited Disney as a classy, earnest, and above-board promoter.
This is less than that.

DisneyDawgette
12-12-2012, 02:28 AM
I actually found the videos through a site not related to Disney, but once I saw the names of the users on Youtube that it linked me to, I knew immediately they weren't actual home videos. And, I felt like they were obviously tampered with... It was neat, though! :)

My frustration is that everyone wants to fuss and complain about how corporate and money-hungry Disney is, but then we want to complain about how much of a marketing fail this dragon was? The sole purpose of "good marketing" is to create business. Well, that just doesn't make sense to me. Complain there's no magic in Disney anymore, but then complain when they do something solely for the magic of it? I adored the magic- I think it's neat that they did something solely for the experience and not for the money. Just my :twocents:, I know not everyone will agree!

I really enjoy the fact that this was somewhat under the radar... It was a nice little nugget to add to the grand opening, and I've enjoyed showing the videos to friends. They've loved it, and I must say that I have too! :thumbsup:

MrPeetrie
12-12-2012, 05:31 PM
...but then complain when they do something solely for the magic of it? I adored the magic- I think it's neat that they did something solely for the experience and not for the money. Just my :twocents:, I know not everyone will agree!

I really enjoy the fact that this was somewhat under the radar... It was a nice little nugget to add to the grand opening, and I've enjoyed showing the videos to friends. They've loved it, and I must say that I have too! :thumbsup:

DisneyDawgette, that was exactly my point and you articulated it very well.

DizneyFreak2002
12-12-2012, 06:49 PM
I actually found the videos through a site not related to Disney, but once I saw the names of the users on Youtube that it linked me to, I knew immediately they weren't actual home videos. And, I felt like they were obviously tampered with... It was neat, though! :)

My frustration is that everyone wants to fuss and complain about how corporate and money-hungry Disney is, but then we want to complain about how much of a marketing fail this dragon was? The sole purpose of "good marketing" is to create business. Well, that just doesn't make sense to me. Complain there's no magic in Disney anymore, but then complain when they do something solely for the magic of it? I adored the magic- I think it's neat that they did something solely for the experience and not for the money. Just my :twocents:, I know not everyone will agree!

I really enjoy the fact that this was somewhat under the radar... It was a nice little nugget to add to the grand opening, and I've enjoyed showing the videos to friends. They've loved it, and I must say that I have too! :thumbsup:

There is only one problem with this... They wasted time, money, and energy on creating badly produced videos and a back story for something that benefits no one... not regular guests anyway... They should concentrate on building that "magic" for things that are on stage that guests can and will enjoy, not a viral campaign for something that is misleading to the general public... You don't create a viral campaign and a back story for the dragon, promote it to the general public as if they have a chance to see this flying dragon on nights they visit the new Fantasyland and then bring it out only for a press event...

Wanna use it for the event, fine... no issues... We'd see video, thinks its cool but we'd all know it was only a one time deal... There is no anticipation... Just keep out the build up aimed at the general public...

THAT is why it is a marketing failure...

DisneyDawgette
12-12-2012, 08:49 PM
I understand your point, DizneyFreak2002, I just think I disagree that it was a huge deal for the general public. Heck, a good few of the people on here hadn't even heard of it, and I feel like it would have been difficult to even stumble upon unless you were looking for it! I think that may be where we just have to agree to disagree on this topic. :)