Opening the mailbag this week, we find two differing opinions on Alex Stroup’s review of the new Disney/Pixar blockbuster WALL-E.
Pete writes:
Alex, as usual, you are about as wrong as you can be. WALL-E is fantastic, and nearly as perfect as Finding Nemo, which for some reason, you mention as an example of a merely “good” Pixar film—unreal! WALL-E is easily the second or third best film Pixar has made (Finding Nemo, Toy Story, and WALL-E, although any one of those is good enough to claim top spot). I know it was fashionable to hail Ratatouille as a perfect film, but it was not. I won’t go into the particulars about why I think this is so, but I will say this: years from now Ratatouille will be a vague memory, while WALL-E will continue to be hailed as a one-of-a-kind movie.
Andrew Stanton is the king of story lines. I challenge anyone to find a story as tight as Finding Nemo. Well, with WALL-E, Stanton is up to his old tricks. How you could have missed this near perfection is puzzling to me.
While you are, of course, entitled to your opinion (which continues to hold less and less value to me), it is laughable that you claim to have some kind of ability to read the minds of your fellow movie viewers: “the end result leaves the audience with a feeling of incompleteness.” Speak for yourself. With all due respect to your newfound skill, I have to say that I did not experience this sensation at all. Perhaps you just need more instructions on what to feel, or perhaps a manual to help you understand the story.
In short, Alex, you blew it again; WALL-E was not only a good film, it was one of Pixar’s best; and WALL-E himself may very well be Pixar’s greatest creation, and oddly enough, it’s most human.
Paul B. writes:
I read your review (and many others) after watching WALL-E earlier this week for the first time (in digital format by the way, which was visually amazing). I must admit that I loved both the story and the animation/ graphics but, like you, never got 100 percent emotionally attached. It was simply for me great science fiction and I feel justified in using the word great. If I did get emotionally drawn in it was because of the realistic potential that man has for destroying the earth. It is a pretty scary message, though both this message and the message of the pitfalls of unchecked consumerism were well played.
I do agree that the part of the movie without the talking was extraordinary, though some parts afterward (not central to the storyline) were as well. The humans were too cartoony (is that a word?) for me, but the use of a live actor I felt was so well done I really didn’t notice it. In fact, I wouldn’t mind seeing more of this.
The overall viewpoint however from reviews I have read of the masses and the critics put this feature on or near the top of the list for Pixar movies and movies in general – and the emotion connection to the story was mentioned surprisingly by many. After reading all of these unbelievably wonderful reviews, I feel I have to see it again to see what I missed!
The announcement of the closing of Pleasure Island, although not particularly surprising, has saddened many, including MousePlanet staff writer Steve Russo. Steve’s recent column “Who Killed Pleasure Island?” struck a chord with several MousePlanet readers.
Bob B. writes:
“Additional shopping? Really? Who are these ‘guests’ and don’t they consider the Marketplace, the West Side, Mouse Gear, the Emporium, resort gift shops and a gift shop at the exit of every freakin’ attraction to be enough of a shopping experience!?”
Great line and it is so true, not to mention the overabundance of eateries from sit-down to sidewalk vendors. I would love to meet these so-called guests also. I don’t even stop at half the stores that are there already who are they trying to fool? And since it is going to happen I am going to really pay attention on what replaces Pleasure Island clubs. I will be more than happy to send a displeasure notice on something that I could care less about that replaces the Adventurers Club. I will miss that attraction, and would love to see a reprieve on it.
Jimmy writes:
I read your letter on Pleasure Island. Well said! Disney stands to fall victim to what many companies often do… short-term thinking and greed! Uncle Walt was a visionary and a leader, who always knew how to breathe life back into a great idea or concept. The almighty dollar was never Walt’s goal, but the result of his dream come true. Chasing profits often means great ideas are lost and forgotten.
In my view, in the last twenty years there has been a drain on leadership at Disney. Other than on the big screen, creativity and insight have suffered at the resorts and throughout the parks at Walt Disney World. Concepts and services, big and small, continue to be lost. How much more can they cut back on landscaping? I know when the character bus at Epcot ceased to exist I lost a little more respect for Disney. Short-term thinking, with a focus strictly on the bottom line, is always dangerous. The danger comes when the threshold has been reached and fans say enough is enough!
Long before the demise of Pleasure Island, the Disney Institute went the way of an ax for similar reasons: it was a great concept, but lacked the nurturing necessary to give it life. Management easily blames the loss of revenue on the need for change, but in truth, it is a lack of leadership, vision and understanding that is at the heart of the matter.
You make some great points. Thanks for sharing them.
Eric D. writes:
I enjoy your site and use it as a reference often. I wanted to comment on your article discussing the closings at Pleasure Island. You write, “While only a few people seem to be lamenting the loss of the dance clubs, there appears to be a significant groundswell of support for Comedy Warehouse and Adventurer’s Club.”
I’ve read statements like this over and over again in blogs over the past weeks and while there’s certainly truth to it, I think the statement significantly misses the mark. There is definitely a large and vocal Disney family crowd who loves both the Comedy and Adventurer’s clubs. These venues are the two options that are the most similar to a typical Disney attraction and appeal to the family crowd looking for staged entertainment. I’d argue, however, that this isn’t where the money is at Pleasure Island. PI clubs make their money off liquor sales and that’s where the dance clubs come into play.
During peak season, Mannequins is often packed until closing. It’s popular with locals, conventioneers, singles, college students and middle-aged guests with no kids. They all come to dance, drink and enjoy the great music. Now this may not be Disney’s core audience but that doesn’t mean it isn’t large or profitable. In fact, Mannequins has upgraded their lighting system over the past year and as recently as last month, added additional lighting effects. While other clubs have languished, Disney has always maintained Mannequin’s atmosphere with the only real reductions coming in live entertainment. But even there, some live entertainment is present at Mannequins today.
Not to belabor my point but I think many typical MousePlanet readers fall into the husband and wife with 2.5 kids camp and look at things solely from that perspective. However, there are other groups out there that are large, profitable and eager to experience more adult-oriented, Disney-style entertainment. That’s what clubs like Mannequins provided and did so successfully even while other aspects of PI diminished. My guess is that Disney will loose the most revenue by closing Mannequins, not the others. That may come as a surprise to you and your readers but while fans of the Comedy and Adventurer’s clubs can go elsewhere on the property for similar experiences, fans of Mannequins will be chased off the property entirely.
As I whole, I’m sure Disney has looked at the numbers and decided the Island can be put to better use but there is widespread disappointment in many circles that the dance clubs are closing. It just seems that many of the Disney bloggers aren’t into dance clubs and therefore assume they must be languishing at PI. I know the BET Soundstage is rarely busy and Motion is so large that it takes a big crowd to make that place come alive but Mannequins and 8-Traxx have strong crowds on many nights and that’s why so many people are shocked they’re closing. I don’t think anyone would have been surprised had it just been BET and Motion closing but believe me, Mannequins closing was a shock, and many people will miss it.
You’re exactly right, in my opinion, that the demographic posting to most of the Disney forums is not likely the Mannequins regular. That might lead people to believe that there’s little support for the PI dance clubs when the reality is that the support is there—it’s just not as visible to most of us as the support for the Adventurer’s Club.
Debbie writes:
Great article! I’m one of the “nuisance guests” sending emails and snail mails to Disney executives in hopes that they spare Adventurer’s Club from demise. I also contend that Disney has a pricing structure for Pleasure Island that makes it difficult to determine actual profitability for an individual club. If a person wants to visit Adventurer’s Club (or Comedy Warehouse) for the entire evening, the person must purchase the “club hopping” ticket even though single club tickets are available for the dance clubs. It is difficult for WDW to determine if that “club hopping” ticket is used for one or multiple clubs. They can “guesstimate” by attendance at each club, but even that is subjective because a person can enter the same club several times in one night.
That fact that Walt Disney World has had the policy of not selling single club tickets for Adventurer’s Club and Comedy Warehouse tells me they must make more money than the others. I also know Adventurer’s Club is booked for quite a few private events.
It’s a shame such a unique totally immersive combination of great Imagineering (by Joe Rhode) and great nightly performances from the actors and actresses is being shut down in the name of profit! Disney used to be superb at balancing the two but lately it seems the scales are tipping toward profit!
Terry P. writes:
I just read your very good article on the demise of Pleasure Island. I have been an “adventurer” since Pleasure Island opened, and I will miss the Adventurer’s Club a lot since we purchased a vacation home in Kissimmee a couple of years ago.
One point that you missed was that the Adventurer’s Club was a favorite corporate buffet-meeting place. One article I read gave a minimum of $10,000 plus food, etc. to rent out the Adventurer’s Club with its characters. This is certainly a motivation to keep the Adventurer’s Club open or at least moved.
I have written to Disney about the Adventurer’s Club closure, but got the standard “blah blah.” My wife and my mother-in-law have also written. It would be nice if you could publish where to find other avenues of protest, such as petitions. The Adventurer’s Club guests have demonstrated in the past that they will not go away easily. Can you provide a little help?
Thanks for sharing. Your point about the “private parties” at the Adventurers’ Club is a good one and one that hadn’t occurred to me. I know, from personal experience, that the Adventurer’s Club opens late quite often when private parties are held there. I had no idea how profitable they are for Disney.
Responding to your request for some help in the letter writing and petition area, here are some links you might be interested in:
- Online petition
- “Save the Adventurer’s Club” letter-writing campaign
- “Save the Adventurer’s Club” Facebook group
You can also chat about it on our MousePad forums.
