LP Lotion: Joe Rohde on Animal Kingdom's Birthday
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Aerial view of the Disney's Animal Kingdom site location before the project began. Africa sits where the three sandy pits are toward the top of the picture and the Tree of Life sits about the where the sandy pit is at the top of image on the edge of the dark green foliage. Joe remarked on the almost absurd fact that a bunch of Imagineers were offered this large parcel of land and millions upon millions of dollars to create Disney's Animal Kingdom.
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Early images of the team measuring out the land for development, possibly the area of the Tree of Life. Most of the area was scrub pine but there were several large oaks as well. They were able to save those.
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Beginning stages of what would later become Asia. The foundations of the Asia bridge are pictured. Joe recounted stories of the vastness and emptiness of the project describing the scene as like something out of Lawrence of Arabia. In fact he shared that he once got lost while out on the developing project. There were just mounds of dirt and trails with no real geographic markers.
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Disney's Animal Kingdom was a creation. It is a fiction. Joe spoke about the importance of theme. If a story is to stay strong throughout it is important to establish the theme. He shared his personal irritation at the use of the word theme as a verb. It is a noun. He explained that you cannot theme a thing. "Theme is the underlying value system upon which a story is built. It is not the fake wood detailing on the outside of a box."
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