Welcome to Extinct Attractions. This week, we’ll be taking a look back at a Disney attraction that on its surface seems like it would be based on a short film, but when one dives deeper, all is not what it seems.
Via Variety
Last week, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the nominations for the 94th Academy Awards and while Disney and Pixar did very well in the Best Animated Feature category with Raya and the Last Dragon, Encanto, and Luca all garnering nominations, the company was shut out in the Best Animated Short Film category for the first time since 2009. The Walt Disney Company has traditionally done very well in the category, with 66 nominations and 23 wins between Disney and Pixar, so basically a perennial contender.
Via Wikipedia
One other Disney short film that didn’t receive an Academy Award nomination was “Boat-Builders,” the 99th Mickey Mouse short to be released. Very few of the Fab Five shorts nailed Oscar nominations, with the Silly Symphony brand generally dominating the category in the earliest days. “Boat-Builders” told the story of Mickey, Donald and Goofy’s attempt to build a boat that immediately fell apart upon Minnie banging a champagne bottle on it to christen it.
Via Disney Movies
Over the years, the film was able to keep enough traction that it played in front of Meet the Robinsons when the film debuted in 2007. Well, it played in front of the standard version of the film, not the 3D version. I’m not really sure how it applied to Meet the Robinsons, maybe the inventing aspect, but nonetheless it was fun to see them put a short in front of it.
Via Wikipedia
You’re probably asking yourself, what does this have to do with any extinct Disney attractions? Admittedly, not a ton, but it is loosely related to a show that called its home the American Waterfront area of Tokyo DisneySea. The American Waterfront area has a Cape Cod sub-land in it that pays tribute to the New England area. In that Cape Cod area, there is a restaurant called the Cape Cod Cook-Off that tends to have a mini-stage show in it to entertain guests who are eating some traditional American foods.
When the park opened on September 4, 2001, Cape Cod Cook-Off had a show called Donald’s Boat Builders that seemed like a reference to the classic short. However, it was not quite related because instead of Mickey and Minnie there, Chip and Dale took their place. To be honest, the show was in Japanese so it was a little difficult to understand what exactly was going on but it did seem to be a similar story, just with Chip and Dale doing all of the building.
Via YouTube
Donald came out and had some funny gags where it looked like he was swimming across the stage. But outside of that, the show wasn’t particularly gripping, though it did serve a really great purpose of entertaining guests who were enjoying their meals at the restaurant. I’m always a fan of shows who do that because they really help to keep the immersion alive throughout the whole day. Luckily, when the time to move on came along, they kept the show aspect alive by creating a new show called My Friend Duffy, which has seen some updates over the years, but still manages to maintain its core values to this day. Anyway, there’s not much more to say about Donald’s Boat Builders, but it was a nice little diversion while grabbing some burgers and fries.
Via On the Go in MCO
As always, don’t forget to check out my interactive maps of the Disney Parks throughout the years where you can watch or learn more about all the attractions from every Disney park around the world.
Thanks for reading and have a magical day!