When Disney Parks announced a Monsters Inc. land coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, many reacted with excitement. This area will feature Disney’s first inverted roller coaster, a project that has been rumored for 20 years. However, after the initial excitement died down, fans were left with one horrifying question.
Where in Hollywood Studios is it going to go?
Disney’s Hollywood Studios, “Looking down Hollywood Blvd., a perfect illusion of the Golden Age of Hollywood … except, y’know, for the giant Mickey Sorcerer Hat” Lake Buena Vista. Photo Credit: Flickr user: Dave Hill and Margie Kleerup, aka Flickr user “The Consortium” Centennial, Colorado https://www.flickr.com/people/the-consortium/, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Despite Walt Disney touting the “blessing of size” for his Florida project, modern Disney doesn’t like to build out very often. Instead, Bob Iger and Josh D’Amaro often repurpose other areas with existing attractions. They bulldoze the old to make way for the new.
And in Hollywood Studios, there are three areas with enough space to potentially house this new area and land.
I’m not entirely sure Muppet Vision 3D or Star Tours will be removed. Here are the options:
🩷 Animation Courtyard
💙 Backstage Offices
💚 Indiana Jones
💛 Muppet Vision 3D & Star Tours pic.twitter.com/YaTCTlEiIL— Mickey Central (@Mickey_Central) August 11, 2024
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One of them is Grand Avenue and Muppet*Vision 3D.
This area includes:
- The Muppet theater
- A merchandise store that has been closed since Covid
- Mama Melrose’s Ristorate Italiano table service restaurant
- A Christmas store that was closed during Covid and served as a temporary Santa Claus meet and greet in 2023
- The Pizzerizzo quick service restaurant
- The Gonzo’s Royal Flush restrooms
A screenshot of Jim Henson’s Muppet*Vision 3D at Disney’s Hollywood Studios via DocumentDisney YouTUbe
Muppet*Vision 3D is a cult favorite attraction to Henson fans all around the world. It’s more than a welcomed break from the Florida heat and humidity. It’s a love letter to the work of Jim Henson and the Muppet franchise. The pre-show staging area is filled with sight gags that are quintessentially Henson. The show itself takes place in a life size replica of the Muppet Show theater, and the project itself is the last thing Jim Henson worked on before his untimely death in 1990.
For many, this move would be akin to wiping the last of Henson’s legacy off the map. The final insult to Jim Henson from Disney, a company that purchased his popular Muppets franchise and seemingly had no idea what to do with it.
A screenshot of Jim Henson’s Muppet*Vision 3D at Disney’s Hollywood Studios via DocumentDisney YouTUbe
Longtime Henson colleague and legendary Muppet performer Frank Oz noted this when he stopped working on Muppet projects. Oz claimed that Disney has sapped the soul out of the property.
“I’d love to do the Muppets again but Disney doesn’t want me,” Frank Oz said in an interview with The Guardian published in 2021. “They don’t want me because I won’t follow orders and I won’t do the kind of Muppets they believe in.”
When pressed, Oz elaborated, “The soul’s not there.” He added, “The soul is what makes things grow and be funny.”
Frank Oz via VHSfx YouTube
Steve Whitmire, the performer hand selected by Jim Henson before his death to take on the role of Kermit the Frog, was fired by Disney several years ago.
“The only thing I’ve done my whole adult life, and it’s just been taken away from me,” Whitmire said of his dismissal. He was replaced by puppeteer Matt Vogel in a performance decried by Muppet fans the world over for sounding nothing like Kermit the Frog.
If Disney is willing to oust Jim Henson’s right hand man and his chosen successor, they’re certainly capable of wiping the remainder of his legacy from the map. Additionally, Disney has already removed Muppetvision 3D from Disneyland in Anaheim back in 2014.
Kermit the Frog and Steve Martin via Funny or Die YouTube
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However, it should be noted that Disney recently sank money into the Muppetvision attraction and its surrounding area, leading some to believe that it might be safe. The seats in the theater were all replaced, and new effects were added to the show. A quick service snack area was also added to Grand Avenue recently.
Additionally, to use this area for Monstropolis, Disney would likely have to take out Star Tours, which remains a popular Star Wars attraction. While this seems unlikely, it’s not outside the realm of possibility given what fans saw at D23.
A screenshot of Jim Henson’s Muppet*Vision 3D at Disney’s Hollywood Studios via DocumentDisney YouTUbe
The reason many believe Muppetvision might be on the chopping block is because in the concept art released by Disney at D23, some areas of Monstropolis seem to resemble Grand Avenue and even Pizzerizzo.
It’s not looking good for Muppet Vision or PizzeRizzo…
Pour one out for @AliciaStella 🍕 🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/wMAkamkL8Y
— Mickey Central (@Mickey_Central) August 11, 2024
Other potential areas for Monstropolis include the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular and the Animation Courtyard, which also features the Star Wars Launch Bay.
Marvin The Movie Monster Montanaro is a YouTube commentator and personality specializing in movies, TV, video games, and professional wrestling. He can be found on his channels Tooney Town TV and Tooney Town Wrestling with daily content and weekly livestreams. He can also be found on That Game Place, the That Park Place video game channel.
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