Jiminy Cricket was right. When you wish upon a star, your dreams really do come true.
Well, at least, mine might be. A Society of Explorers and Adventurers TV series reportedly is in the works for Disney+.
The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that Disney is working on the project with Ron Moore, a former writer on several Star Trek series and the rebooted Battlestar Galactica who developed the hit Starz series "Outlander." Not only that, the SEA project would mark the creation of a Magic Kingdom Universe to accompany Disney's Star Wars Universe and Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Oh, my God, I am crying right now.
Disney's Imagineers created the SEA as a backstory for the several attractions at the Tokyo DisneySea theme park, which opened in 2001. Imagineers later retconned the Adventurers Club at Walt Disney World's old Pleasure Island nightclub district to become an outpost of the SEA. Today, Disney has extended the Society of Explorers and Adventurers narrative to encompass Fortress Explorations, Magellan's, Tower of Terror, and Soaring Fantastic Flight at Tokyo DisneySea, Mystic Manor at Hong Kong Disneyland, the Tropical Hideaway at Disneyland, the Skipper Canteen and Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, Miss Adventure Falls at Typhoon Lagoon, the Oceaneer Lab on the Disney Cruise Line's Disney Magic and Disney Wonder, and the Jungle Cruise and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad attractions worldwide.
Here is an overview of the SEA that I filmed a couple years ago:
I have been banging the drum for Disney to lean into its SEA franchise for nearly eight years now. (Check the publication date on that link.) Most recently, in my newspaper column last summer I pitched for Disney to do more with the SEA.
As I have suggested before, the Society of Explorers and Adventurers provides the perfect vehicle for Disney to create a metaverse that links multiple creative franchises that originated in its theme parks. Kevin Feige and his team at Marvel Studios have crafted a brilliant strategy for using a metaverse to drive public demand for entertainment franchises. The idea that such a strategy might be used to create a theme park-driven Magic Kingdom Universe should thrill any theme park fan worried about the parks' immediate future after the economic devastation of this pandemic.
That's because Disney+ has saved Disney's bottom line while millions of consumers have canceled vacations and stayed home to stay safe from Covid. By better integrating its theme parks with Disney+, Disney can help sustain and even build demand for the parks and their franchises while the travel economy recovers.
I cannot wait to see what Disney does with this.
* * *
We wanted you to read this article before we make our newsletter pitch, unlike so many other websites. If you appreciate that — and our approach to covering theme park news — please sign up for our free, twice-a-week email newsletter. Thank you.
I'd say it's in very safe hands if Ron Moore's involved. Let's just hope it actually happens. Still waiting on that Haunted Mansion movie from Guillermo Del Toro.
........everything comes to he who waits! Chuffed for you Robert. Now this is a multiverse I will enjoy. Great potential and endless possibilities. Hurry up Disney!
What I adore about this is the official recognition of the name Albert Falls. It was based on an improvised Jungle Cruise joke. A joke that was ABSOLUTELY a deviation from the officially approved WDI script.
Ron Moore????
WOW!!! If this is real, I don't think Disney could have picked a better showrunner than Moore. For those that aren't familiar with his credits, he was the primary creator behind the Battlestar Galactica reboot, which is probably the most influential Sci-Fi series of the past 15-20 years. He was also the main showrunner/creator for Star Trek Deep Space 9, which for my money is the best of the modern Star Trek shows, and brought more serialized story arcs than had typically been used in episodic television (he used almost exclusively season-long story arcs when producing BSG). Without DS9 and BSG, a lot of the current TV shows and limited series would not exist.
His most recent credit (For All Mankind) wasn't as good as I expected (the premise is an alternate retelling of the 60's Space Race where the Russians reach the moon before Apollo 11), mostly because I think Moore wanted to keep the stories plausible instead of fantastic ones that would have made the series really interesting.
I'm very excited about this, but I do think it's fair to point out something based on how things have been going with how Disney is updating content in the parks recently.
The group shot shown of the members of S.E.A. lacks a lot of diversity. There's a lot of old white men in the club.
I hope and expect they will plus the group with some diversity in ages, gender and races when they begin to bring these much anticipated stories to a broader audience.
@Rob McCullough: Should they plus it out with astrological signs as well?
My favorite part about this site is all the white privilege and racism.
(Chuckle)
Shutting off comments in 5, 4, 3, 2 ....
The SEA members shown are usually just Imagineers in costumes - that was the origin of the schtick. That literally illustrates that Disney needs more diversity at WDI (as it has acknowledged), but the SEA universe provides an opportunity to address a whole bunch of issues about cultural exploration, exploitation, and appropriation, as I mentioned in that newspaper column I linked.
This article has been archived and is no longer accepting comments.
This is great and exciting news! Disney has great original IP's in the parks and being able to connect them and build upon their stories and lore is fantastic! Establishing this universe and making it more mainstream will help keep guests interested and give the opportunity to create more original attractions that can connect through the SEA mythology!
I'm surprised that more content has not been created by the likes of Disney and NBC Universal that would translate into the theme parks for new shows and attractions.