On Friday, November 22, 2024, Walt Disney World announced that they would close MuppetVision 3D in 2025 to make way for the city of Monstropolis from Pixar’s Monsters Inc., including the long-awaited door chase roller coaster. When announced at D23, several pieces of vague concept art that looked like different sections of Disney’s Hollywood Studios were shown, but the project has now ultimately ended up taking shape in a large portion of Grand Avenue and the entire Muppets Courtyard mini-land.
A Case for MuppetVision 3D
As would be expected when removing a 33-year-old beloved attraction, the Disney fandom has been enraged and saddened by the news. To soften the blow as rumors swirled since the summer, Disney has been developing a plan and now announced that Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster will change from Aerosmith to the Muppets as a peace offering to their most dedicated returning guests. While the roller coaster redo is something fans certainly wanted, the plan hasn’t quieted them about the removal of Jim Henson’s MuppetVision 3D.
I generally have been far happier with current Disney Parks management, but the act of standing on a stage and announcing new attractions to your most devout fans while refusing to acknowledge what you will take away from them is a Chapek-era trademark. The Great Movie Ride wasn’t even acknowledged when Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway was announced, nor was the Universe of Energy for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. It’s not a decision made for the sake of trimming presentation time, it’s to avoid backlash. Disney did not sit in silence because they had to, they sat in silence in shame knowing the outrage that was to come.
On the Monday following D23, Disney did what we would consider to be the right thing and showed further concept art while revealing their plans to remove Tom Sawyer Island, the Rivers of America, and the Liberty Square Riverboat. Why they were able to do this for one project and not any others is beyond me. In the case of MuppetVision, it had to be a feeling of fear and/or shame.
Jim Henson’s name is on the MuppetVision attraction the same as Walt Disney’s can be found on the Carousel of Progress and Enchanted Tiki Room. Disney refuses to heavily alter either of those attractions as they are so intrinsically connected to their founder, but MuppetVision is connected to Jim in very much the same way. It is a lasting legacy of a man who meant so much to the world. For Disney to say that they’re “exploring ways to preserve the film and other parts of the experience for fans to enjoy in the future” when making such an announcement leads us to believe they had no real plan ready for something of such historical importance. I am heartbroken to know this harsh reality.
While Disney can always quote their founder and say that “Disneyland will never be completed, as long as there is imagination left in the world”, it’s strange to arrive at a point where there is somehow not enough of said imagination to concoct a plan to move a few audio-animatronics, a few trucks of props, and several bags of 3-D glasses across a theme park.
In the case of Monsters Inc. Land, we had heard about the project some time ago, but then it was likely heading to the Animation Courtyard at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, far away from The Muppets. At some point, things changed and it was decided to erase the MuppetVision 3D attraction and all that surrounds it for the world of Monstropolis.
Now, I don’t really have an issue with this location as the current layout of Disney’s Hollywood Studios is terrible. This is a byproduct of the way the park was forced to grow from a half-day behind-the-scenes experience to a full-day theme park. It worked well enough when theme park guests would seek out most attractions, taking a few steps off the beaten path to see what the MuppetVision 3D show advertised on the map and on the tip board was all about. Over the years, the wants and habits of tourists changed, mostly directed by wait times and FastPass/Lightning Lane availability accessed at their fingertips. Regardless, the point is that the building MuppetVision currently resides in is not of significance, it is the heart and soul of the show that resides inside that means something to all of us.
The ultimate slap in the face is that the theater that has housed the last great work of one of America’s greatest dreamers is going to be a show venue for something Disney isn’t even willing to reveal when announcing they’re eliminating the classic attraction. It’s not even being demolished for some massive E-Ticket that will wow guests, just for something that has to be concocted to fit the Monsters Inc. theme. I’d love to believe otherwise, but the silence is again deafening.
This all wouldn’t matter if Disney simply relocated MuppetVision 3D. They could do whatever they want to the former Muppets Courtyard if they just promised the world they would give the show a new home somewhere else. No one is clamoring for the plain, brick building that houses Kermit and company to be saved, we are begging for the misfit family of beloved felt friends to have their show live on somewhere, anywhere.
As Disney fans, we fell in love with this brand for their commitment to storytelling, and we will be the first to tell you when the placement of a ride, show, restaurant, or shop doesn’t fit the theme of the area surrounding it. That being said, out of pure desperation, I’ve seen many fans on social media pitch new homes for The Muppets that don’t even make sense, praying that someone at Disney will see one of these locations and suddenly decide that’s the solution.
The solution is actually simple, the problem is no one wants to make it happen. With The Electric Mayhem and other Muppet pals being given the keys to G-Force Records and Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, it is painfully obvious that the adjacent Sunset Showcase Theater would be the perfect home for MuppetVision 3D. The first issue we encounter with this plan is the upcoming Disney Villains show set to debut in that space in 2025.
Now, I’m not going to ask Disney to cancel and dump something a number of people have been working on for a while just to make this happen, but the Disney Villains show will feel like overkill once there’s an entire Villains Land to visit at Magic Kingdom. What I’m asking is Disney to make a promise to their most devoted customers that they will place MuppetVision 3D in this building once that show ends its run leading up to the new land opening just down the road.
A family-friendly, continuously performing 3D show situated between two major thrill rides with height requirements on Sunset Boulevard makes sense. While Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy didn’t find the full intended audience it could have had in the space, I’m certain the creative minds at Walt Disney Imagineering could draw more families back to the area with perhaps a playground for small guests or even a water play area with the Miss Piggy Statue of Liberty fountain at its center. I am not a creative at WDI, so I will leave it to them to figure it out, but I have faith that they could if given the money and encouragement from management.
Disney management always seem afraid to make the right decision when it doesn’t clearly show a financial gain. This act shows little respect for their audience as they all know very well what MuppetVision 3D means to people, and they sure as hell are aware of the historical significance it has to American pop culture. Instead, they have finally pulled the pin, thrown the grenade, and are now hiding in the bunker until we all stop yelling at them about this. The answer is to not stop. We didn’t stop for The Country Bear Jamboree in 2019, and we shouldn’t stop now.
As we said then, removing classic attractions that are the essence of the Disney experience for the sake of something new is fundamentally misguided and frightening. I am the first to admit that grass roots movements to influence the Walt Disney Company do not have a particular track record of success. Equally true, though, is that once something is gone, it is unlikely to return.
I know it is sometimes hard to respectfully convey our anger and sadness to Disney in situations where we are losing something so precious to us, so we inevitable come across as spoiled brats, but we were spoiled by the incredible breath of work that The Walt Disney Company gifted to us. We feel the way we do about this brand every day because we, more than anyone who consumes their content, know what they are capable of. Disney creates emotions in their audience that other companies could only dream of. All we ask is that the emotions they created in us with this indelible show be respected and a promise be brokered to restore Jim Henson’s MuppetVision 3-D someday. When Disney bought the Muppets, they also bought Jim Henson’s legacy, so they must respect that in the same way they respect the legacy of their own founder.
Watch the full Muppetational rant in our video below:
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