Disney Imagineer Shares Scrapped Muppets Land Concept Art – Inside the Magic
While there are many scrapped Disney rides and ideas that never made it to fruition, none are more mourned than the canceled Muppet Land takeover. Fortunately, after over twenty years, a former Disney Imagineer shared concept art for what the Muppets having their own land could have looked like.
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Despite their immense popularity, the Muppets are one of the most underutilized franchises in Disney”s arsenal. While Muppet*Vision 3D can still be seen at Disney”s Hollywood Studio in Walt Disney World Resort and Dr. Bunson Honeydew and Beaker have a presence at EPCOT, there is an overall lack of Muppets at Disney Parks.
That”s not to say it was never considered. In the early 90s, there was a plan for a new Muppet-themed ride to replace the Great Movie Ride, now replaced by Mickey & Minnie”s Runaway Railway, as well as plans for Kermit, Miss Piggy, and the gang to take over Disneyland and call it Muppet Land.
Unfortunately, neither of these plans saw the light of day. That is, not until recently when a Disney Imagineer who worked on the project shared concept art for what could have been. And much like the Muppets themselves, it”s wonderfully silly and chaotic.
Former Disney Imagineer Shares Concept Art for Scrapped Muppet Land
On his LinkedIn page, former Disney Imagineer Marcelo Vignali has been sharing original concept art for current Disney Park attractions as well as ones that had been scrapped. This includes Roger Rabbit”s Cartoon Spin, based on the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988), and the famous Muppet Movie Ride that was never created. Response to the latter proved so positive that Vignali decided to share art for a Muppets-themed restaurant.
“I was surprised that so many people were excited to see some of the designs for a Muppet Ride that never was. So, I thought I would go ahead and share with you some of the other drawings that I have of that Muppet Land. I don”t know that any of this has seen the light… till today. This one here isn”t the original Prismacolor on velum, but it was a large, full-size copy that I kept.”
Vignali continued, “This was the design for the NY-style pizza parlor restaurant that was to be in Muppet Land. The idea was that the rats have taken over the restaurant, helping to make the food. In the back, visible to the restaurant patrons, an audio-animatronic Swedish Chef would make pizza.”
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Afterward, Vignali went into detail regarding the process of creating the concept art, especially since this was in 1990 and it wasn”t possible to model the space with 3D software. Instead, a fellow Imagineer came up with an architectural plan, and he worked with the writer as well as a “collated binder of lamps, tablecloth swatches and materials, and a gag drawing of a rat on a unicycle by veteran Imagineer Tim Kirk.” The rest of the ideas came from Vignali.
“The idea was to make this look fun,” he said. “These were purposely large drawings, and I tried to design them in a way that would force the viewer to wander and explore each of the vignettes, each with their own story.” And he more than succeeded.
The restaurant looks properly cartoonish and joyful, the perfect energy for any attraction based on the Muppets. While the Guests are delightfully animated, and the decor is perfect for a NY-style pizza parlor, the real highlight comes in the rafters, where multiple rats can be seen making pizzas and delivering a giant sandwich on unicycles.
Related: Op-Ed: Disneyland Needs a Muppets Ride
Naturally, the comments on the original post have been glowingly positive, with one person declaring, “Muppetland?!?! My heart flutters at the possibility!” and another saying, “I always wanted to know what the Muppet takeover would look like. I knew about the plans for the Great Muppet Movie Ride being canceled by Jim Henson”s death, but this would have been a great sit-down restaurant to go along with it!”
The Swedish Chef”s pizza joint would have been absolutely delightful to see live. Unfortunately, this was never the case since the tragic passing of Jim Henson led to all of these concepts being scrapped. Still, the Muppets” presence is greatly missed at the Parks, and, hopefully, the popularity of Beeker and Dr. Bunson Honeydew at EPCOT will show that they need to make a big return.
Would you like to see a Muppets-themed Land at Disney? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!
