‘Behind The Attraction’ Will Tell The Story Of Disney Theme Park Classics With The Director Of ‘The Toys That Made Us’
Since Disney+ was unveiled more than 18 months ago, the service has offered everything from new Marvel andStar Warsshows to old shows and films that harken back to viewers' collective childhoods. But there’s been a pretty big gap in Disney+ from the start, and that would be programming focused on the Disney theme parks.
That gap is being filled now withBehind the Attraction, a 10-episode series produced by none other thanDwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
Behind the Scenes of Theme Park Legends
Behind the Attractionwill arrive on Disney+ on July 16, tying into the arrival of another Disney/Dwayne Johnson collaboration: the new action blockbusterJungle Cruise, co-starring Johnson and Emily Blunt, and inspired by the beloved theme-park attraction of the same name. Johnson’s joined byDany GarciaandBrian Volk-Weissas producers. Volk-Weiss, previously of Netflix’s documentary seriesThe Toys That Made Us, will serve as director for each episode as well. The series will debut onJuly 16, 2021.
Per the press release from Disney+ today:
“Behind the Attraction” delves into Disney Parks' rich, amazing history using archival and never-before-seen footage and photographs to unveil how the attractions came to be and how they’ve been refined over the years as new ideas surface and technology evolves.
Behind the Attractionwill cover a wide gamut of the history of the Disney theme parks, though the list of episodes implies that most of the coverage will be – perhaps fittingly – on the original theme park, Anaheim’s Disneyland. Johnson himself will only appear in the first episode, focused on (what else?) the Jungle Cruise, talking about his memories of the attraction and his favorite joke from the Jungle Cruise skippers.
The entire series is narrated byPaget Brewster, whose career has spanned so much TV that some viewers will know her as Della Duck fromDuckTales, others will know her as Emily Prentiss from CBS' long-running proceduralCriminal Minds, and some of us (read: me) will know her best from the very funny Fox sitcomAndy Richter Controls the Universe. And then there’s her great voice work on the alt-comedy podcastThe Thrilling Adventure Hour.
ButBehind the Attractionisn’t about the behind-the-scenes celebrities, but the attractions themselves. The 10 episodes – which, notably, will be released all at once, not once a week – cover some predictable favorites. Aside from the Jungle Cruise, episodes will also focus onThe Haunted Mansion,Space Mountain, andStar Tours. But there are a few installments that go beyond traditional attractions – one episode is squarely focused on theDisneyland Hotel, while another is titled “Trains, Trams, and Monorails.”
What Comes Next
Now, some theme-park buffs (read: me) will tell you that the railroads of the Disney theme parks merit their own standalone episode in such a series. (The same goes for the monorails, too.) But we can hope that some of these episodes do what they promise: to highlight stories that you may not be familiar with about attractions that you love. (This is where it’s worth noting that while it’s a wonderfully themed location, the Disneyland Hotel isn’t exactly an “attraction”, per se.)
Perhaps the only head-scratcher of the 10 promised episodes is one that’s still under refurbishment: theHall of Presidents. Now, you probably have a guess as to why the Hall of Presidents is closed. Disney’s Imagineers are presumably in the process of replacing the previous Audio-Animatronic of former President Donald Trump with that of President Joe Biden. Now, it’s a safe bet thatBehind the Attractionis going to do its best to avoid any delving into the controversy surrounding…oh, you know, the whole “former President Donald Trump encouraged an insurrection on the U.S. Capitol when he lost an election after whining baselessly that it was rigged” thing. But if this series wants to focus on how the Disney theme parks champion the vision of America, there are other attractions it could do so with, such as the American Adventure at Epcot or Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. It’s…well, let’s just sayinterestingthat the Hall of Presidents gets the spotlight in the first season instead.
And let’s do hope thatBehind the Attractioninspires a second season. There are a number of marquee attractions not represented here, from Pirates of the Caribbean to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad to Rise of the Resistance. If the show does well enough next month, maybe Johnson, Volk-Weiss and team can get to work on a second season. Die-hards and casual fans alike know there’s plenty more thatBehind the Attractioncan cover.
