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It’s a huge day for the Disney Park community, but an even bigger day for Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park in Orlando, Florida. This weekend at Disney World’s Contemporary Resort, D23: The Official Disney Fan Club is celebrating Disney100 with a huge fan event, and today Experiences and Products Chairman Josh D’Amaro dropped some bombshell news about the future of the parks. There’s tons of news from DinoLand USA, to new lands, to new characters, but we need to talk about Animal Kingdom’s Tree of Life.
The iconic and gorgeous Tree of Life has proudly marked the heart of Disney’s Animal Kingdom since the park opened in 1998. The visually stunning artificial tree stands at an impressive 145 feet and is decorated with intricate carvings of diverse wildlife. There are around 325 animal carvings! The Tree of Life is not just a static sculpture though, it also hosts an attraction known as “It’s Tough to Be a Bug!”
Credit: Michael Gray/Flickr
But Disney Imagineers plan to uproot the Discovery Island landmark and revamp from the ground up.
As mentioned, inside the trunk of the tree, guests can experience a 3D film that explores the world of insects through the eyes of different bug characters from the Disney/Pixar film A Bug’s Life (1998), while also experiencing 4D physical elements connected to onscreen events. Think bugs crawling past your feet, a stinger to the back, and certain smells. Yea…not really the most appealing, but a classic attraction nonetheless.
Enjoy the nostalgia while you can, because Walt Disney Imagineering is gutting Animal Kingdom’s Tree of Life and officially exterminating the A Bug’s Life indoor theater show….and replacing it with a Zootopia-themed one! That’s right, Flik and Atta are moving out to make way for Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde and the rest of the city of Zootopia in the near future. D23 reports that “Imagineers are currently finalizing the concept and more details will be coming in the future.”
JUST ANNOUNCED: A new show based on “Zootopia” is being created for the Tree of Life theater at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park! #DestinationD23
Imagineers are currently finalizing the concept and more details will be coming in the future. pic.twitter.com/LOdXAUgwu4— Disney D23 (@DisneyD23) September 9, 2023
The 2016 hit film Zootopia stars voice actors Ginnifer Goodwin as the ambitious bunny cop, Judy Hopps, and Jason Bateman as the sly con-fox with a heart of gold, Nick Wilde. The Academy Award winning film follows Judy’s struggle to be taken seriously as she teams up with Nick. They rush to solve a case that ultimately uncovers a conspiracy that threatens peace in Zootopia.
While many fans are devastated to see “It’s Tough to Be a Bug!” go, there is a general consensus that certain elements of the show were scary for young children in attendance. I mean those grasshoppers still give me chills…
Credit: Ken Lund /Flickr
It’s nice to see some Zootopia love in Walt Disney World on the heels of Tokyo Disney’s exciting announcement of an entire Zootopia-themed land coming to the Japanese park. While the details about the new Tree of Life theater show are still under wraps, you can get more info about the plans for Tokyo’s Zootopia offerings here!
Disney Dining will gladly keep you updated with emerging information on the revamp of Animal Kingdom’s Tree of Life!
