Imagineers are taking inspiration from academics, musicians and artists across the New Orleans region to develop Tiana's Bayou Adventure

Aug 23, 2022 in "Tiana's Bayou Adventure"

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Sharika Mahdi artwork

Posted: Tuesday August 23, 2022 10:08am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

In a new update from Disney on the transformation of Splash Mountain into Tiana's Bayou Adventure, Carmen Smith, Senior Vice President, Creative Development - Product/Content & Inclusive Strategies talks about some of the sources of inspiration for Disney Imagineering working on the project.

Tiana's Bayou Adventure logo

Carman said, "To ensure this experience authentically reflects the real-life inspiration of Tiana’s story, Imagineers have consulted and collaborated with a host of academics, musicians and artists across the New Orleans region."

According to Carman, when Walt Disney Imagineering project team first looked for local inspiration, they were drawn to the work of a talented artist, Sharika Mahdi. Sharika has contributed a unique and authentic perspective to the project, capturing the essence of New Orleans through a series of original artwork commissioned by WDI. “Making a big deal about everything and celebrating everything,” Sharika remarks of the region that inspires her artwork, “I want to show this is what it’s about, being a part of New Orleans and being a part of the culture.”

Sharika Mahdi artwork

Tiana's Bayou Adventure project lead Charita Carter recently visited Sharika for a tour of her studio and a first look at the second piece of artwork commissioned in this series: a jazz club scene with an ensemble of affable amphibians.

Tiana's Bayou Adventure opens late 2024. A closing date for Splash Mountain has not yet been announced."

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Bocabear28 days ago

I had forgotten about that, and the first one was cute... but none of the other live action remakes seem to be that great...it feels like all the sequel movies Disney was churning out in the late 90s, early 200s... Cinderella 2? Those were serious garbage...and now these live action remakes seem the same to me...

mickEblu28 days ago

So are we finding out Dr. Facilier is making an appearance in TBA tomorrow or will it be just another mind boggling marketing decision from Disney when it comes to this attraction? Having a whole segment devoted to Keith David/ Facilier at the same event where they are doing a deep dive on the attraction would make zero sense unless he's in it.

James Alucobond28 days ago

Cinderella is better, I think, but it’s really the only one, mostly because it didn’t concern itself with following the original story. The others are either unasked for facsimiles or weird attempts to make evil characters sympathetic (though I chuckle at Maleficent glossing over the fact that her name is literally meant to invoke the opposite of “beneficent”).

brb100628 days ago

I really enjoyed the 1996 live-action adaptation of 101 Dalmatians.

Bocabear28 days ago

I can't think of one live action remake that was better than the original...I won't count Cruella because that was really something different.... There were things to like about the Cinderella and the BATB... but in general they never quite did it for me...Both of those movies had a dress problem... Cinderella's garish blue dress was so immense it wore her, and Belle's Golden gown was completely wrong period...Looked more like 1940s and way too demure... Actually Cinderella's Godmother gown was much prettier than what she conjured for Cindy...Almost like they made the white one for Cinderella and then changed their mind and decided to match the blue dress that was sold as Halloween costumes... The other live action remakes I think have all been terrible...

Rich T29 days ago

Yes. And the remake isn’t strong enough (IMO) to be particularly memorable in script or visual style to stand out in its own. As lightweight as the animated classic is, it is very entertaining and memorable. That’s the whole problem with the remakes. Instead of presenting something original, cohesive and memorable, they’re chained to the curse of having to hit mandatory nostalgia-check-boxes even if doing so maybe isn’t the wisest move. Disney wants to have its cake and eat it too. And so we get a Little Mermaid remake with hideous CGI sidekicks and a Jungle Book where CGI characters are forced to perform clumsy, forgettable versions of songs that were wonderful in the original animated film.

Rich Brownn29 days ago

Of course the cartoons are recognized more. The remake featured animals that looked like.. well, animals. They aren't a funny sketch version of them.

Rich T30 days ago

I think the Jungle Book remake was definitely one of the better ones, certainly helped by the original animated film being so comparatively (and intentionally) lightweight. That said, the remake in retrospect (IMO) now seems kind of bloated, style-less and forgettable. Certainly, the CGI characterizations of Baloo, Bagheera, Shere Kahn, Louie and Kaa have not left even a tiny blip on the pop culture landscape, while the 1960’s hand drawn versions are still recognized and embraced. I wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out Disney actually is aware that the remakes don’t have the staying power of the originals, and is perfectly content to just let them serve their purpose as short-lived cash-grabs. It sure would be nice if all that time, money and talent went toward the creation of something original and wonderful.

Rich Brownn30 days ago

I think "Jungle Book" was much better. But then it hewed closer to its source material and didn't try to be cute and funny most of the time

Disney-Universal Fanboy31 days ago

Yeah, The Live action Alice is entertaining, But it made the whole ending of the animated movie redundant

Rich T31 days ago

They are all vastly inferior to the originals, IMO. They’re not bad, and are somewhat entertaining, but none of them match the artistry and great storytelling of the animated classics. I do have a beef, in particular, with Burton’s Alice. ‘Cause, Y’know, when a movie is called “Alice in Wonderland,” it helps if the story being told is actually “Alice in Wonderland” and not a completely different story that seems to have more in common with a Narnia tale. And don’t get me started on “Through the Looking Glass”….

Rich T31 days ago

Not a single remake, IMO, has been better than the original. At best, they’re sometimes not-completely-awful. And the OG PatF is a fine movie (beautifully drawn) with a couple of flaws. Not looking forward to CGI frogs and gators.

Rich T31 days ago

Yes, but I will acknowledge that Big Thunder was a necessary change for the park, even though the loss of Nature’s Wonderland killed Frontierland’s depth. I love Big Thunder, but I also lament that—experience-wise—the park exchanged an epic, beautiful 15 minute adventure for a two minute family coaster. Times change. Sigh.