Over the past few year, starting with Figment (from Journey into Imagination) then moving onto Big Thunder
Mountain Railroad and now finally The Haunted Mansion, fans of Disney Parks have had a lot to get excited about with these mini-series’ exploring the expanded history behind the stories of Disney’s most popular attractions. Added to this list of Disney attractions turned comic books, there was also the Space Mountain graphic novel back in 2014 but it wasn’t under the Disney Kingdoms tag. What I really want to see are continued stories or to dive deeper into the origins. With Marvel’s Disney Kingdom comic series sparking excitement with their various attractions coming to life in comic books, it made me start to think about what other Disney Attractions would make a fantastic comic series.
- Expedition Everest/Matterhorn Bobsleds. It was already eluded to in the opening pages of The Haunted Mansion that an
adventure happened on The Matterhorn. So its easy to continue that adventure right into its own book. Mountainous adventures always include dangers of falling and rock slides, so a Matterhorn book would be a thrilling tale of exploring. To go along with the Matterhorn and stay with the theme of mountains, its an easy leap from one famous mountain and attraction (The Matterhorn Bobsleds) to the next. Expedition Everest has the thrilling monster and the story could be one to either try to find the Yeti, or to escape from it. Its easy to envision six issues ranging from the adventure up the mountain, the first encounter, a thrilling chase and the more than likely avalanche filled conclusion.
- I’ve always had an affinity for Brer Rabbit and all his Brer buddies of Splash Mountain. The song was one of my favorite songs growing up, lets skip over the controversial movie it was originally sung in. Splash Mountain, the attraction, tells a complete story from begging of the cue line all the way to the end and even through the exit. I’m not suggestion Disney Kingdoms basically transcribe the ride, but I think seeing some more of the back and forth almost Bugs Bunny/Elmer Fudd like comedy story line would be an entertainingly fun story anyone could enjoy. Plus, anthropomorphic stories are among some of my most favorite stories.
- Horror comics don’t have to be gruesome or violent to send chills down your spin. Sometimes just a very creepy setting and some unexplained circumstances are all it takes to unnerve you. The Twilight Zone’s Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios has its own story line that is meticulously detailed as you make your way to the dreadful elevator. The cast members along with the visual and audio clues give some brief history to why the hotel looks like all the people who were in it on the fateful night seemingly up and disappeared. Once you have finished the attraction, there isn’t really any closure. You go through, scream your head off but never really find out where the hotel visitors actually went. A short mini-series could easily encompass a closure type of story or even give us more questions than answers to make the Disney /Comic fans want more stories!
- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Sure the attraction closed in Magic Kingdom back in 94’ and all the submarines have either been scuttled or left to rust in backlots, but the attraction still remains open at Tokyo Disney (Prior to closing and sinking the vessels, Disney had the Eighth largest Submarine fleet in the world.) Imagine the adventures we could see in the “Best Liquid Space Adventure Ever”. If the Joules Verne book excited you with the brief few hundred page under sea adventure, just imagine the splash pages and the amazing colorful art that would fill several books worth of adventure.
