There are, for probably the most half, two sorts of Disney Parks followers. There are those that see it as a pleasant factor to do with your loved ones infrequently, and there are those that take it… a little bit extra significantly. The upcoming Behind the Attraction, hitting Disney+ on July twenty first, is a present that’s aimed toward turning extra of these informal vacationers into devoted followers, by explaining the backstory behind well-known points of interest like Star Tours, the Haunted Mansion and Space Mountain.

Each episode options a number of outdated footage, speaking heads, conceptual artwork and snark. If you’re considering that appears like The Toys That Made Us, however for Disney Parks, you’d be completely appropriate. Behind the Attraction is produced and directed by Brian Volk-Weiss, the artistic thoughts behind Netflix docuseries like TTTMU and The Movies That Made Us. He was particularly sought out by Disney+ for his fashion which, by his personal description, is “focused more on fun” and doesn’t deal with its topic like “the rise and fall of the Roman Empire.” He loves documentaries, however hates once they take foolish subjects too significantly.

To wit, the sequence is narrated by comedy veteran Paget Brewster, an actress who has been in The Venture Bros., Community and Another Period. Disney followers will in all probability acknowledge her finest because the voice of Della Duck on the 2017 DuckTales reboot. She adopts a light-weight playful tone, as removed from Morgan Freeman you may get. Also on board is govt producer Dwayne Johnson, who stars in Disney’s upcoming dwell motion Jungle Cruise movie. Is there an episode concerning the Jungle Cruise attraction? Of course there’s.

Besides that, the opposite 4 episodes obtainable this week concentrate on the Haunted Mansion, Star Tours, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and Space Mountain. (Episodes about issues just like the castles and transportation methods, in addition to well-known rides like “It’s a Small World” and Pirates of the Caribbean are being held for later within the yr.) They hint the historical past and growth of every particular person attraction with clips from reveals like 1955’s Disneyland and The Wonderful World of Disney, information segments, and a mixture of new and outdated interviews. Anyone who watched the docuseries The Imagineering Story (additionally on Disney+) will acknowledge lots of reused footage from there. Which after all begs the query, why did we want one other behind-the-scenes present?

The largest distinction between the 2 is that The Imagineering Story takes a strict chronological method, beginning with the origin story behind Walt Disney’s want to construct a theme park, progressing by way of the opening of Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Epcot and so forth. The later episodes focus much less on a historic outlook and extra on “look at what cool technology we built for this new thing.” Which results in a type of unbalanced really feel to this system, in addition to a larger sense that it’s one huge journey brochure for the Disney Parks.

Which isn’t to say that Behind the Attraction isn’t one huge commercial. I actually wish to go to Disney Shanghai after getting a take a look at the event of its Storybook Castle and TRON Lightcycle Power Run. But as a result of the brand new present takes a extra topical method, it’s much more “snackable,” with episodes that may be watched in any order in accordance with what pursuits you probably the most. 

Each episode nonetheless follows its particular person topic chronologically, like how the Hall of Presidents episode goes into the event of the unique “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln” present on the 1964 World’s Fair to the set up of the attraction at Disneyland, the creation of the complete Hall of Presidents at Walt Disney World to immediately’s animatronics like those used on Avengers Campus at California Adventure. The Imagineering Story talks concerning the growth of the “Stuntronics” as properly, but it surely’s Behind the Attraction that pulls a straight line for the viewer from Abraham Lincoln giving a speech to Spider-Man doing somersaults within the air. You really perceive how tech created in 1964 can nonetheless form one thing in-built 2020.

While it is unlikely that Behind the Attraction will ever delve into the assorted faceplants the corporate has taken through the years the best way YouTube reveals like Yesterworld and Defunctland do, the brand new present is no less than able to admitting when sure issues didn’t work. The Haunted Mansion needed to be fully rethought for Shanghai, whereas Japan obtained a special backstory for its Tower of Terror. And the unique Jungle Cruise had no dad jokes!

Of course, there aren’t any Splash Mountain or Captain EO episodes, so we don’t know but how the present will cope with a number of the extra unsavory or embarrassing bits of Disney Park historical past. Which is ok, since Behind the Attraction isn’t supposed to be an entire historical past of Disney, only a fast half-hour present that may have you ever going “did you know?” to all of your family and friends the following time you go to the Magic Kingdom.