Disney+ watchlist: July 2021

The last time I discussed the Disney+ streaming channel was with the January 2021 watchlist, but with the first 5 episodes of Behind the Attraction, theme park love was once again ignited in July 2021.

TV shows:
Behind the Attraction (Season 1, Episodes 1-5) [7/10]

The premiere of the first half of the Behind the Attraction mini-series came just in time, as soon after we spent our honeymoon in Disneyland Paris. The Imagineering Story (see Disney+ watchlist: March 2020 and Disney+ watchlist: April 2020; strangely I didn’t cover the last 2 episodes, even though I watched them; the reason probably being Disney’s bizarre release method) proved that documentaries about the Disney theme parks can be both informative and touching, but unfortunately Behind the Attraction chose a different, more humorous approach.

Dealing with the popular rides Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Star Tours, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, and Space Mountain, there was sure a lot to tell, especially since each episode covered the newest developments, i.e. additions or complete overhauls (e.g. with the Guardians of the Galaxy and Star Wars licences for the former and latter, one I found pretty great and the other one I simply think deviates too much from its source material). However, the constant interruptions and comments by the narrator as well as some silly music, hectic cuts and mixes of videos didn’t make it funny, but annoying to watch. Thankfully, the touching moments and informative material still shone through.

I still think that Disney+ is a great opportunity to dive into the history of the theme parks, but the course of direction the company took to make it more appealing for a younger audience with an almost YouTube content creator’s style of annoying interruptions and silly comments often pulled the audience out of Behind the Attraction‘s immersion.

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