Disney Imagineer Joe Rohde recently shared his thoughts with Entertainment Weekly about the development of Disney’s Animal Kingdom through the years.
Joe Rohde Shares Thoughts on ‘Beastly Kingdom’
According to Rohde, before Pandora – The World of Avatar opened in 2017 at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, a different land was planned to open – one themed to mythical creatures, like those seen in Disney’s Fantasia.
Animal Kingdom was initially planned to have areas themed to creatures of the present (from places like Africa and Asia), the past (i.e. dinosaurs, part of the now-closed DinoLand, U.S.A.), and the imagination. Evidence of this “Beastly Kingdom” expansion can be seen in the dragon statue over the park’s entrance as well as a parking area named after a unicorn.
Beastly Kingdom was under consideration to open at Animal Kingdom, with four versions of the area between the version leaked in concept art and the one that was eventually nixed for Pandora.
“Even though it sounds like there was a whole design there, the moment at which we made the decision that it wasn’t going to happen was right around the moment where we’re selling the idea of the park to [former Disney CEO, Michael] Eisner,” Rohde explains.
Rohde notes that all the different animal sections that needed to be built was a radical new idea, as no one had made an “animal” theme park before. “Eisner is the guy who said we can’t do all of this at once.” So, the park was first built with traditional safaris and park sections based on Africa and Asia. Then dinosaurs were added “because we’ve got the Dinosaur movie coming out [and] everybody loves dinosaurs!”
Beastly Kingdom was then decided to open in phases after opening day, with a temporary land called Camp Minnie-Mickey added as a placeholder in the southwest corner of the park. But as the concepts were developed in real time, they continued to evolve from the original design. Eventually, Camp Minnie-Mickey closed for Pandora, which Rohde worked on with late producer Jon Landau and director James Cameron.
Since the Na’vi are technically a fantastical creature as well, they also fulfilled the original vision to represent animals living, extinct, and imagined, even representing a “more relevant type of mythology” in that the story revolves around “an eco-myth” that made more sense to Rohde and his team than the “classic myth” of rides and attractions themed to creatures like unicorns and dragons.
Joe Rohde made an appearance at D23 2026 recently and shared his thoughts about another Animal Kingdom expansion – Tropical Americas. More of Rohde’s stories about his experience as a Disney Imagineer can be found in his upcoming book, “Floating Mountains: The Art of Imagining the Impossible.”
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The post Disney Imagineer Joe Rohde Explains Why ‘Avatar’ Was Added to Disney’s Animal Kingdom Instead of ‘Beastly Kingdom’ appeared first on WDW News Today.
