Today at Destination D23, the “Disney Villains: Icons of Evil” panel shared new details about projects coming to Walt Disney World, Hong Kong Disneyland, and DCL. The highlight of the presentation was a behind-the-scenes look at the Imagineering doing research to bring to life Villains Land at Magic Kingdom–that’s what we’ll cover here.
“Disney Villains: Icons of Evil” opened with a mischievous musical medley by Disney Concert Group, along with stage and screen stars Michael James Scott and Jodi Benson, the presentation gave a sneak peek into some upcoming villains-focused projects.
To kick things off, Executive Creative Director Caroline May and Executive Producer Wyatt Winter from Walt Disney Imagineering shared some eagerly awaited updates about the villains-themed land coming to Magic Kingdom.
Since it was first announced last year at D23 Expo, Imagineers have been busy working to bring this villainous vision to life, and the panel provided insights into the research that has gone into Villains Land before construction even began.
Aforementioned Imagineers Caroline May and Wyatt Winter shared how Villains Land is influenced by the Art Nouveau style of architecture in Europe, and shared details and photos from one of their research trips.
During a video message that played before the Imagineers shared details of their research trip, Disney Legend and former animator Andreas Deja, who is best known for helping to bring some of the most evil Disney Villains to life onscreen, such as Gaston in Beauty and the Beast, Jafar in Aladdin, and Scar in The Lion King, announced that he was officially consulting on the project.
Deja shared that these characters are the best source materials for Imagineers to utilize and reference when conceptualizing the land, with big personalities, bold visuals, and rich backgrounds to influence the overall ambiance and the experience that guests will have while visiting.
That video is worth a watch–some fun and funny moments:
The Imagineers shared on stage that their work to develop Villains Land began with the animation source material and the Walt Disney Animation Studios artists responsible for it.
Those conversations made the WDI team realize that it was critical to reflect the look and feel of the characters’ animation in the land’s physical structures and appearance. As a result, they set off to Paris, France and Barcelona, Spain to learn about each city’s architecture and attributes.
The Villains Land project team specifically studied Art Nouveau architecture design and the unique form, scale, and color that define this style, which flourished in the late 1800s. Through partnerships with local professors, along with art and architectural historians, Imagineers received an intimate look at the architectural aesthetics that will serve as the overall design inspiration for the land.
The team highlighted the way Art Nouveau’s natural motifs and swirling designs in Paris make nature appear to be “cursed” like magic has frozen it into place. On the other hand, Barcelona’s art style is Modernisme (think Gaudí–like portions of the Gran Destino interior), which has fewer natural patterns but has architecture with an otherworldly, unnerving appearance.
Another fascinating discovery that they made in both places was how many of the architectural elements had a wonderful color palette, full of rich tones. Seeing details like colorful stained-glass windows and painted metals helped us understand how we might bring the beautiful, deep jewel tones of the animated villains to life in the land’s buildings.
After identifying the similarities between the magical, fluid, and organic appearance of both the animated villains and the Art Nouveau style of construction, the Imagineering team coined the term “Conjured Architecture” for Villains Land at Magic Kingdom. Conjured Architecture refers to the blend of historical components and fantastical worlds that have merged to create something wicked that will be able to be experienced firsthand: a villains-inspired land.
Our Commentary
It’ll be interesting to see just how Conjured Architecture is integrated into Villains Land. The land itself looks like it’ll lean heavily on rockwork, with lots of sharp and angular lines in the natural environment. It thus makes a degree of sense to have the built environment offer a contrast to that, with more curvature and lavish ornamentation. It’ll be interesting to see whether this is utilized to soften the appearance of the land, or make the architecture less intimidating to families with young children.
Art Nouveau is utilized throughout the Disney Parks, so this isn’t exactly unprecedented. Nevertheless, what immediately came to mind for me when Art Nouveau was mentioned was the last (to the best of my recollection) major Art Nouveau project: Fantasy Springs Hotel. Normally, when Tokyo DisneySea is invoked on this blog, it’s praise. Not the case here. See “Biggest Disappointment of Disney’s New $2 Billion Expansion” for our take on Fantasy Springs Hotel. In case you couldn’t guess from the title, it isn’t positive.
Thankfully, Villains Land has a different project team and I strongly suspect there were unique circumstances (COVID cost-cutting) that gave rise to Fantasy Springs Hotel being an underwhelming anomaly at Tokyo DisneySea. It also seems purposefully designed to give a more feminine flair to the park, which is likely due to demographics. I’m not really sure what value this commentary adds; it’s just been a while since I’ve been all that impressed by Imagineering’s Art Nouveau projects.
I’m also honestly surprised that the style of Villains Land isn’t gothic architecture. Based on the concept art and the European influences of many of the movies and the spaces their villains inhabit, I would’ve guessed that the gothic style would feature heavily in Villains Land. Then again, maybe it still will. Imagineering’s research took them to Paris, and it’s not as if there’s a shortage of gothic design there. Or maybe Disney is making a conscious effort to differentiate Villains Land from Dark Universe over at Universal.
If Imagineering is looking for something that offers a contrast to the natural environment beyond Art Nouveau, it’d be interesting to see the storybook style or something with Ghibli-esque whimsy to really punctuate the landscape, contrast the craggly rockwork, and offer a reprieve from the evil and foreboding areas (this is Magic Kingdom, after all). Villains Land is presumably going to be rather large, so there’s plenty of space for a variety of styles.
Beyond that, we haven’t really seen anything of Villains Land, so it’s difficult to have any strong opinions at this point. I like the original single piece of concept art, which is fairly detailed and less impressionistic than the norm for a project that’s this far out. But I also suspect that was done fairly on in the process, and wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if the final design deviates pretty significantly from that.
Ultimately, I like the idea of Imagineering creating its own design-style for Villains Land, and Conjured Architecture certainly has promise. I just hope it’s not Art Nouveau with an animated influence. I’m also pleased to hear that Imagineering is taking research trips for Villains Land, and looking to real places in Europe for inspiration. After all, that’s where the animators who worked on these classics in the first place looked for inspiration.
I can’t say I’m super surprised that Walt Disney Imagineering declined to pull back the curtain on Villains Land at Magic Kingdom. As we stressed repeatedly in the lead-up to Destination D23, that’s probably premature. In part because this is the odds-on favorite to be the last land to open during Walt Disney World’s 5-Year Plan, and will probably debut in 2029 or 2030.
Given that, there are two fully-fledged D23 Expos between now and its grand opening; judging by the crowd erupting at the end of the last Parks Panel when Josh D’Amaro announced Villains Land, it makes more sense to pull back the curtain on the rides, restaurants, and everything else on stage at that blockbuster event.
We’re cautiously optimistic that Villains Land will be worth the wait, and would rather Imagineering take the time to get this land right rather than pulling back the curtain too soon. Hopefully they have a healthy budget for the project that includes as many research trips as necessary…including one down the street to Epic Universe to experience Monsters Unchained. Whatever the marquee attraction in Villains Land, it needs to meet or exceed that high bar. This can’t be another “Spider-Man Situation,” where Disney opens a ride that’s obviously inferior to a decades-old ride at Universal.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What’s your reaction to the “Conjured Architecture” coming to Villains Land at Walt Disney World? Pleased to see the fanciful Art Nouveau influence, or do you favor a different style? Happy about this concept? Do you agree or disagree with our assessments? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!