You see, I love what Joe Rohde does for Disney, that’s not secret. It’s because when Rohde hits his stride, he turns what he designs into a cultural window onto the far reaches of the world. Capturing history and culture is what Rohde does best and it seems in this theater, and its surroundings, he has achieved that goal once again.
A while back, Safari Mike and I wrote extensively about the history and backstory of Harambe, the imaginary port town along the East African coast which makes up the Africa “land” at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. And what we found is that even though Harambe might not be a real place in Africa, it most certainly embodies the culture and history of the country’s from which Rohde took his inspiration, specifically Kenya and Tanzania. However, as with any big edition or change to the Disney Parks, one must worry about imagineering’s tendency to often “relax” the themes and aesthetics a bit to make the practical or profitable work. But that tendency seems to not be present here at all. In fact, they have even enhanced the story.
Fort Jesus in Mombasa, Kenya |
It is that story, that confluence of people, that made East Africa such a fascinating place to Joe Rohde. So much so, that if you can’t see the influence Fort Jesus had on the design of the new Festival of the Lion King theater than you aren’t looking close enough. Building a giant theater in a small coastal village was a concept we were quite worried about, but not any more.
Fort Jesus in Mombasa, Kenya |
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