After getting the meerkat’s attention by roaring, Simba shows the duo the consequences of not living within the circle of life. As destroyed forests, polluted water, and smog filled air is shown, it becomes clear that Timon does not understand the point of the story. The film goes on to show that as humanity improved their lives, there were terrible consequences on the environment. Simba and Timon in Circle of Life: An Environmental Fable. At this point, clips of Las Vegas and mass transportation are shown as Simba notes that life is not always about "having more and more of everything". Unfortunately, as Simba explains, in order to maintain their new cities, humanity needed more power. As scenes from modern civilization are shown (including large scale farming, city life, skyscrapers and high rises), Timon and Pumbaa begin to get excited. After the brief interruption Simba continues his story, explaining that as human populations exploded they began to take up more and more of the land. At this point in the attraction Hoover Dam is shown, which causes Timon and Pumbaa to decide that they need to plan bigger. Although they started out small (living in communion with the circle of life), humans eventually began to abuse the land. Transitioning back to live action, Simba tells the story about the evolution of human society. In order to show them the error of their ways, Simba decides to tell a story about a "creature who sometimes forgets how everything is connected in the great circle of life". Although Timon and Pumbaa are swept away by their idea, Simba notes that the animals downstream rely on the water that has now been dammed. The reason behind this construction, is that the twosome hope to construct and develop "Hakuna Matata Lakeside Village", where animals will be able to live the good life. The duo are removing trees in order to dam a stream and create "the biggest lake on the Savannah". The first animated segment of the film depicts Simba drinking from a watering hole, until he is rudely interrupted by Timon and Pumbaa. Following the end of the song, the film transitions into animation. This warning is followed by a montage of wildlife from all over the world set to the song "Circle of Life". The film opens with Mufasa (from The Lion King) declaring, “All things exist together in a delicate balance and so we must respect every living thing because we are all connected in the great circle of life”. On February 3, 2018, Circle of Life: An Environmental Fable closed. On FebruCircle of Life: An Environmental Fable closed for a lengthy refurbishment. Since the attraction opened it did not see any major changes outside of Nestle ending their sponsorship of the attraction (as well as the rest of The Land) in 2009. And if guests get the message to be more environmentally responsible, we've accomplished our mission."Ĭircle of Life: An Environmental Fable opened to guests on Janu. Fitzgerald explained, “Primarily, we want to entertain. Tom Fitzgerald (then Senior Vice President of Disney Theme Park Productions) noted that produces did not want the attraction to be preachy. Bruce Miles At the same time however, Disney wanted the film to be entertaining.
According to the film’s director Bruce Morris: "We wanted to show environmental problems in modern society but move people emotionally to realize that, 'Yeah, we can do something about this" While Circle of Life: An Environmental Fable was significantly more "kid friendly" then its predecessor, the film still tried to show the challenges facing the planet.
THE CIRCLE OF LIFE EPCOT MOVIE
The film also featured characters from the popular Disney movie The Lion King including: Timon, Pumbaa, and Simba, who showed guests the importance of conservation. Despite the fact that it was billed as a new film, Circle of Life: An Environmental Fable combined re-edited footage from Symbiosis with new updated scenes. Although Symbiosis was originally scheduled to close in September 1994, this was delayed until Janu. Symbiosis, which highlighted the relationship between man, technology and the the land, had been playing since the pavilion's opening in 1982. Circle of Life: An Environmental Fable replaced the film Symbiosis in The Land pavilion's Harvest Theater.