It’s a Real Estate Jungle Out There

Visitors to Disneyland this summer will find that the Swiss Family Robinson has abandoned its treetop condo in Adventureland and a new tenant--rumored to be a real swinger--has given the place a complete make-over.

Tarzan’s Treehouse, Disneyland’s revamping of the venerable treetop attraction, opened Wednesday. It takes its theme from Disney’s week-old “Tarzan” animated feature and is the centerpiece for the park’s summer season.

According to Tony Baxter, Disneyland’s senior vice president of creative development, the fate of the Robinson family was determined largely by the guests themselves.

“If you look at it in cold, hard statistics, people just weren’t going in there anymore,” said Baxter, who has been working ‘round the clock on the treehouse project since November.

Baxter said it was a mere six months ago that the decision was made to deed the Robinson home over to Tarzan and company.

“In November, we saw a rough cut of the film, and right then I could tell it was special. The way the action, the story and the characters capture the emotions will make it a highly important film for Disney,” he said.

Faced with either restoring the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse or going the extra mile and creating an entirely new attraction, it didn’t take long for Baxter and his team to convince Disneyland management of the advantages of starting from scratch.

“Certainly, the Swiss Family story and subject matter are classic. But we felt strongly that Tarzan, regardless of the movie, is a very strong property. Not only do we have a bona fide legend and character, and story, but our version of it has an edge, and that was the key element we were able to build upon.”

While some parts of the Robinsons’ whimsical treetop home are still recognizable, Tarzan’s vine-shrouded pad bears only a passing resemblance to the original.

For starters, a suspension bridge of rope and weathered wood planks now spans the main thoroughfare through Adventureland, serving as the treehouse entrance and forming a picturesque western gate to the area.

In addition, a second tree has been added and the entire structure has been elevated 10 feet. The trees themselves have been redressed to create a more lush, rain-forest look, complete with hanging vines and thick, clinging moss.

“The film has maybe four or five icon pieces of architecture in the tree and we’ve been able to incorporate all those into the treehouse, including the bridge and the little poop deck icon at the end, and the big boat-like house that is the centerpiece of the treehouse itself,” Baxter explained.

But the most striking difference is the interactive nature of the attraction. The Swiss Family home was basically a prop display you walked through with a few plaques that told about the Robinsons--who were not at home.

In the new treehouse, not only are Tarzan and family at home (in the form of life-sized sculpted characters from the movie) but there are nearly 15 hands-on activities throughout the attraction.

In each of the treehouse’s three main rooms, Disney “imagineers” have added hands-on activities that capture specific emotional elements from the film.

For example, in one room guests meet Kala, the mother gorilla who adopts Tarzan as a baby, as she reminisces about her human child.

Guests are invited to join her by remembering their favorite parts from the story and by touching a picture in a book; scenes of Tarzan and his mother appear on a “magic” mirror.

At the base of the tree, the old bamboo fencing has been cleared away and an elaborate play area has been built based on “Trashing the Camp,” one of Phil Collins’ songs from the film.

“We’ve opened the whole area up and invited everyone to interact with all the different elements,” Baxter said.

“There are live animals [they’ll be brought in by animal handlers]; vines you can pull that will make animal sounds in the tree; projectors that you can spin and see Jane’s sketches of Tarzan come to life; and an area where kids can play music on all of these upside-down pots and pans and hollowed-out bark.”

Other activities include a working bellows that stokes a fire in a stove, causing pots and pans to bubble over, and an elephant that squirts water when you clap your hands in a certain way.

“We’ve given guests so many more things to do than there were in the old treehouse, and they really add a fresh vitality,” Baxter said. “I think it will be as relevant to kids growing up in the late ‘90s as the original treehouse was for me growing up in 1963.”

BE THERE

Disneyland is open today, 8 a.m.-9 p.m.; Friday-Sunday, 9 a.m.-midnight. 1313 Harbor Blvd., Anaheim. $29-$39. Parking: $7-$8. (714) 781-4565.