Disneyland Attractions That Should Be Movies

I'm a bit of a Disneyphile, so when I heard that the company was making a film based on the Tomorrowland section of the Magic Kingdom, I was stoked. For those of you who aren't Disney-obsessed, that's the section of Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World (as well as other international parks) that features futuristic rides like Space Mountain and Astro Orbiters. The trailer for new film Tomorrowland certainly stays true to that section of the park, with the movie's version of "Tomorrowland" as a version of the future that the Magic Kingdom could only allude to.

While the Disney parks tend to give their big screen successes a place in the park, plenty of Disney properties outside of Tomorrowland have taken the opposite route and gone from attraction to film. Disney ride Pirates of the Caribbean is easily the biggest adaptation, which already spawned four films with a fifth one, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales on the way in 2017. The Disney parks have plenty of original material that could make for a very fun flick, and if Tomorrowland does well at the box office, it might mean that these other properties could get the same treatment. Here's what Disney attractions should make their way to theaters next.

The Haunted Mansion

Everyone remembers the average-at-best Eddie Murphy comedy The Haunted Mansion, which is based on the theme park ride of the same name. What you may not know is that Pan's Labyrinth director Guillermo Del Toro is also working on a Haunted Mansion picture. The Murphy comedy may have featured some of the iconic Haunted Mansion imagery (like the woman in the crystal ball and the "happy haunts" of the graveyard) but I'd love to see a film based on the ride that took the story to a much darker place. If you've seen the trailer for upcoming film Crimson Peak , then you know Del Toro is the perfect director to tackle the project.

The Jungle Cruise

A Jungle Cruise movie starring Toy Story voice actors Tim Allen and Tom Hanks has been in the works for a while now, but it doesn't seem like we're any closer to the film actually getting made. That's a shame, because a buddy comedy starring Allen and Hanks about two guys heading down the river for adventures might be the kind of family-friendly live-action comedy Disney needs.

Big Thunder Mountain

ABC actually produced a television pilot based on Big Thunder Mountain, which won Uproxx's title of Worst Pilot of 2013. (Ouch!) That doesn't mean that a Big Thunder Mountain movie is a bad idea. A family-friendly western based on the fictional mining town within the ride is ripe with story opportunities, and just because ABC picked the wrong one doesn't mean Disney should scrap adapting the ride for good.

It may be a while before we see any of these movies hit theaters, but until then, check out the trailer for Tomorrowland below.

Images: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures; Giphy (3)