Defunctland’s Kevin Perjurer is one of our best nostalgia explorers, an Indiana Jones who swings into the caverns of pop culture’s past to break down why things happened and help explain what they mean in the context of our memories.
He’s always had an uncanny ability to dig into Disney’s theme parks and the overall culture of the Mouse House before its Marvel/Lucasfilm explosion of the 2010s. His latest rumination on Disney’s Hollywood Studios and its defunct The American Idol Experience really is one of his best videos yet.
Rather than simply poke fun at the catacombs of an ultimately failed Disney attraction, Perjurer expertly explores the complicated phenomena of American Idol and how its explosion coincided with Disney’s struggles of what to do with Hollywood Studios before Star Wars and Toy Story gave the park new life.
Within about an hour, you get a detailed history and study into American Idol and the Disney attraction that took its format and tried to bring it to park guests. It’s genuinely fascinating to see just how rigorous this attraction was and understand why it failed.
It’s vital to understanding theme park failures to know the nuances of why they phase out or flame out entirely, and Perjurer never excavates these defunct attractions without thoughtful consideration into why they might’ve worked for a time and what their lasting impacts are.
You can watch the video in full, and be sure to stick around on his YouTube channel for his absolutely phenomenal films about who wrote the Disney Channel theme and the messy history of Disney’s FastPass system while you’re at it.
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