Conservation International and Discovery Networks Join Disney On Scientific and Cultural Journey into the Realm of the Himalayas

Lake Buena Vista, Florida - Disney is please to announced Expedition Everest: Mission Himalayas - an extraordinary expedition to the mountains of the Himalayas to explore the legendary “realm of the yeti.” Conservation International and Discovery Networks will join Disney in the search for new species and ancient legends on this scientific and cultural journey to China and the eastern Himalayas.

“This extraordinary expedition in collaboration with Conservation International and Discovery Networks is another example of the lengths to which Walt Disney Imagineering will go to research subject matter in developing our story lines,” said Walt Disney Parks and Resorts President Jay Rasulo. “Our passion for bringing great stories to life has taken Walt Disney Parks and Resorts to amazing places over the past 50 years. Over the next 50 years, we will continue to scale new heights in our ongoing quest to create great experiences for our Guests.”

Scientists from global conservation leader Conservation International and Disney’s Animal Kingdom will search for undiscovered species likely to live in these remote regions known as biodiversity hot spots, the Earth’s biologically richest and most threatened places. The team of internationally renowned biologists, botanists and technical experts will conduct a scientific inventory of plant and animal species in areas that are little-known but potentially important conservation sites. “Due to the fact that this region has gone largely unexplored, we believe that, in all likelihood, new species of plants and animals not yet known to science will be discovered,” according to Dr. Russell Mittermeier, the world’s foremost primatologist and President of Conservation International.

Imagineers are joining the unique journey to investigate the powerful legend of the yeti, bringing a new level of authenticity to Expedition Everest, the massive attraction under development at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. “Imagineers are renowned for our passionate approach to creating the legendary experiences guests have come to expect from Disney,” said Imagineering Creative Executive Joe Rohde. “We are going to incredible lengths to tell this story to our guests,” he said. The creators of Disney parks will research cultural and spiritual legends through local people who have reported sightings of the yeti, and governments who preserve pristine lands in the name of the creature known as “protector of the mountains.”

Discovery Networks, renowned for compelling, real-world storytelling, will track the expedition to share the unique adventure story with audiences throughout the globe. “The unusual exploration for new species and ancient legends is the kind of story that both Disney and Discovery can create and tell so well,” said Clark Bunting, executive vice president, Discovery U.S. Networks Group. “We look forward to collaborating with Conservation International and Walt Disney Imagineering to inspire, educate and entertain millions around the world about all things Everest.”

The expedition furthers the commitment to wildlife conservation that is a hallmark of Disney’s Animal Kingdom and its longtime relationship with Conservation International. Established in 1995 with the opening of Animal Kingdom, Disney’s Wildlife Conservation Fund sponsors global programs for the study and protection of the world's wildlife and ecosystems, including a number of significant projects led by Conservation International. The Fund has awarded more than $8 million to non-profit conservation projects in global areas rich in plant and animal life at risk of imminent destruction.

Expedition Everest: Mission Himalayas is planned for August through October, 2005 in regions of China and the eastern Himalayas that harbor a wealth of biological, cultural and spiritual treasures. Findings and results of the expedition—including any new species discoveries—will be shared with the scientific and conservation community as well as be incorporated into Expedition Everest.

Expedition Everest, the attraction, is a high-speed adventure that combines coaster-like thrills with the folklore of the yeti. Guests will depart from a Tibetan village on a train journey into the snowy heights of the vast Himalayan peak. Yet a run-in with the yeti—the guardian of the mountain—will send travelers on a forward and backward hair-raising escape. At nearly 200 feet high, Expedition Everest will open in 2006 in the Asia section of Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

Mickey Mouse ready to share screen with Himalayan Yeti

Wednesday, May 18 2005 - 17:02 IST -IANS

KATHMANDU: When Mickey Mouse meets the Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas, you can expect entertainment to scale new heights. And that's exactly what Disney is about to offer.

For a run-in with the half-mystical, half-mythical Yeti, whose pull on human imagination is almost as great as the Mt Everest, the curious need not toil up the Himalayas any longer.

Next year, the shaggy, bear-like creature that Everest hero Sir Edmund Hillary wanted to meet and Reinhold Messner claimed to have photographed can be found in a far more accessible and hospitable place than the freezing mountain slopes - in entertainment giant Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

Two years ago, the park authorities had planned to add a new attraction, 'Expedition Everest', which would open in the Asia section in 2006.

The "high-speed adventure" promises to combine coaster-like thrills with the folklore of the Yeti as a train journey takes guests from a Tibetan village into the snowy heights of the majestic Mt Everest.

The surprise, announced by Disney this month, is that to tell the Himalayan story with authenticity, it is going to great heights.

In August, along with Conservation International and Discovery Networks, Disney is sending a team on Mission Himalayas, a journey to China and the eastern Himalayas to look for new species and old legends!

"This extraordinary expedition, in collaboration with Conservation International and Discovery Networks, is another example of the lengths to which Walt Disney Imagineering will go to research subject matter in developing our story lines, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts president Jay Rasulo said in a press statement.

Even if there is no Yeti, in the final count, scientists think the Himalayan region, one of the richest bio-diversity areas in the world and yet one of the least unexplored, will yield a wealth of new plants and animals perhaps yet not known to science.

In addition to physical specimens, Disney will also investigate the "powerful legend of the yeti".

"We are going to incredible lengths to tell this story to our guests," Imagineering creative executive Joe Rohde added.

"The creators of Disney parks will research cultural and spiritual legends through local people who have reported sightings of the yeti, and governments who preserve pristine lands in the name of the creature known as 'protector of the mountains'."

Discovery channel said it was looking forward to the collaboration.

"The unusual exploration for new species and ancient legends is the kind of story that both Disney and Discovery can create and tell so well," said Clark Bunting, executive vice president, Discovery US Networks Group.

"We look forward to collaborating with Conservation International and Walt Disney Imagineering to inspire, educate and entertain millions around the world about all things Everest."

the shaggy, bear-like creature

I heard this was the leader of the expedition team!

Interesting. I wonder who their expedition team consists of. Hopefully it's better than A Current Affair's Manitoba team....

Actually, for all the smart alecks out there who condemn before investigating, here's who is the overall investigative leader from Conservation International.  This effort has been in the planning stages for over 18 months before the news release.  It's a serious effort.


Russell A. Mittermeier

Russell A. Mittermeier is President of Conservation International. Prior to this, he served as Vice-President for Science at World Wildlife Fund (1987-89) and as Director of that organization's programs for Brazil and the Guianas (1985-89), Madagascar (1985-89), Species Conservation (1986-89) and Primates (1979-89). He has served as Chairman of the Primate Specialist Group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Species Survival Commission (IUCN/SSC) since 1977, as SSC's Vice-Chairman for International Programs since 1985, and as Chairman of the World Bank's Task Force on Biological Diversity in 1988 and 1989. He is also a member of the Board of Wildlife Preservation Trust International and the Belize Zoo, a Research Associate at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University, and an Adjunct Associate Professor at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Dr. Mittermeier's publications include eight books and over 225 papers and popular articles on primates, reptiles, tropical forests and biodiversity; he is responsible for publishing the journal Primate Conservation and for Conservation International's Tropical Field Guide Series.

He is a recipient of the San Diego Zoo's Gold Medal (1988), the Order of the Golden Ark from His Royal Highness Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands (1995), the Grand National Order of the Southern Cross from the Government of Brazil (1997), and most recently, the Grand Sash and Order of the Yellow Star from the Government of the Republic of Suriname (1998).

He has conducted field work on three continents and more than 20 countries in the tropics, and his most recent field work has been on primates, protected areas and other conservation issues in the Atlantic forest region of eastern Brazil, in Suriname and on the island of Madagascar.

Dr. Mittermeier received his B.A. (summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) from Dartmouth in 1971 and his Ph.D. from Harvard in Biological Anthropology in 1977.

Traveling halfway accross the world for a discovery when there is one waiting right in their own backyard, so-to-speak.

So the crew for A Current Affair isn't good enough because they have NO credentials and the crew from Disney isn't good enough because they have TOO MANY credentials?
This place never ceases to amaze me.