The issue of Intellectual Property, or IP in the parks is, In the immortal words of Bill Nye The Science Guy, a hot topic with lots of questions. More often than not, if the subject is raised, it’s used critically with a hatred usually reserved for the words “screens” or “upcharge Event”.

On a theoretical level, IP in Themed Entertainment refers to basing a ride on an existing property, rather than creating a story from scratch. While people may associate classic Disneyland with attractions like Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion and Adventures Thru Inner Space, the idea of basing rides on existing properties is as old as Disneyland itself; from the obvious Fantasyland dark rides based on animated classics, to Adventureland itself (originally True-Life Adventureland to tie into the iconic Disney documentary series).

In its early years, Tomorrowland lacked any IP attractions (or attractions in general!), which was part of the reason Walt commissioned “Man and the Moon” a 1955 episode of the Disneyland TV show, exploring man’s fascination with the moon. It culminated in a sci-fi dramatization of what a moon landing would look like – inspiring a whole generation to start looking skyward and making space exploration a tangible goal.

The issue becomes more controversial when a non-Disney IP is being brought into the park. This happened for the first time in the late eighties when Imagineers realised that with a string of flops, Disneyland was in danger of becoming irrelevant and losing the interest of children and young adults. After seeing the massive popularity of Star Wars, a deal was stuck with George Lucas to combine his beloved sci-fi world with state-of-the-art simulator technology. The announcement sparked outrage among park fans that a non-Disney property would breach Disneyland’s hallowed berm, but the quality and success of the new ride soon won naysayers over.

The Star Wars IP was critical in not only the popularity and experience of the ride, but also its longevity – it didn’t take long for competitors to acquire simulators, but without the name recognition and emotional connection brought by Star Wars, the imitators faded quickly away.

Later, when the idea of turning the frenetic excitement of the Indiana Jones series into an attraction emerged, Imagineers were challenged with the question of, “can’t we just do our own version and not pay all that money to license the name?”. Tony Baxter succinctly demonstrated how powerful the IP was by mocking up a poster for the “Kentucky Buck Adventure”: even if the attraction was exactly the same, without the emotion and associations guests have for those films and their whip-wielding hero, an imitation would just fall flat.