Amma Marfo joins us again to discuss some commercials related to Flight of the Navigator.
Amma is a self-described “capital D, capital A, Disney Adult” so obviously we had to talk about Disney World. But first we talked about a roadside attraction Amma used to pass in between where her parents used to live and Orlando: Dinosaur World.
Image Description: Amma being eaten by a T-Rex at Dinosaur World. Oh nooooooo!
We watched a three minute … influencer video… we think??? This showed us what there was to do in Dinosaur World. Amma’s experience was different in that she and her friends kidnapped one of her friends, blindfolded him, drove him to Dinosaur World, where they played the Jurassic Park theme on an iPod, just out loud. Also they were wearing T-rex visors.
Image Description: Amma and friends in special costume visors on their friend-napping adventure to Dinosaur World.
If this single anecdote doesn’t make you want to be BFFs with Amma, we have no idea what will.
Of course since this was a Magical World of Disney movie, we had to watch the Michael Eisner intro. We also talked about the last time we watched one of these, which was when we watched The Richest Cat in the World, which was our very first for paid subscribers only episode.
Because this movie was a Disney movie about alien encounters, it was only natural that we also watch some things about a Disney World that attraction that scared younger Amma: ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter.
The first thing we found was actually a clip from a Disney Channel show called Walt Disney World Inside Out (but we didn’t realize that at all during the day of the recording and we were mystified by it). We wondered a lot about this mysterious “Scott” doing Serious Theme Park Journalism. Well, we found him, and it turns out now he’s a documentary filmmaker and Bigfoot enthusiast whose trail name is Squatch. And this right here is why we do research. Because you just never know how odd a thing is going to be! Were you interviewed by Scott at Disney World in the mid-nineties? Let us know!
Eventually we did find the official trailer for the attraction, which was very short and terrified a younger Amma.
This attraction was later changed to a Lilo and Stitch theme and renamed Stitch’s Great Escape. Now it is on a “seasonal schedule” which means it is basically permanently closed.
We had a little discussion about Stitch and the case for nature vs. nurture, and Julia brought up Alien Resurrection as an instance of nurture winning over nature because of a xenomorph not killing Sigourney Weaver because it imprinted on her as its mother. This is not exactly what happened in that movie, but Julia’s example really was from Alien Resurrection and not Alien 3 as Geoffrey wondered. … Not that Alien Resurrection is really a proponent of nurture over nature, though. That’s pretty much all Lilo and Stitch’s domain.
Geoffrey also brought up the documentary currently in production: Life After the Navigator. This is not out yet, but we will 100% be watching it when it is!
However, a thing that IS out right now is the music video for “Flight of the Navigator”, a song by Childish Gambino.
Okay, so that was pretty depressing. We decided to end the commercial break by picking up the mood with a commercial Amma quotes every time she knows she’s going on another Disney World vacation.
And then Amma told us about how Barack Obama is a fan of the strawberry milkshakes the Parkesdale Market near Dinosaur World. So that’s something we should all try sometime.
For more Amma awesomeness, you can check out her website, and follow @ammamarfo on Twitter and Instagram!
If you’re having fun listening to us, please tell your friends about us! Subscribe to our newsletter at thisiswhywerelikethis.substack.com for free, or pay $5/month to get access to two bonus paid episodes each month! We’re also on Patreon if that’s your jam! Rate and review us! follow us on Twitter where we’re @thisiswhy_pod! And, of course, you can always drop us a note at at thisiswhywerelikethis@gmail.com.
After These Messages: Florida with Amma Marfo