One of the most exciting and surprising announcements made at the D23 Ultimate Fan Event in August was the confirmation that Monstropolis (at least most of it, but we’ll get to that) is going to open next year, including the highly anticipated Harryhausen’s Restaurant.
©Disney
Based on the restaurant seen in the original 2001 Pixar film, Harryhausen’s — named after legendary Hollywood special effects pioneer Ray Harryhausen, whose creature designs inspired Monsters, Inc.’s design team — is a sushi restaurant in Monstropolis. Its head chef is a six-armed octopus. Why six instead of eight? Because the character is a reference to the 1955 film It Came from Beneath the Sea, which features a similar six-armed creature created by — guess who? — Ray Harryhausen.
The restaurant is going to be recreated in full in Monstropolis, and a deep-dive look at the concept art seems to reveal some hints at what we can expect from the eatery. Let’s begin with the food, which Disney has implied will be an upscale sushi-centric menu that will “add a unique new element to the park’s dining offerings.” When looking at the art, we can see what looks like authentic Japanese dishes that certainly look to be far from “typical” theme park fare.
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That food will be “prepared” by a FULL-SIZE Animatronic rendition of the aforementioned six-armed sushi chef octopus.
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Beyond the Animatronic, the restaurant’s decor will seemingly include authentic Japanese decorative elements.
©Disney
Harryhausen’s will likely need to live up to the hype when Monstropolis opens, as the land’s highly anticipated headlining door coaster won’t be debuting along with it. Disney confirmed that the long-awaited coaster — which will take guests inside the Monsters, Inc. factory to ride through the film’s climactic door chase and see them lifted 40 feet into the air in four seconds. — won’t be ready in time for the land’s debut, similar to Rise of the Resistance opening after the debut of Galaxy’s Edge.
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While it’s not clear when the coaster will debut, the version of Monstropolis that opens in 2027 will feature Harryhausen’s, as well as The Glob Theater and its “Welcome to Monstropolis” show, a presentation hosted by Mike and Sulley which will “introduce humans to Monstropolis.” Archie’s Scare Pig Pizza quick-service eatery, the Monsters University Alumni Club, and the Scareporium store will also open with the land.
Welcome to Monstropolis Concept Art ©Disney
The land’s larger theme will be built around “H.U.M.A.N. Day.” Short for “Humans Understand Monsters Are Nice,” Disney explains that through this event, which is “designed to introduce humans to life inside Monstropolis while helping monsters discover that humans are not so frightening after all,” humans are invited to “explore the city, meet its citizens, taste unique cuisine, and step into the everyday world of monsters in a totally new way.”
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Monstropolis — including Harryhausen’s — is currently scheduled to open in 2027. Stay tuned to DFB for more information on this project!
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