Big Thunder Mountain Railroad coming to TV

ABC is planning to develop a television series based on The Big Thunder Mountain Railroad roller coaster attraction at Disney theme parks, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Chris Morgan of the “Fast & Furious” fame will be the executive producer and Jason Fuchs, who penned “Ice Age: Continental Drift,” will write, the website reported.

What the show will be about could be interesting.

The backstory is slightly different in each park the ride exists (Disneyland, the Magic Kingdom, Disneyland Paris and Tokyo Disneyland) but goes something like this: In the late 1800s gold was discovered on Big Thunder Mountain in American southwest. The mining towns of Big Thunder(at Disneyland), Tumbleweed (at the Magic Kingdom), or Thunder Mesa (at Disneyland Paris) became prosperous. Unknown to the settlers, the Mountain, which was considered a sacred location by Native Americans, was cursed.

The mining caused a great tragedy, an earthquake in the Disneyland and Disneyland Paris versions, a tsunami in Tokyo Disneyland and a flash flood in the Magic Kingdom. Some time later, the possessed trains were found racing around the mountain on their own.

In the old days, the movies or TV series came first and then the rides. Now Disney is trying it the other way with limited success. While the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise has been great, there was Eddie Murphy’s “The Haunted Mansion” and “The Country Bears.”