Tree of Life

The Tree of Life is a 145-foot (44 m) artificial tree that has served as the icon of Disney's Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort since the park first opened on April 22, 1998.
Inspired by Rafiki's Ancient Tree, the Tree of Life features approximately 325 carvings of existing and extinct animal species carved on its trunk and surrounding roots.
Engineered from a refitted oil platform and based on the natural forms of baobab trees, the Tree of Life is located on Discovery Island, roughly in the center of the park. Its leaves are made out of kynar. At the structure's interior base is a 400-seat arena that hosts It's Tough to Be a Bug!, a 3-D film attraction based on A Bug's Life.
==Backstory==
When the park opened, the Imagineers wrote this fairy tale to explain the tree's origins:
One day, our vegetation would grow on Discovery Island. There were trees, shrubs, flowers, and birds. It was a barren piece of land. Then, one day, a tiny ant planted a seed and made a wish. He asked for a tree to grow ― a tree large enough to provide shelter for all the animals.
Magically, the ant's wish came true and a tree began to grow ― and it kept growing until there was room beneath its limbs for all the animal alphabet from A is for (ant) to Z is for (zebra). And as the tree continued to reach for the heavens, the images of all the animal alphabet that took shelter beneath its shade appeared on its trunk, roots, and branches.
This original ant can be spotted through a knothole hidden along the paths around the tree.
==Tree of Life Awakens==
The Tree of Life Awakens is a series of projection mapping shows that debuted on May 27, 2016, as part of the park's new nighttime operating hours. A media preview of the show was presented on April 19, 2016. Four presentations are featured throughout the evening, which has been named on a soundtrack release:
*Journey: A playful deer and a watchful hawk.
*Rendezvous: A hummingbird and flowers.
*Gift Giver: A red fox in a winter setting.
*Jungle Jam: A bald eagle and a colorful peacock in a combined forest, desert, and river setting.
*Disney Medley: Animal imagery inspired by Pocahontas, Bambi, Brother Bear, Dinosaur, Tarzan, Finding Nemo, Finding Dory, Avatar, The Jungle Book, and The Lion King.
In addition to the four shows, the tree's animals will also occasionally combine.
In 2019 to promote the photo-realistic remake of The Lion King, a new Lion King show was added to the lineup. This was followed by a series of holiday segments and a special New Year's Eve countdown presentation hosted by the shamans from the original version of Rivers of Light.
==List of Animals carved into the Tree of Life==
* 5 African Elephants
* Alligator
* Allosaurus
* Ankylosaurus
* 2 Ants
* Asian Elephant
* Bighorn sheep
* 2 Bison
* Seahorse
* Tiger
* Lion
* Leopard
* 2 Hippopotamuses
* 2 Giraffes
* 2 White Rhinoceroses
* Indian Rhinoceros
* 2 Deer (1 male, 1 female)
* Moose
* Komodo dragon
* 2 Giant anteaters (1 adult, 1 baby)
* Sloth
* 3 Kangaroos (1 adult male, 1 adult female, 1 joey)
* Koala
* Baboon
* Raccoon
* 2 Squirrels
* Flying Squirrel
* Porcupine
* 2 Rabbits
* Fox
* Prairie dog
* 2 Bats
* Chameleon
* 2 Crocodiles
* 2 Sea otters
* Hermit crab
* Macaw
* 7 Yaks
* Cockatoo
* Beetles
* Ladybugs
* 4 Stag Beetles
* 3 Butterflies
* Moths
* Bees
* Wasps
* Dragonfly
* 2 Grasshoppers
* Spider
* Tarantula
* 3 Scorpions
* Centipede/Millipede
* Laughing Kookaburra
* Great Horned Owl
* Killer Whale
* Walrus
* 2 Manatees
* Goldfish
* Sharks
* Hammerhead Shark
* Marlin
* Gulper Eel
* Jellyfish
* Turtles
* Box turtle
* Snapping turtle
* Tortoises
* 2 Iguanas
* Frilled Lizard
* Gecko
* Gila Monster
* Rattlesnake
* Python
* 3 Frogs
* Greater Roadrunner
* Songbird
* Egret
* Heron
* Great Blue Heron
* Hammerkop
* 3 Salmon
* 2 Bass
* Catfish
* 2 Chimpanzees (including Greybeard)
* Gibbon
* Spider Monkey
* Hedgehog
* Pangolin
* 2 Cougars
* Wildcat/Bobcat/Lynx
* 3 Pelicans (2 adults, 1 chick)
* Vultures
* Hawks
* 2 Golden Eagles
* Bald Eagle
* Peacock
* Ostrich
* 2 Horses
* Tapir
* 5 Wildebeests
* 2 Sable Antelope
* 2 Impalas
* 2 Crabs
* Lobster
* Shrimp
* 3 Octopuses
* Squid
* Prehistoric Squid
* Trilobite
* Duck
* Goat
* 10 Zebras
==Trivia==
*The Tree of Life is topped with more than 103,000 translucent, five-shades-of-green leaves that were individually placed and actually blow in the wind.
*The carving of David Greybeard, the famous chimp studied by Jane Goodall, was added late in construction by her request, as she had asked if a Chimpanzee was featured on the Tree. Placed at the entrance to the It's Tough to Be a Bug! theater, a plaque accompanying the sculpture tells the chimp's story.
*A show was originally meant to be hosted up in the tree's canopy, before being replaced with It's Tough to Be a Bug underneath its roots.
*As both trees were designed as massive baobabs, the Tree of Life name was adopted for use as a name of Rafiki's Ancient Tree in some of the menus for the 2003 Platinum DVD release of The Lion King.
**Another Tree of Life is featured in the 3rd season of The Lion Guard. In this series, animals from all over the world come there for protection, and sick and injured ones go there to be healed. After Kion was badly scarred by Ushari and Ono damages his eyes while saving Bunga from falling into the volcano in "Battle for the Pride Lands", the Lion Guard's mission was to journey there and help heal them. Kion and Rani would become king and queen of this Tree of Life.
*There is a Hidden Mickey on this tree.
*Though guests know the story of the ant who made a wish for a tree to grow to provide shelter for all animals, they speculated if it was Flik from A Bug's Life since they thought it takes place within both Pixar and Disney, or a regular common ant.
==Gallery==
Roy Disney in front of Tree of Life.jpg|Roy E. Disney standing in front of the Tree of Life in March 2003.
jgd391201LARGE.jpg|Primatologist Jane Goodall with the carving of David Greybeard
Ak.jpg|The Tree of Life in Disney Animal Kingdom Explorers
Animal Kingdom's Tree of Life (3D).jpeg|A Tree of Life fridge magnet.
WDW - Four Parks One World (Tree of Life).jpeg|Another Tree of Life fridge magnet.
Disney's Animal Kingdom Tree of Life Mug.jpg|A Tree of Life souvenir mug.
Tree of Life Lake.jpg|The lake surrounding the tree.
Ba-tree of life.png|The tree as it appears in Disney Magic Kingdoms
Tree of Life (DAK).jpg
Tree-of-Life-Blue-Skies-990x556.jpg
Tree of Life 50th Anniversary.jpg|2021 Concept Art for a new look of Tree of Life's Beacon of Magic at the World's Most Magical Celebration in Walt Disney World's 50th Anniversary celebration.
===Animals carved on the Tree of Life===
ToL Ankylosaurus.jpg|Ankylosaurus and Pelican
ToL Ant.jpg|Ant
ToL Beetles.jpg|Beetles
ToL Crocodile.jpg|Crocodile
ToL Elephant.jpg|Asian Elephant
ToL Owl.jpg|Great Horned Owl
ToL Manatee.jpg|Manatees
ToL Roadrunner.jpg|Roadrunner
ToL Shark.jpg|Shark
IMG 2305.JPG|Tortoise
IMG 2310.JPG|Rhino and Eagle
ToL Theropod.jpg|Allosaurus
ToL Hedgehog.jpg|Hedgehog
ToL Seahorse.jpg|Seahorse
ToL Pelicans.jpg|Pelicans
ToL Fish.jpg|Salmon
ToL Ladybug.jpg|Ladybug
David-greybeard-chimpanzee.JPG|David Greybeard the Chimpanzee
TOL Frilled Lizard.jpg|Frilled Lizard
TOL Kangaroo.jpg|Kangaroo
TOL Beetles.jpg|Fighting Beetles
TOL Butterfly.jpg|Butterfly
TOL Rattlesnake.jpg|Rattlesnake
TOL Bass.jpg|Bass
TOL Horse.jpg|Horse
TOL Grasshopper.jpg|Grasshopper
TOL Elephant.jpeg|African Elephant
==References==
Category:Disney's Animal Kingdom
Category:Disney's Animal Kingdom attractions
Category:Disney's Animal Kingdom entertainment
Category:Park Icons
Category:A Bug's Life
Category:Pocahontas
Category:Bambi
Category:Dinosaur
Category:Tarzan
Category:Finding Nemo
Category:The Jungle Book
Category:The Lion King
Category:Discovery Island
Category:Disney Magic Kingdoms
Category:Theme park locations