Midway to Main Street | Why is a fish on Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel? @MidwaytoMainStreet | Uploaded January 2018 | Updated October 2024, 23 hours ago.
The Swan and Dolphin hotels at Walt Disney World are unique in a number of ways. They’re iconic for their design. Both resorts are adorned with massive statues of their namesake. The swan with its two majestic swans, and the dolphin with… fish? Why are there giant fish statues on the Dolphin hotel?
Disney War by James B Stewart
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Well the answer is there aren’t. Those are actually dolphins, just not the kind we’re used to seeing.
When the Swan and Dolphin were designed by architect Michael Graves in the late 1980s, the statues for the two dolphins were inspired by the same design used by famous Italian sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini. His depictions of dolphins, most noticeable in the 1642 Triton fountain in Rome, similarly looked like fish. They were just scarier than what we have in Disney World today.
In fact, this inspiration is why you can find similar styled dolphins somewhere else in Walt Disney World: Epcot. The door handles in Epcot’s Italian pavilion sport a similar design, and the pavilion’s statue of Neptune also features two pretty mean looking dolphins. This was common as the dolphin was often associated with Neptune, who was the Roman god of the sea.
The dolphins were often shown with an exaggerated arched back, meant to represent the dolphin mid jump. As for why they look so different from actual dolphins? Well while there’s no clear cut answer on that, the general belief is that the lack of easy access to dolphins meant that artists were often forced to depict them based on word of mouth descriptions. After all, they couldn’t just check Google image search or run to the zoo. I also believe there’s an argument to be made that the inaccuracies were embraced for their thematic purpose. I mean, which of these says “ocean conquest” more? The horrifying sea monster or the Lisa Frank dolphin?
So there you have it. The fish on top of the Dolphin hotel are actually dolphins. They’re just meant to look like dolphins a sculptor made nearly 400 years ago, and those were meant to look like dolphins as they were depicted as far back as ancient Rome.
It’s just another reason on the list of reasons why the Swan and Dolphin are unique hotels at Walt Disney World.
The Swan and Dolphin hotels at Walt Disney World are unique in a number of ways. They’re iconic for their design. Both resorts are adorned with massive statues of their namesake. The swan with its two majestic swans, and the dolphin with… fish? Why are there giant fish statues on the Dolphin hotel?
Disney War by James B Stewart
📚amzn.to/2Gz9A7E
New here? Be sure to subscribe!
🔷goo.gl/x17zTL
My Patreon!
❤patreon.com/RobPlays
My Disney Podcast!
🎧ttapodcast.com
Follow me on Twitter!
📱Twitter.com/RobPlays
Well the answer is there aren’t. Those are actually dolphins, just not the kind we’re used to seeing.
When the Swan and Dolphin were designed by architect Michael Graves in the late 1980s, the statues for the two dolphins were inspired by the same design used by famous Italian sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini. His depictions of dolphins, most noticeable in the 1642 Triton fountain in Rome, similarly looked like fish. They were just scarier than what we have in Disney World today.
In fact, this inspiration is why you can find similar styled dolphins somewhere else in Walt Disney World: Epcot. The door handles in Epcot’s Italian pavilion sport a similar design, and the pavilion’s statue of Neptune also features two pretty mean looking dolphins. This was common as the dolphin was often associated with Neptune, who was the Roman god of the sea.
The dolphins were often shown with an exaggerated arched back, meant to represent the dolphin mid jump. As for why they look so different from actual dolphins? Well while there’s no clear cut answer on that, the general belief is that the lack of easy access to dolphins meant that artists were often forced to depict them based on word of mouth descriptions. After all, they couldn’t just check Google image search or run to the zoo. I also believe there’s an argument to be made that the inaccuracies were embraced for their thematic purpose. I mean, which of these says “ocean conquest” more? The horrifying sea monster or the Lisa Frank dolphin?
So there you have it. The fish on top of the Dolphin hotel are actually dolphins. They’re just meant to look like dolphins a sculptor made nearly 400 years ago, and those were meant to look like dolphins as they were depicted as far back as ancient Rome.
It’s just another reason on the list of reasons why the Swan and Dolphin are unique hotels at Walt Disney World.
