The Tree of Life, a 145-foot tall, 50-foot wide sculpted tree, is located on Discovery Island in Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park. The tree famously features 325 animals engraved on its trunk, limbs, and sprawling roots.
Structural components of the tree include a refitted oil rig platform for its core, an expansion joint for flexibility and hurricane resistance, painted rockwork for the animal carvings, and over 100,000 leaves of various colors and shapes made of Kynar® (a polymer similar to Teflon). Completed in 1998, construction took 18 months with contributions from over 1,000 people.
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Disney's Press Release
Tree of Life Tells Stories in Sculpture at
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — It is a tree like no other, rising 14
graceful stories into the sky, its leafy canopy spreading 160 feet
across the landscape. Its upraised branches beckon: Come take a
closer look.
It is impossible to resist a closer look at The Tree of Life,
which stands 145 feet tall at the heart of Discovery Island in
Disney’s Animal Kingdom, the newest theme park at Walt Disney World
Resort. True, the lofty icon is made by humans. But its story is
the awe-inspiring tale of all of Earth’s animals and the
interconnected nature of every living thing.
Carved into the tree’s gnarled roots, mighty trunk and sturdy
branches is a rich tapestry of more than 300 animals — from the
regal lion to the playful dolphin. Its leaves — of many colors
and four shapes and sizes, all attached by hand to more than 8,000
of the tree’s end branches — number more than 103,000. Its trunk
is 50 feet wide and spreads to 170 feet in diameter at its
sprawling root base. Building the tree’s support structure required
an engineering plan similar to those used in building offshore oil
rigs.
And because it wouldn’t be a tree without being able to sway in
the wind, a giant expansion joint encircles the tree at each branch
unit.
“The Tree of Life is a technological marvel, but it’s also a
symbol of the beauty and diversity and the grandeur of our animal
life on Earth,” says Joe Rohde, Walt Disney Imagineering vice
president and executive designer for the park. “It’s a celebration
of our emotions about animals and their habitats.”
Disney’s Animal Kingdom guests first encounter The Tree of Life
after they stroll through The Oasis, a lush garden setting alive
with streams, flowering glades, waterfalls and animals that include
iguanas, sloths, macaws and other fascinating creatures. As they
continue past the animals and walk through a series of grottoes,
guests are treated to their first incredible view of The Tree of
Life.
“We want you to look up at it, to regard it with awe and wonder and to translate those feelings to the real animal world,” Rohde
says.
Where The Tree of Life’s giant roots twist over and into the
earth, they meld with a quiet landscape of pools, meadows and trees
that serves as the natural habitat for flamingoes, otters, lemurs,
axis deer, cranes, storks, tortoises and even red kangaroo. Guests
can watch from several viewing locations without disturbing the
animals as they go about their lives. Invisible barriers exist
between animals and guests which appear to be part of the natural
terrain.
After guests meander along a pathway through the extensive maze
of roots, they discover entry inside the massive trunk to a
430-seat theater. A humorous special-effects experience introduces
them to the world of some of our planet’s lesser-known wild
creatures — insects — from the bug’s point of view. “It’s Tough
to be a Bug!” spins an amusing yarn using 3-D film,
Audio-Animatronics