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. Its story is the awe-inspiring tale of all the 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 mighty lion to the playful dolphin. A total of 103,000 leaves of many colors and four shapes and sizes were attached by hand to more than 8,000 branches. 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.
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 becomes 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.
As you meander along a pathway through the extensive maze of roots, you will find the entrance of the 3-D film, "It’s Tough to be a Bug!" . In the 430-seat theater, you will be presented to a humorous special effects experience introduces some of our planet’s lesser-known wild creatures, insects, from the bug’s point of view.
While following the pathway that leads to the show, you can view The Tree of Life from every angle. A waterfall rushing from the tree into one of the feeding pools, a dinosaur sculpting formed by the "dead" wood around the tree’s base and sculptings that include an armadillo, an elephant, a camel, a baboon and hundreds of others. A total of 325 animal figures that were created by more than 20 artists from all over the world. Construction of the tree took over 18 months to complete and included a crew of thousands.
