Pizza-Arty

The over-the-top, equatorial-inspired animal art of Discovery Island kicks into high gear within the walls of another eating establishment, Pizzafari. Here, the main room and four dining rooms are adorned with 34 dramatic murals of animal life, all hand-painted by Disney veteran Frank Armitage and his daughter Nicole.

Frank started with Disney in the 1950s, working in backgrounds and layout for films from Peter Pan to The Jungle Book. He joined Walt Disney Imagineering in 1977 and has contributed to Disney Parks around the world, even after his official retirement in 1989.

The spectacular murals in the main room at Pizzafari weave a tapestry of colorful butterflies, birds and fish that lends a dynamic energy to the space:

The murals in each of the dining rooms of the restaurant present groupings of animals which follow a central theme. For example, the first room is populated by animals that live much of their lives upside down: opossums, bats, diving ducks, ostriches (with heads buried in the sand).

Next is the nocturnal room. Here, you'll discover animals that spend the majority of their waking hours in the darkness of night:

Across the hall is a brighter room, with walls decorated in an homage to animals that carry their "homes" with them: a kangaroo's joey, turtles, snails, armadillos, hermit crabs.

Finally, the largest dining room in the back of Pizzafari presents the most intriguing murals of all. This room is dedicated to camouflage. Here, you'll find animals that blend in to their surroundings, whether they're trying to hunt or hide from those who might hunt them.

The more time you spend in this room, the more animals you'll see. Some are obvious, like the fox flushing out birds from a bush in the image below. But look closer at that same mural. In the grass near where the fox is perched are two more birds (of a different species), standing completely still and blending in perfectly. How many animals can you find in the rest of these?