The Greatest Movie Ride

Originally starting as the main focus of the planned Movie Pavilion in Epcot Center in the 1980s, that was later expanded to the park, Great Movie Ride, which was to be called "Great Moments at the Movies." 

Opening with Disney-MGM Studios on May 1, 1989, the ride takes guests on a journey into the movies, and makes them apart of the movies.

The queue line winds through a recreation of the Chinese Theatre lobby past glass display cases containing actual costumes, props, and set pieces from various films. The queue then takes guests into a small pre-show theatre where guests view a series of condensed movie trailers for the various films that are featured on the ride. The queue line ends at a pair of automatic doors at the front of the theatre that lead into a 1930s era Hollywood soundstage where guests are loaded onto waiting ride vehicles.

As guests reach the end of the queue, they enter a 1930s-era Hollywood soundstage where they are loaded by cast members into one of two sets of open, theatre-style seating ride vehicles. The vehicles utilize a "traveling theatre"-style ride system similar to the Universe of Energy attraction at Epcot. However, here the ride vehicles are much smaller in size, are grouped together in pairs of two, and feature an open cab in the first row of the front vehicle for a live tour guide to stand, provide narration, and operate the ride vehicle. When the attraction is operating during the peak season, both sets of ride vehicles are used. Otherwise, only the second set of ride vehicles is used.

The movie set within the soundstage features a large neon theatre marquee and a cyclorama of the 1930s-era Hollywood Hills complete with the original Hollywoodland Sign. As the ride begins, the tour guide on the ride vehicle welcomes guests and informs them that they will be taking them through scenes from different classic movies throughout history.

 

The first genre of movies introduced are musicals, which begins with a pyramid of audio-animatronic starlets in a scene from Busby Berkeley’s Footlight Parade. The next musical scenes include audio-animatronics of Gene Kelly singing from a lamp post from the film Singin' In The Rain, followed by Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke singing on the rooftops of London in Mary Poppins.

    

The next scene is a tribute to gangster movies. The ride vehicle passes through the dark and seedy backstreets of 1930s Chicago and past an audio-animatronic James Cagney in a scene from The Public Enemy. During peak season, the first set of ride vehicles continues on to the next scene while the second set is stopped by a red light above a tunnel entrance. The tour guide stops the ride vehicle and waits for a green light. While stopped, a live gangster named Mugsy (male) or Mugsi (female) and their audio-animatronic sidekicks Squid and Beans show up and get involved in a shoot-out with rival mobsters in a car on the opposite side of the street where the ride vehicle is stopped. Although Squid and Beans are shot, the live gangster chases away the tour guide and hijacks the ride vehicle. When the gangster notices the red light, they shoot it out and make their getaway aboard the ride vehicle.

 

Next is a tribute to the Western genre. Here, guests encounter audio-animatronics of Clint Eastwood standing near a saloon and John Wayne sitting atop his horse. If the ride vehicle is already being driven by the gangster, it continues past a shoot-out between the town sheriff and an audio-animatronic bank robber named Snake. During peak season, the first set of ride vehicles stops here while the robbery is in progress and a live bank robber named Kate Durango (female) or Kid Carson (male) appears from inside the bank. After getting into a shoot-out with the town sheriff and chasing the tour guide away, the bandit blows up the town bank with dynamite and hijacks the ride vehicle. Following this scene, the remainder of the attraction is the same for both sets of ride vehicles.

As the ride vehicle continues into a spaceship, a narrator's voice states that this is the Nostromo, the ship from the movie Alien. The narrator then tells guests of the alien lurking within the ship waiting to claim its next victim. Hearing this, the hijacker becomes nervous and speeds the ride vehicle through the ship. But not before the Alien appears and attacks the guests, popping out from both the ceiling and the wall. Before exiting the spaceship, the ride vehicle passes a scene of an audio-animatronic Ripley holding a flamethrower as she prepares to confront the alien.

The ride vehicle next enters a scene set in an ancient Egyptian temple filled with snakes. The narrator informs guests that they are in a scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark as audio-animatronic figures of Indiana Jones and Sallah struggle to lift the Ark of the Covenant. A second room within the temple features a large altar in the form of the ancient Egyptian god Anubis. Near the top of the altar, a large jewel is being watched over by a cloaked temple guard. The hijacker sees the jewel, stops the ride vehicle, and disembarks to retrieve it. Before touching the jewel, the temple guard gives a warning that those who disturb the jewel must pay with their life. Ignoring the warning, the hijacker reaches to grab the jewel. Suddenly, a plume of smoke shoots from the ground. When it disperses, the hijacker is now nothing more than a skeleton (still reaching for the jewel) and the temple guard is revealed to be the original live tour guide who reboards the vehicle and continues the ride.

 

The next film genre introduced is the horror movie as the ride vehicle travels through an ancient burial chamber full of mummies who have come to life. The ride vehicle soon leaves the tomb and enters a jungle, which is home to Tarzan the Ape Man. Here, audio-animatronic figures of Tarzan swinging on a vine, Jane sitting atop an elephant, and Cheeta the chimpanzee can be seen. The ride vehicle then moves past the classic final scene from Casablanca featuring audio-animatronics of Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman as they stand in front of a waiting airplane. Next, the ride vehicle passes a film projection of Mickey Mouse in his role as The Sorcerer's Apprentice from the classic Disney animated film Fantasia.

 

 

The ride vehicle then enters into the Munchkinland scene from The Wizard of Oz, where Dorothy's house has landed on top of the Wicked Witch of the East. During peak season, both sets of ride vehicles meet up here and come to a stop in the middle of the scene. Audio-animatronic Munchkins begin to appear from various places and sing as they welcome guests to their home. However, a plume of smoke suddenly rises from the ground as an audio-animatronic Wicked Witch of the West appears and asks who is responsible for killing the Wicked Witch of the East. The tour guide aboard the first set of ride vehicles answers her before she finally disappears in another puff of smoke. The Munchkins finally reappear from their hiding places and begin to sing again as both sets of ride vehicles follow the Yellow Brick Road out of Munchkinland past audio-animatronic figures of Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man, Cowardly Lion and Toto standing in front of the Emerald City, and onto the ride's Grand Finale.

  

For the Grand Finale, both sets of ride vehicles enter a large, dark theatre where they line up side-by-side and come to a stop in front of a large movie screen. There, a fast-paced three minute film montage of classic movie moments is shown. At the conclusion of the film, both sets of ride vehicles exit the theatre, line up single-file again and return to the 1930s soundstage where the ride concludes and guests disembark the vehicles and exit the attraction.

Unlike many Disney dark rides that feature separate embarkation and debarkation areas, the Great Movie Ride has only a single combined unloading and loading area. The last people to exit the vehicles often pass the next group of guests waiting to board the vehicles.

In this attraction’s history there has been many modifications. 

For example, the first sequence of the ride, Footlight Parade, was plagued with engineering and technical problems from the beginning. When the ride was newly opened, the Footlight Parade segment was different than it is today. The entire portion following the neon lighted entrance was fleshed out. All the walls leading up to, around, and beyond the "cake" were painted in art deco style patterns as seen in "By A Waterfall". Approximately three "diving boards" with three mannequin "dancers" wearing capes were perched on the right hand side of the wall as you enter the ride segment. The five-tiered "cake" was prominently displayed at a left hand turn. It was in the open air illuminated with an array of animated lights. During this pass through the Footlight Parade segment, riders would hear a "loop" of "By A Waterfall" (a song featured in Footlight Parade) lasting approximately 40 seconds as bubbles fall from the ceiling. For approximately the first year, the "cake" actually rotated and was adorned with water jets as seen in the movie. Allegedly, the rotating "cake" mechanism was constantly breaking down, causing frequent repairs and downtime. In addition, the water pumps would constantly fail, flooding the ride path. Park operations believed it was much cheaper and less problematic to leave the "cake" in place with lighting effects used to provide what imagineers term as "kinetics" to the segment. This is what guests see today.

Another change, though not major was in the Wizard of Oz scene. The Wicked Witch animatronic character was replaced with a newer-design "Sarcos" figure. The Sarcos robots are capable of a great deal more movement possibilities than the original "limited animation" figure designs, and can move much more quickly. As a result they can be made much more lifelike. The new witch was reprogrammed to take advantage of the underlying robot, and as a result is one of, if not the, most lifelike characters in the attraction.

The Great Movie ride has always been planned to head to Disneyland Resort and in Disneyland Resort Paris, but never has made it. The attraction was said to go into Disneyland’s rumored Hollywoodland in the 1980s/1990s, then rumored in the Disney-MGM Studios California, and also rumored for Disney’s California Adventure’s Hollywood Pictures Backlot, all of which have never come to fruition. Disneyland Resort Paris’s has a different story, originally planned for Disney MGM Studios Europe, a planned second gate for DLP, but never came to be, then planned for the actual park of Walt Disney Studios Paris. It went to Paris in a different way, CineMague, a video/show in which Martin Short goes through various movies, similar to The Great Movie Ride.

Adding to the list of things that haven’t happened related to The Great Movie Ride is the extended Wizard of Oz scene originally planned. The ending of the attraction was originally going to have more of a foundation in The Wizard of Oz, with the Fantasia scene being the Cyclone, and also a divider down the middle of the theatre separating the A and B vehicles in the final (film clip) scene. Where the screen is now was where the Wizard would have appeared surrounded by flames. The Wizard would say his famous line, "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain" and the show would be "interrupted" as the curtains to the left or right of the screen would open to reveal either your live bandit (on the A vehicle side) or gangster (on the B vehicle side). Along the outer walls of the theatre (to the left of the A vehicle or to the right of the B vehicle), is currently large empty carpeted areas. Here was supposed to be large platforms where models of all of the animatronic characters seen earlier in the ride would be standing and would take a bow.

We’re going to conclude this long post with two pictures of “blueprints” and track layout of the attraction, just to show the size and expanse of this attraction.

Finally, what’s your favorite Great Movie Ride scene? Please vote in our GDP Weekly Blog Poll. 

Pictures and Information from Great Movie Ride, Disney And More, All Ears Net, WDW Info, and PinPics

Pinvestigation: Captain EO

Captain Eo was presented in every one of the Disney Resorts around the world, except Hong Kong Disneyland Resort. It showed throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Originally debuting in Epcot’s Magic Eye Theater on September 12, 1986, then just days later debuted in Disneyland on September 18, 1986. Less than a year later, the attraction opened in Tokyo Disneyland on March 20, 1987. Its last location was in Disneyland Paris, opening with the park on April 12, 1992.

The film's executive producer was George Lucas, who came up with the name Captain EO (Greek for “dawn”). The film was choreographed by Jeffrey Hornaday and Michael Jackson, photographed by Peter Anderson, produced by Rusty Lemorande, and written by Lemorande, Lucas and Coppola, from a story idea by the artists of Walt Disney Imagineering. Lemorande also initially designed and created two of the creatures, and was an uncredited editor of the film. The score was written by James Horner, and featured two songs: "We Are Here to Change the World" and "Another Part of Me", both performed by Michael Jackson. The Witch Queen was played by Angelica Huston. Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro acted as visual consultant but was, in fact, the actual director of photography. Union requirements prevented him from receiving that credit. Captain EO is regarded as the first '4-D' film. This innovation was suggested by producer-writer Lemorande who is, therefore, sometimes referred to as "The Father of 4-D".

The movie tells the story of Captain EO and the ragtag crew of his spaceship on a mission to deliver a gift to a wicked alien leader, the Witch Queen, on her home world of rotting, twisted metal and steaming vents. Captain EO's alien crew consists of his small flying sidekick Fuzzball, the double-headed navigator and pilot Idey and Ody, robotic security officer Major Domo, a small robot Minor Domo (who fits like a module into Major Domo), and the clumsy elephant-like shipmate Hooter who always manages to upset the crew's missions. Dick Shawn plays Captain EO's boss.

Upon arriving on the planet, the crew is captured and sentenced to torture. Before being sent away, EO tells the Witch Queen that he sees the beauty hidden within her, and that he brings her the key to unlock it: his song, "We Are Here To Change The World".

The two robot members of the crew transform into music instruments and the crew members begin to play the various instruments. As Hooter runs toward his instrument, he trips over EO's cape and breaks his instrument, stopping the music. The spell broken, the Witch Queen orders her guards to capture Captain EO and his crew.

Hooter manages to repair his instrument and sends out a blast of music, providing EO with the power to throw off the guards. He uses his power to transform the dark hulking guards into agile dancers who fall into step behind him for a dance number. As EO presses forward toward the Supreme Leader she unleashes her Whip Warriors, two cybernetic defenders each with a whip and shield that can deflect EO's power.

The others all run away leaving Captain EO to fight the Whip Warriors alone. EO is trapped by a closing gate and is preparing for a last stand as both the whip warriors draw their whips back for a final blow. Fuzzball drops his instrument and speedily flies over to tie the two whips together, causing the Whip Warriors to be thrown off balance giving EO an opportunity to transform them as well. With no further obstacles, EO uses his power to transform the Witch Queen into a beautiful woman, her lair into a peaceful Greek temple and the planet into a verdant paradise. 

A celebration breaks out to "Another Part of Me", as EO and his crew triumphantly exit and fly off into space.

The attraction ran through the late 1980s, and mid 1990s. Closing first in Epcot, on July 6, 1994, to be replaced by Honey, I Shrunk the Audience. Then closing in Tokyo on September 1, 1996, replaced by MicroAdventure (version of Honey, I Shrunk the Audience). In 1997, the attraction closed in Disneyland, and then finally, Disneyland Paris’ attraction was closed in August 1998, both Disneyland’s and Disneyland Paris’ were also replaced with Honey, I Shrunk the Audience.

  

With the death of Michael Jackson in June 2009, many Disney fans automatically questioned if Disney would bring back the beloved attraction. After Disney denied numerous times, the attraction was finally confirmed to come in early January 2010, and planned to arrive in Disneyland in February 2010 replacing Honey, I Shrunk the Audience for a limited engagement. Officially announced to open this Tuesday, on February 23, 2010.  Many are asking, “What is considered a limited engagement?”, I guess its up to Disney to see if this is profitable or not.

      

We are going to end this post with two videos (showing the FULL VERSION) of Captain EO!

 

Pictures and Information from Yesterland, PinPics, and Captain Eo

Weekly (Pin) News

Today we return with the WPN. Last week was a SLOW week, but so was this week, but this will be a short post.

Today we are going to start with some NON Pin or Vinylmation News. We are going to start with some new characters featured in the upcoming movie, Toy Story 3. Take a look, and enjoy!

   

In more Toy Story related news, the Green Army Men’s Parachute Drop is taking shape in Walt Disney Studios Paris, in the new Toy Story Playland.

Moving on to merchandise, a new Alice in Wonderland Mickey Ears Hat will be released in the Disney Parks to commemorate the release of the new Alice in Wonderland.

We have a preview of an upcoming Mystery Limited Release set, featuring chasers. Will be released in May 2010 in Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort.

On to Vinylmations!

We have a preview of another Holiday Series #2 Vinylmation, the Mardi Gras one.

Another preview we have is of the Big Eyes set that will be released in the Spring. Originally intended to be Limited Release, this set will be Open Edition, AND won’t be blind box, which means you will be able to see which ones you are gonna get.

Finally in Vinylmation news, we have a preview of new signs going throughout the WDW and DLR in the stores that sell Vinylmations, and let guests know what they are, and what you can do with them. There will also be different designs at the different locations.

If you haven’t take a look at our Vinylmation Talk Report, from Wednesday’s mini talk, be sure to check it out.

Pictures and Information from What’s HapPINing, ODVS, and Disney Parks Blog

Retro Lookback: CommuniCore

Its time to board our Looking Glass and Lookback at some of Disney’s famous used-to-bes. Today we take a look at CommuniCore. Sit back! Relax! And Enjoy This Journey on the Retro Lookback!

CommuniCore was located in was used to be called EPCOT Center, and opened with the park in October 1982. It was the Science and Technology pavilion that was housed in two semi-circular buildings behind Spaceship Earth at the heart of Future World. The two buildings were known as CommuniCore East and West and housed rotating exhibits. Closed in 1994, the buildings are now the home of Innoventions.

Communicore's name was a combination of "community" and "core," and reflects on Walt's original dreams of Epcot being an experimental community living in a carefully controlled idealistic environment, with Communicore being right at the very center of the area.

Technically the area consisted of two parts, Communicore East and Commun icore West. But each half was effectively divided into northern and southern sections, separated by exterior walkways. Over the years the northern quadrants were by far the busiest and most changed.

The pavilion served as EPCOT Center's version of Main Street, U.S.A., it brought together nearly all of the sponsors in the surrounding pavilions under one roof to serve as a supplemental experience to the overall visit to Future World. If, for example, one rode the Universe of Energy, sponsored by Exxon, and wanted to learn more about energy, one could travel right next door to CommuniCore East and interact at Exxon's Energy Exchange exhibit.

Having debuted at the dawn of the modern computer era, the emphasis throughout CommuniCore was primarily on educating the public about computers. The feature exhibit was a tour through EPCOT Computer Central, the computer hub of EPCOT Center that ran nearly everything throughout the park.

In the southern quadrant of CommuniCore East one could shop at the Centorium (now MouseGears), the largest merchandise location in EPCOT Center. The Stargate Restaurant (now the Electric Umbrella) in the northern quadrant of CommuniCore East and the Sunrise Terrace (now Fountain View Cafe) in the southern quadrant of CommuniCore West were open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

CommuniCore East housed exhibits like The Astuter Computer Revue, which took place on a second-floor terraced theater that overlooked a large room housing some of the computers used to operate the park. It was hosted by an irritating projected host who sang and danced his way across computer banks in the foreground of the room in an attempt to explain the role of computers at Walt Disney World. The relatively poor nature of the show was backed by even poorer attendance figures, and it was closed fairly quickly on 2nd January 1984. The Astuter Computer Revue was replaced in Feb 1984 by Backstage Magic, in which a holographic hostess complete with electronic sidekick I/O took guests on a virtual tour of some of the computer systems that were used to operate the park. Although an interesting show, it was standing room only which put people off a little. Backstage Magic finally closed in October 1993.  

SMRT-1, a purple and chrome robot set on a rotating pedestal surrounded by telephones, was a much more popular attraction, splurging out an endless stream of trivia and guessing games for guests to compete against others via the phone handsets. The "Compute-A-Coaster" attraction enabled guests to design and construct their own virtual roller coaster on a video screen, coached by a lisping cartoon beaver who sounded just like the gopher from Winnie-the-Pooh. This was a precursor to the current much more up to date attraction at the Disney Quest.

Other displays in this area included the Great American Census Quiz, Get Set Jet Game and the Flag Game, all of which used touch-screen technology which was quite new and exciting back in 1982 when it all opened, but seemed very much outdated and commonplace by the time the attractions were being closed.

Airbrush Robots spray-painted images onto T-Shirts for guests, whilst another exhibit allowed guests to design their own ideal roller-coaster on a computer. Once complete it was possible to watch a trial run of the completed coaster.

Travelport was located on the other side of the hall from the Astuter Computer Revue. Presented by American Express it featured a large red globe at the entrance with images of foreign sights projected onto its surface from inside the globe. Once into the attraction guests entered booths where they could access touch-screen based previews of travel destinations around the world. The American Express Travel Service desk was located close by, where guests could obtain more detailed information from live hosts and hostesses. Exxon's Energy Exchange, in the same building was a large room full of computerized and three-dimensional displays revolving around the Energy theme. Guests could pedal bicycles and see how much energy they had expended. Another exhibit allowed guests the chance to generate electricity to light a bulb via a hand turned generator. Other minor attractions included a large detailed model of an oil rig, and a touch screen video game where guests had to guide a car around a digitized city.

On the other side of the central plaza, the northwest part of CommuniCore was home to EPCOT Outreach and FutureCom.  EPCOT Outreach, later Ask EPCOT was an educational cul-area where guests could find more information about any of Epcot's major themes. Graphic displays lined the walls leading up to an information desk where a staff of researchers including a librarian would attempt to answer any queries from guests, irrespective of whether they were about the theme park, the Disney company, or any of the many films and TV shows produced by the company. If the answer couldn't be given immediately the staff would take a contact address, and send the answer later on by mail. The area also featured a "Teacher's Lounge" which was hidden away and allowed people to watch guests from behind darkened glass.

FutureCom, first sponsored by the Bell System and later by AT&T, was similar to EPCOT Computer Central and Energy Exchange in that it was a large room filled with interactive exhibits. The theme linking everything together was communications technologies. On the north wall of the room was a sprawling animated diorama called the "Age Of Information."  FutureCom was also home to the Fountain of Information, another kind of kinetic sculpture. Here objects culled from all fields of communication media were thrown together into a pileup of lights, color and motion. Nearby, a wall-sized electronic map of the U.S.A. illustrated the country's network of phone lines and demonstrated the concept of teleconferencing. A series of yet more touch-screen games gave guests some insight on the relationship between phones and computers.

Planned exhibits incorporated into the design of the buildings included a second floor, intended to house a PeopleMover system which would allow riders to preview the features and attractions within CommuniCore. The buildings were also designed so that they could easily be expanded outwards, facilitating easy additions to expand the exhibit capacity of the attraction as a whole.

In an effort to keep Epcot updated and vital, CommuniCore was closed in January 1994 to be redesigned into Innoventions, a more eclectic and wild take on a Science and Technology pavilion. Thus, in 1994, the Stargate became the Electric Umbrella, and the Sunrise Terrace was divided into the Pasta Piazza Ristorante and Fountain View Espresso and Bakery. In 2001, Pasta Piazza closed; the space sat vacant until 2006, when it was converted into the Epcot Character Connection (now Epcot Character Spot). The Expo robotics area became The Walt Disney Imagineering Labs (closed in October 1997). In June 1998, part of the former "lab" space became Ice Station Cool, which was recently redecorated and renamed Club Cool, a small Coca-Cola sponsored exhibit where one can try Coke products from around the world. In 1999, Centorium expanded and became MouseGear.

Even with the closure of CommuniCore, a few elements of the old attraction still remained untouched, with some remaining to this day. For example, Innoventions West had a large section of the building unchanged from its CommuniCore days up until 2007. In the glass-walled hallway behind Pasta Piazza, the original large circular ceiling light fixtures, and the original carpet patterned by the CommuniCore logo were in the shape of the two buildings it housed. However, in May 2007 the carpeting and light fixtures were changed. Additionally, you can still find the original EXIT signs scattered throughout Innoventions.

Pictures and Information from Solarius and LostEpcot

VinylmationConnection: Vinylmation Mini Event 2/17

This is a mini, mini report from the Vinylmation Talk from this afternoon in Saratoga Springs Resort. Many of the pictures are from reader Greenhpper, while a few are from Vinylmation Station’s Banks Lee

This is a preview of a poster that will simply tell guests what Vinylmations are. The fun thing is that the different locations will have Vinylmation “designs” on the poster that correspond to that area.

The designs for two of the three Disney Vacation Club Exclusive Vinylmations. (Top picture is from Vinylmation Station, while bottom is from reader Greenhpper). Top Vinylmation is a golden key with purple background, and bottom is a white picket fence with Mickey Heads, and a “Home Sweet Home’ sign on the back of the head.   

News from the Event:

--The Vinylmation Tins will be “discontinued” after the releases of the DVC, Flower and Garden Festival, and Castaway Cay Special Edition Vinylmation. After that there will be a cardboard box, similar to what there is now, but with a piece of the box that can be removed in order to create a base for the figure to rest on. The base will feature the name of the design on it.

--Trading will be expanded into the parks. Within the next two months, several major locations around Walt Disney World, Disneyland and Disneyland Paris will receive mystery trading cases like the ones that are used at Disney Trading Nights and Artist Signings. Those wishing to trade will off up their current figure, choose a number, and then receive the figure that is in the cell that corresponds with the number they chose. There will also be a non “surprise” one with three or four in a little box, and you can choose from there.

Once again, thanks to Greenhpper for the information and pictures from this quick Mini Vinylmation Talk.