Original Alice in Wonderland Ride

[Okee68]

Here are a bunch of additional images of the project which I somehow missed previously. Absolutely superior artwork by him, as always. His attention to detail is just immaculate; Notice how he's taking cues from the old ride's art direction when "filling in the blanks" for obscure areas that don't have any photographic documentation.

The rats painted into the background just before the entrance to the warehouse must have come from the little non-anthropomorphic otter visible in the black and white photo of the harbor scene. Various twisty, amorphous details such as the startled trees and the wooden fence extending into the distance shortly prior to the railroad crossing are visibly reminiscent of the Van Gogh-esque styling of some of the original vignettes, such as the 3D roadway leading into the village intersection and the precarious road winding around a cliff beyond the railroad crossing. It's all so amazingly authentic and well-realized, and I can't properly put into words how deeply I commend him for understanding the assignment this thoroughly.

 

[Brer Oswald]

No surprise considering he was the lead designer for the greatest ride in WDW history.

 

[Homemade Imagineering]

Here are a bunch of additional images of the project which I somehow missed previously. Absolutely superior artwork by him, as always. His attention to detail is just immaculate; Notice how he's taking cues from the old ride's art direction when "filling in the blanks" for obscure areas that don't have any photographic documentation.

The rats painted into the background just before the entrance to the warehouse must have come from the little non-anthropomorphic otter visible in the black and white photo of the harbor scene. Various twisty, amorphous details such as the startled trees and the wooden fence extending into the distance shortly prior to the railroad crossing are visibly reminiscent of the Van Gogh-esque styling of some of the original vignettes, such as the 3D roadway leading into the village intersection and the precarious road winding around a cliff beyond the railroad crossing. It's all so amazingly authentic and well-realized, and I can't properly put into words how deeply I commend him for understanding the assignment this thoroughly.

I absolutely love how much these old darkrides borrow from traditional theatrical sets. Simple painted flats arranged meticulously for a cohesive experience. Just goes to show that a successful attraction is alot more than just the latest & greatest technology. Insane attention to detail, so excited for this one. Toad was always my favorite

 

[Okee68]

@Rich T Any thoughts on the newly revealed pre-1983 Toad replica by Don Carson? My initial post about it is at the end of page 29, and there are a bunch of pictures from it at the top of this new page. I believe he's taking a few creative liberties with his portrayals of the super obscure, unphotographed corners of the ride (unless he has access to a few photos that nobody here has seen), although he's doing it in a way that looks incredibly authentic and consistent with the art direction of the original sets in my opinion.

 

[Rich T]

@Rich T Any thoughts on the newly revealed pre-1983 Toad replica by Don Carson? My initial post about it is at the end of page 29, and there are a bunch of pictures from it at the top of this new page. I believe he's taking a few creative liberties with his portrayals of the super obscure, unphotographed corners of the ride (unless he has access to a few photos that nobody here has seen), although he's doing it in a way that looks incredibly authentic and consistent with the art direction of the original sets in my opinion.

I’m very excited about this project, as his original Alice in Wonderland ride recreation is one of my all time favorite videos.

Since the original Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride was altered a bit now and then before the big 1983 overhaul, I’m kind of hoping he’s going for a best-of version of the original ride, keeping some of the later additions like the Butler and Motorcycle Cop, but also bringing back deleted things like the suit of armor’s axe and—of course—the devil’s mouth and “Welcome” flames.

I’m curious as to how he’ll approach the audio, as on the original the siren and police whistles could be heard over and over through most of the ride, which added to feeling of chaos. One way or the other, I’m really looking forward to this!

 

[Okee68]

I’m very excited about this project, as his original Alice in Wonderland ride recreation is one of my all time favorite videos.

Since the original Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride was altered a bit now and then before the big 1983 overhaul, I’m kind of hoping he’s going for a best-of version of the original ride, keeping some of the later additions like the Butler and Motorcycle Cop, but also bringing back deleted things like the suit of armor’s axe and—of course—the devil’s mouth and “Welcome” flames.

I’m curious as to how he’ll approach the audio, as on the original the siren and police whistles could be heard over and over through most of the ride, which added to feeling of chaos. One way or the other, I’m really looking forward to this!

Judging by his inclusion of the 1961 breakaway flats in the warehouse scene, I would say he's probably doing exactly what you're describing here, especially because the un-upgraded 1955 version was a bit sparse compared to the more realized 1961 version.

The audio is something I've been pondering as well. To the best of my knowledge, Don is a former Imagineer, which probably explains how he was able to obtain the 1958 Alice source audio, which is also in the possession of DisneyChris. Assuming his source was just DisneyChris, then I'm not sure how the audio will be handled, as the Toad audio sample on the DisneyChris website is missing most of the original sound effects and instead opts for approximations, which would presumably mean DisneyChris doesn't have all of the audio. However, if Don's source is someone who does have all of the audio, then I'm seriously looking forward to hearing whatever he ends up doing with it, as a lot of those sound effects only exist in muffled recordings at the moment, so hearing them in their intended, crisp quality would be quite gnarly.



This is just a pipe dream, but perhaps if I were to somehow get involved in this project, I could craft an authentic audio ridethrough in Audacity with all of the original sound effects (if they still exist), each one bleeding through the walls at their correct eleven-second intervals. Probably not, but it would 100% be my finest moment.

By the way, this is a bit random, but do you remember if the breakaway crates and kegs in the warehouse had an accompanying sound effect prior to 1983? In the 1970s recording you can hear the big 3D tower of kegs toppling over with an explosive thud, but everything in the warehouse prior to that moment is oddly silent. I've always wondered whether there really was no sound effect there, or if there was one that can never be heard due to the floor switch for it having been faulty when the recording was captured.

 

[Rich T]

…By the way, this is a bit random, but do you remember if the breakaway crates and kegs in the warehouse had an accompanying sound effect prior to 1983? In the 1970s recording you can hear the big 3D tower of kegs toppling over with an explosive thud, but everything in the warehouse prior to that moment is oddly silent. I've always wondered whether there really was no sound effect there, or if there was one that can never be heard due to the floor switch for it having been faulty when the recording was captured.

The best answer my memory can provide is that the original warehouse barrels and crates had sound effects as they swung aside, but the sound was much more subdued.

When I first rode the 1983 version, I was very impressed by how much the improved audio quality of the ride’s sound effects enhanced the entire experience, and warehouse scene was the best before-and-after example. I was happy to see they’d kept one of my favorite scenes and greatly improved it by making the sound effects genuinely startling, whereas before it was more of a muffled background sound.

Of course, in the original, any sound effect that wan’t a siren, whistle or warning signal had a tough time competing for attention in the overall din!